Before arriving Sarah and glen did accommodate us by providing a cot for our baby to use at the property but this is where the hospitality ended.
While the property looks like a stylish and modern apartment, closer inspection shows the property is in need of updating (my husband works with property inventories in London and could see as soon as he walked in that it was not the way it should be).
When we arrived the property was unclean, we found layers of dust, hair from other people and dirt on the floors, in the shower and bathroom, on the beds, inside the cupboards/draws and the bathroom mats. The bed sheets were covered in white fluff and hair that covered all our dark clothing. We contemplated reporting this but decided to try to just clean up and carry on with our holiday as we had 2 babies under 6 months with us. When we realised the vacuum was broken, we had no other solution so we reported the issue to the hosts. Sarah proceeded to tell us that she had a ‘full time job and doesn’t have time to clean the property on the day of our arrival but did clean it 2 days prior’. As far as Airbnb goes, we have never had a host tell us this or issues with cleanliness. It’s crazy to think that people part with their hard earned money expecting minimum that the property is tidy and clean, only to be told the host has better things to do.
Glen (who was much easier to deal with) offered to find us a cleaner but was unsuccessful, Sarah did provide a new vacuum which we used to clean the best we could. This was our first holiday away with our babies and never did we imagine we’d have to clean the first day on arrival.
We declined an offer of a full refund on the first day and checkout, as it was very stressful and wanted to have a good holiday. I mean who imagines looking for a new place to stay after a few hours of checking in? With 2 babies, who have both travelled for the first time ever???
As the hosts couldn’t find a cleaner, host Sarah offered to come and clean. But after our conversations on the phone, our group decided we did not want to meet her in person due to her abrupt, aggressive and defensive attitude.
Fast forward to day 3 of our stay; at 3am while making baby milk, we see a cockroach run across the room. We immediately transferred rooms and contacted Airbnb support, It took hosts and Airbnb to agree to a partial refund at 10.33am and we had to check out at 11am. With 2 babies in tow we managed to collect all of our things and tidy up best we could in under 30 mins while also seeking new accommodation. No one reentered the cockroach room and so there was a few items meant for the bin such as a baby nappy left behind which we apologised for. But given our time and the situation, I believe we did our very best under the stress caused to us on holiday. We even called the hosts to ask about where the bins should go as we missed the date to put it out. We also asked about dishes we had used and washed, this was a goodwill on our part considering the time we had to actually checkout.
When asking the hosts to reconsider the refund towards the first 3 days or our initial stay before writing this review, the hosts then went on to blame us for leaving the windows open and being the cause of their cockroach infestation. Glen went on to tell us that checking out by 11am was common sense and we should of left the property clean in the 27 minutes we had to evacuate (funny considering they didn’t leave it clean for us on checkin). We never opened any windows and used the heat setting on the ac because we were freezing especially with the little ones.
While we are glad they refunded those days, it was mainly down to air cover with Airbnb and the circumstances of why we decided we had to leave.
We have used Airbnb for a few years now and have always left real reviews, always positive because the experience has reflected as such. And our hosts have always commented on how polite and clean we are as guests. We would not recommend this stay or the hosts, god forbid you have any criticism regarding the stay because you will be met with attitude. What a shame we started our trip this way and will never book non superhost again.