**Oct 31 - Nov 2**
The fact that the images aren't an accurate representation of the apartment is the least of your problems.
THE GOOD:
The location is truly perfect. There are plenty of restaurants and cafes in the area, and going to the major attractions and other neighborhoods is a quick Uber ride from this apartment. My friends and I really loved the location.
Alina is extremely responsive, and it is clear that she is there to help. The first day we were looking for an iron and when I messaged Alina she responded very quick and let us know where it was. She also sent us a huge list of recommendations in the Polanco neighborhood, museums, restaurants, bars, etc. She also gave us recs for the Roma and Condesa neighborhoods which was great.
THE NOT SO GOOD:
Other reviews touch on a few of the things my friends and I wanted to highlight.
- There is no elevator, which for me is not a problem, but it might be for other people.
- Water temp fluctuates
- The apartment is outdated and truthfully the images are so staged that when we got there we were wondering what had happened. The plants look so sad and almost dead, the finishes are old, the blinds in the bedroom I stayed were so dingy, and the furniture is cheap. You truly get what you paid for.
- There was a very strong cleaning solution smell, which tells you they certainly cleaned, but I got a headache almost immediately. I do have a chemical sensitivity, so that's more of my issue. My friends didn't have much of an issue with the smell.
- There was shampoo and conditioner in the bathrooms, but not body wash. The towels were clean, but they looked old and ratty.
- There were a bunch of random things stored in one of the closets.
- The closets barely had any hangers in it, somewhere around 2-3 per bedroom.
- The "bedroom" off of the living room barely has privacy. We thought this "bedroom" used to be a dining room, hence the opening on the one wall that is next to the kitchen. I guess the host decided to "convert" it into a bedroom, which really would be fine if they had properly walled off the bedroom from the kitchen and had provided proper curtains on the glass door.
THE HORRIBLE:
We only stayed 2 nights at this apartment when we intended to stay 6. We got in on a Monday afternoon and dropped our stuff and just went out to get dinner and walk around for a bit before going to bed. One of my friends woke up the next day with bug bites on her legs, but we brushed it off as mosquito bites from the night before when we sat outside for dinner. I did check her bed for bedbugs and couldn't find anything. So we went about our day that. That Tuesday night, I was laying in bed and started feeling very itchy on my arm and back, when I turned on the lights and looked on the bed I saw 3 bed bugs, which I killed and then took pictures of. It was late, so I just tried to go back to bed, but couldn't fall asleep because of the anxiety I was getting. Throughout the night I got bit a bunch more times and each time I looked and found bedbugs. I think I found around 4-6. I slept maybe 2 hours that night. Wednesday morning, my other friend found more bug bites on her leg, but we did not find anything on her bed. Regardless, it was clear that there is a bedbug issue at this location. I contacted Alina first thing that morning and sent her pictures of the bedbugs we found, along with pictures of my arm and back and my friend's legs. Alina didn't respond right away, so I contacted Airbnb support because we did not want to stay another night at this place. We ended up booking another Airbnb and got out of this apartment as soon as we could.
We lost an entire day of our vacation dealing with this problem. Once we found a new Airbnb which we had to pay extra for, we made sure to wash and literally EVERYTHING, so we wouldn't be bringing buts with us. We placed our luggage in the new place's balcony to make sure that if there were any bugs on them, they'd be killed in the heat of the sun. It was truly a hassle to have to deal with all of this on what was supposed to be a vacation.
Alina eventually responded to my message apologizing and offering to help me find a different location from the other properties she manages, obviously we didn't feel comfortable staying at any of her properties at that point. She also called me on the phone and begged me not to write this review. While I understand bedbugs are not her fault, and I'm sure guests bring them to properties unknowingly, it is her responsibility as a host to make sure the problem is taken care of before hosting any more people. She mentioned they had fumigated the week before and the issue was only happening in one bedroom, so it was clear to me that this is an issue she knew of already and still chose to have the listing up.
She will probably respond to this review in a defensive way and say things like how could I write such a thing, or say that I'm flat out lying. I'm not lying, and I wish I could post the pictures on this review. I feel bad for Alina, as this is her livelihood, and it really sucks that she's having to deal with this. But as a host, I think it's her responsibility to ensure that this problem is taken care of before she lists the place