Me and my fiance booked the apartment for ten nights. We were planning on celebrating our one year engagement and the fact that we soon are to be married. The contact with Alex was fine at first. Unfortunately he did not pick us up from the airport or checked us in. Instead we met Victoria/Vitoria at the apartment, whose role was unclear to us. We arrived later than expected due to a delayed flight from Stockholm and did not check in until around 9.30 pm (we informed the host). As soon as Victoria/Vitoria opened the door to the apartment we were struck by a heavy, bad smell. Apart from that the apartment also felt really damp. There was no point in asking Victoria/Vitoria about the smell as she did not know a word of English or Spanish. We simply got the keys and got a quick run through of the washing machine etc and off she went.
The next morning I went I tried to figure out where the awful smell was coming from. We had trouble sleeping due to coughing, sneezing and itching in nose and throat and I suspected there was something wrong with the apartment as we were feeling perfectly fine before we arrived the night before. As it was morning and more light in the bathroom I saw both green and black mold (by and around the window in the bathroom, in the shower cabin, on the ceiling and around and under the sink). The smell was so strong that being in the bathroom was difficult. We quickly discovered that due to the mold being in the apartment led to health issues such as heavy coughing, sneezing, itching in nose, throat and eyes. My fiance woke up with swollen and red eyes the next day and I quickly contacted the host to both adress the problem with the shower (it collected water up to ones ankle) and the mold. I must say that I was very surprised by his response. He said that he would send Victoria/Vitoria to take a look. I informed him that the problem with the shower could maybe be fixed but the issue with the mold was not something he could solve by cleaning. I claimed that we had no choice but to find another place due to the health issues we were experiencing. Further the listing did not fulfill Airbnbs requirement concerning cleaniness as the listing had troubles with mold. The symptoms we were experiencing got worse the longer we stayed in the apartment. The host simply said that maybe we were getting the flu and that the reviews spoke the truth about the apartment and its condition. He said that we were free to leave if we did not want to stay, but there was no refund to speak of.
I understood there and then that I would be wasting my time trying to make him understand his responsibilities as a host. I quickly turned to Airbnb the same day and made a claim. I sent photos of the listing and told them about the health issues we were experiencing. Unfortunately Airbnb responded later than expected (on our sixth day), probably because it was high season, and we felt that we could not wait for their assistance any longer. We decided to book a hotel the remaining days as our vacation was ruined by the state of the apartment, the health issues and the fact that the host did not take the problem seriously. He did not stop by to look at the problem, nor did he say anything after sending Victoria/Vitoria. As a host one should be careful with accusations when guests report problems with the listing as you have responsibilities due to the contract you have entered. By claiming that the health issues we were experiencing was not because of the mold but simply the flu is a very poor way of upholding those responsibilities. We paid for an apartment for ten nights and we
were not able to use it the way we (or anyone else for that matter) had planned; not only did it deprive us sleep, we were also not able to cook food etc as we felt ill being in the apartment longer than during the nights. When we were outside of the apartment we felt fine, no itching, no coughing, no sneezing. But as soon as we entered the apartment the problems began once again.
When Airbnb and the case manager contacted me on the sixth day the problem was solved rather quickly as they too understood that the condition of the listing was not ok. I want to be very clear that we are not sensitive people nor do we experience problems with our health during travels. We travel often and have never experienced anything like this.
No matter what the previous reviews say, this is our experience with this listing. Were we expecting something else? Of course we did. Would we recommend anyone to stay at this listing? No. This shows that it does not matter how your listing has been reviewed before, problems can occur. If you are a good host and serious about making guests feel welcomed and treated fairly, you do your job right and respect your responsibilities in regards to both the contract and Airnbnb regulations. This was sadly not the case.
This trip to Lisbon did not go as planned and our celebration was put on hold in order for us to take care of the problem with the listing and the health issues that came with it. But we did enjoy our last nights in Lisbon in a hotel where we could breath properly, sleep well and use the bathroom without feeling ill.