The good things about this place: location, the security people are super helpful and friendly, the apartment is spacious and it has good ventilation and lighting.
I really wanted to give this place a high rating, especially based on all the previews reviews that I had read. I stayed at Nicolas' place for about 5 weeks. Before booking, I personally reached out to him to ask if there was high speed internet at the home since I WFH and so did my mother, who was also staying there. He confirmed that there was. Here's a list of all the things that went wrong:
1.Upon arriving to the house, the first thing was that the check-in instructions on the Airbnb listing were not accurate and up to date. I actually then noticed that the host had messaged check in instructions a few days prior. But between work and travels, I had forgotten. The host should definitely update the instructions on the LISTING, so that this is not confusing to guests upon arrival.
2. Upon being inside, I noticed that none of the sinks (including kitchen) had any hand soap. This is an essential thing to have, especially during a pandemic. When I messaged the host (this time a guy named Pedro responded) he told me to look under the sink, then forwarded me a message the cleaning lady sent him. Honestly it was confusing and it's like he didn't want to deal with it (even telling ME to purchase it and he would refund me later (?), I have never have a host tell me that). Finally he agreed to purchase some and deliver it later in the evening.
3. After being at the apartment for about two days, I noticed that the internet in the back room was extremely slow. I messaged the host and Pedro responded again. He said that it's probably because I had old devices. Excuse me but first of all that should not matter, and second of all, I purchased my phone last year and my computer less than 6 weeks ago. He said he would send me some sort of device, which took THREE DAYS to arrive.
4. The power shut down in the entire building at 4am one day, I messaged the host immediately and didn't hear from him until 11am. I understand that this is out of anyone's control, but at least have the decency to reply and let the guest know what is happening. I had to go to a coffee shop to get work done.
5. Even with the device, the internet in the back room got slow again and it was like that for a total of 15 days. The issue was actually never resolved. When I reached out to the host this second time to report the issue, Pedro replied again. He asked ME to call the internet company, and when I replied to say that that was not my job, he said "Wow".
6. The lighting in the bedrooms and the back room bathroom was extremely poor. If it weren't for the table lamps it would have been impossible to see at night. Then the lightbulb in the back bathroom (which has no windows) burned and it took them over one day to fix it. So that bathroom was pitch dark and could not be used for an entire day.
Really the worst part about all of this was the fact that neither Nicolas nor Pedro EVER APOLOGIZED for any of the inconveniences (and for the false advertising about the high speed internet). That is what struck me the most. I was paying a really high price to stay at this place and all of the issues I ran into should have been handled with professionalism, but this was not the case. I do not recommend this place, especially for longer stays. The hosts were rude, they lied, and they were completely unapologetic.