The host put in an amazing effort, and the place is great, seriously ideal for a stay in Lisbon. But the experience was TERRIBLE even though the unit was clean and organized. Me and my family were incredibly disappointed with of the experience as there were problems at every turn and the hosts eventual berated me.
NO WAY TO GET IN
Before we flew to Lisbon we informed the host the time we would be getting in. When me and my family landed and arrived at the AirBnB we attempted to enter the access code code to open the door, but it didn't work. We called him and messaged him many times through what's app, the airbnb app and phone, but there was no answer. We were really concerned.
After a while, we went to a local restaurant as the temperature was really high (Lisbon can get super hot) and the building was in the sun, and we had to make an international call to AirBnB to find a solution. They said they would get back to us, having no place to go we began to get very concerned we wouldn't find a place large enough for the family and a lot of airbnb's have a cut off time to book for the night.
An hour and a half later we got a call from the host who was on vacation with his family in a no cell signal area. Eventually someone staying in another unit was able to let us in, apparently the building's electrical system was wired wrong causing the lights, wifi, and entry keypad to short circuit and not let us in. This would become a theme eventually, but more on that later.
NO USING BATHROOMS, NO WAY TO WASH
Once we got in we were ecstatic, the place was charming, but this was short lived as we couldn't even use the bathroom or shower since even though the location is listed as having Hand soap, body soap, shampoo, etc. there was nothing, I mean not even hand soap. We called the host and he gave some excuse about flooding caused by clogging soap caps or something nonsensical, so he couldn't provide it. This made so little sense since if a shower cant handle soap it shouldn't be shower, and it shouldn't stop having hand soap in the single bathrooms.
The host did his best offering to send over soap the next day, but after a long flight and getting locked out, we wanted to use the bathroom (That couldn't wait till tomorrow) and wash our hands, and shower , so we bought inexpensive products and he said he would cover it.
THE SMELL
When we then entered the master bedroom there was a strange smell, like an animal had peed, and it got worse as we approached the bathroom. We couldn't understand what it was and the host suggested we close the bathroom window, which we did, and we opened the bedroom window to air it out. Nothing helped, eventually he sent a cleaning person, and the heavy use of bleach helped a bit. I have to say he really tried to make things right. After my stay he messaged me saying they found a decomposing bird at the construction site next door. Assuming he is telling the truth, this was admittedly not his fault, but at the time we couldn't understand what was going on, and the closed window wasn't helping. Entering the bathroom was a GAG worthy experience, and the smell spread to the bedroom.
CONTINUOUSLY GETTING LOCKED OUT
In the following day, one of us got locked out again as there were several shorts and it knocked out the keypad and the Wi-Fi so having no international data plan they couldn't connect from outside and call for help. Eventually they got a signal at a near by restaurant, and we got them in.
AIRBNB SUGGESTED COMPENSATION
When Airbnb eventually called to check in on us, THEY suggested we ask for some kind of compensation for the terrible check-in problem, the expense of an International Call, the soap and supplies, The Smell, and the fact that we were worried that we would get locked outside the house every time we left. They said they would get back to me on next steps. Even though I checked in with them it would take days for them to let me know what I should do.
GETTING LOCKED OUT
We were in Lisbon for my birthday, unfortunately the electrical system was shorting out so frequently that we were worried to leave the apartment without having one person stay, since if there was no one in any of the other units to reset the electricity we wouldn't be able to open the door. The host promised there would be a service in town that if we get locked out would come and open the door. This probably took quite a bit of effort for him to arrange, but we didn't want to risk being locked out and having to sit on the street tired for 30-60+ minutes as they may be on another job and would need to then drive around town to get to us, or worse us coming home late and him being asleep or out of signal and having no way to call the company. As a result we stayed in for my birthday. The next day an electrician came and fixed the system.
AIRBNB RESOLUTION - THE HOST BERATING ME
With our stay having come to an end, and Airbnb not yet having gotten back to me on what is an appropriate request, I checked the site and the resolution center suggest coming to a fair compromise with the host. When I messaged the host I began talking about compensation, at the very least for the soap, shampoo, etc, but also that he was unavailable and that we had to call internationally since me and my family were stuck on the street, and all