I really struggle with how to rate this stay... Once we checked in, everything was lovely. The apartment was beautiful, and the views from the window were lovely. It was clean, comfortable and well decorated. The location was perfect with great restaurants nearby and walkable to all of the main sights. We loved running along the water every morning as well! Christiana checked us in and gave us some great recommendations as well!
Here’s where my concern is... To save you all of the reading, better communication by the host would have saved us a lot of stress and anger. The details... Two days before checkin, we got an auto message with info on our arrival. Shortly after, we got another saying a pipe had burst and we were unable to stay there. We were offered an alternative 10km away (!!!) or to cancel without penalty. I happened to come across a review of the apartment we had rented that was from at least a day prior about a burst pipe. I realized at that point that they probably knew about it sooner but hadn’t said anything. I spent two hours of our afternoon at the beach searching in vain to try to find something last minute at comparable cost and location. When I brought up the other review, they said the repairs would be finished the day after we were supposed to check in. We found a hotel nearby for the first night, and opted to stay in the apartment when it became available. I messaged them again the day before to see if we could drop our bags off early. I got a message saying other guests were there so we couldn’t get in early! I was furious. I wrote back and reminded them that they had told us there was a pipe burst. They wrote back saying they sent a template response by mistake. I still don’t know if they double booked and made up a story, or if they truly sent the wrong response. Needless to say, a little more personal and proactive communication would have made our experience much better. Although it all worked out, it just left a bad taste in my mouth and I was never sure whether to trust what they told me.