This was the worst 3 hours stay we have had. I’ll try to be as explicite as I can so none of the travelers won’t have to suffer what we endured.
I just want to say for the record that the flat is beautiful however there are so many flows in the management and the surroundings that the appearance really doesn’t matter.
So let’s begin, first I was reluctant to contact Elisabeth one month before the trip. I sent her an Airbnb msg and no one got back to me. I tried to contact through what’s up Madalena which handles the administrative operation of the flat on Elisabeth’s behalf, also with no success. Luckily there was another co host which I contacted. That was one week and a half from the original msg which hadn’t been replied. Immediately afterwords I received a msg from Madalena. Unfortunately this is not the Airbnb service I’m used to. Sorry.
Secondly, we arrived to the flat and waited for an hour and a half outside in order to meet Madalena so she can show us the apartment and give us just one set of keys for 2 people. I specifically noted (on 3 different occasions with a further notice of 2 weeks) the time frame in which we would arrive to the flat, however they had others flats to attend to so we waited for her to show up. We even didn’t have any place to store the luggage in while waiting. We arrived at 10 as we said and waited until 11:30 outside.
Note that the flat is 3 storage high with no lift. I know this is described in the description of the flat however there is 3 storage high building and there is 3 storage high buildings. It all depends on the height of each flor. elderly people and especially handicapped people would not succeed to reach even half of a flor. For me and my partner it was hard and we work out regularly. The host description of the height of the flor should be more refined!
Apart from which, the building is seating on top of a metro line and every 10 min the whole building is severely trembling. We couldn’t sleep nor rest. When I looked for the reviews I red a couple of good ones and didn’t came across a review that stated that problem. Afterward, while in the flat, I practically red all the reviews and found that people had moved due to that notion. When those poor, disappointed travelers wrote in the reviews stating that severe problem, Elisabeth (the host) was surprised from those reviews and said that one should have red all the reviews and decide whether they want that “adventure” or not. I’m terribly sorry but it’s the responsibility of the host to inform such a major problem and it’s not of the costumer responsibility to read 50 reviews and fish out those bad ones. Again, there is something wrong with that approach. It’s denying responsibility! Elisabeth also responded to those reviews that the building is old. Old doesn’t mean non acoustic! There is old construction that companies today are dreaming for which has an amazing acoustics. Take it from me, I’m a sound designer.
Beyond that, when we arrived we wanted to go to sleep and there was just one blanket. I found another inside the linen closet, however with no sheets. I tried to contact the host again with no success. After one and a half hours she sent me a msg back which I replied to, and then she disappeared for several hours. Then we decided we had enough and contacted the host saying we left the apartment. Much to our surprise, she contacted me immediately saying her phone broke down or she didn’t have any batterie left, none of which concern me. I’m a costumer and I’m paying for service which hadn’t been received. Excuses like these are not professional, specially not for a super host.
To conclude, the area surrounding the flat is packed with drug dealers and some prostitutes.
Just for you to know, we were supposed to stay for 4 nights and stayed for 3 hours and got a refund for just half of the amount we payed for so good luck with that. Highly not recommended.