We stayed in the flat for three nights and were very disappointed. The host did not meet us in the flat and we were only given instructions to pick up the key from another property on the day of our arrival. The host came the following day to collect the city tax and to respond to our message. We had very bad night sleep because the place was infested by mosquitoes. In the morning we contacted the host via the AiBnB website to inform him about the issue and to ask how to switch on the gas cooker as there was no lighter provided. He came and brought a cigarette lighter which was empty, and we had to use it carefully to light the cooker with a spark. He also brought a mosquito racket and two plug in repellents. We kept them plugged in for the duration of our stay and even at night, but despite that we were badly bitten. There are several vents in the ceiling of the flat from where the mosquitoes seem to be coming from. Insect screens should have at least been installed over these and repellents installed before our arrival. The walls of the flat display scars of previously extinguished mosquitoes, so this is clearly a known problem.
The view of the canal is nice. However, be aware that the bedroom and the living room are directly opposite the bridge and footpath shown in the listing and are completely overlooked by a constant flow of tourists who are taking photos. It is also very noisy at night with motorboats running throughout the night.
The place has not been properly maintained - the toilet seat was broken, the shower door was broken and “fixed” with a shower curtain and the handle on the fridge and the sink cabinet were also broken. There was no shelf in the oven, no baking tray, cutting knife or utensils to use.
We've asked the host for a 20% discount as compensation to which he originally agreed to. However, subsequently he became rather rude and refused to issue the partial refund until 15 days had passed. Coincidentally this time-frame to issue the partial refund coincides with the time for us to leave a review. We've emailed the Airbnb Support Team who contacted the host. Unfortunately they could not assist any further because we did not report the problems to them directly within 24 hours. So, if you want to stay in the flat and find any issues that don't meet the standard, consider the Airbnb complaints procedure.