I had requested the host for check-in at 13.30 pm, although check-in time was 3 pm, she kindly said she would try to accommodate. I was asked to send a message when I am on my way to the place and one more when I arrive. On leaving the airport, I sent a message only to receive her reply stating that the place was not clean, that I could only enter at 3 pm. When the host knew that the place was not going to be ready, she should have given me a heads up and I would have stayed at the airport longer instead of having to wander around with my suitcase and two children. She explained that the previous guest left the apartment in a terrible state and needed deep cleaning. I accepted the explanation, but I had already reached below the apartment and had to book another Uber to head to the closest mall. We had lunch there and headed back quarter past 3. As it was already past 3, I sent her a message informing her that I was waiting for Uber and should be there shortly. I then sent another message when I was 5 mins away. This is when she informed me that the apartment is still not ready, and I can come to check-in and get the key. AGAIN, no message about the delay, no heads-up, no apology. We could easily hang around longer in the mall if she had just let me know.
On arrival, she greeted us, explained the problem! Despite the very early start we had for the flight and so much inconvenience upon arrival, I accepted all her explanations very graciously, still being very patient. We completed the formalities while she mentioned that the previous guest had lost the keys and that she would replace the lock and give us the key later. She then pointed us in the direction of a nearby cafe where we could wait until I received a message from her to let us know when the apartment would be ready - this was about 3.40 pm. At 4.30 pm I received the message 'can come to get the key'. When we arrived, we were met at the door by the unpleasant cleaning lady who gave me the key and said the apartment is still not ready and we should return in an hour or so. I then messaged the host again and told her that I got the key and that we had been asked to return again in another hour!!! I asked the host to message me when the apartment is ready. At this point, I empathised with her stating that I understand her situation, however, we too have been out of our house in England since 4 am that morning, and the kids are tired. To this, I received NO REPLY, No empathy, No apology! I then sent another message at 6.15 pm asking if the place was ready, and at 6.23 pm, she replied saying ‘Yes’. Trust me when I say that language was not the issue! The host speaks good English! She was barely apologetic and moreover made zero effort to give us an update to avoid us going back and forth to the place. On the FOURTH attempt, we got the apartment.
With such a bad start and feeling about the place, I will still be honest in the rest of my feedback.
Location – Our first time in Moscavide, and it’s a lovely neighbourhood with lots of dining options. There is also a supermarket less than 5 mins away. Walking distance to a lot of places and very close to the airport. As we were visiting on personal work, the location suited us.
Apartment – Clean and furnished. I have to admit, they did do a good job on the cleaning. The apartment is on the second floor. There was sufficient light coming through all the rooms. They gave us fresh towels (we never used them). There is a lounge room too. The kitchen is nicely equipped with all standard amenities. The bath was fine and there is another small toilet too. There is a tv in the kitchen with lots of English channels. There was also another small screen in the main bedroom, but I never tried it so don't know if it has the same channels. Lots of storage space in the bedrooms. The beds were fine.
There is just one very noisy tower fan though. The fan requires work as it's quite loud. They should add another fan as it can get quite warm and if you are using two bedrooms, well, it’s no good.
We left the apartment early (3.30 am) as we had an early flight. I made sure to return the place in the same state (photos available) as it was given, maybe even cleaner as I did not want the host to take too much trouble to get the place ready for the next guest! I also sent her a message the previous evening and the early morning we left.
I took my time in writing this review, and I knew I would have to address the very unpleasant first day. I never got upset or irritable in my communication with the host – I was most pleasant and patient. It would have been still fine if only the host did not make us feel like she was doing us a BIG favour. It was indeed surprising to note that the host found it so hard to empathise, apologise or do whatever service recovery for the inconvenience she put me and my kids in! The entire experience at the start ruined what we planned for a very pleasant evening before an early start the following day.