Probably my worst experience in terms of hospitality.
I arrived at the apartment late at night and I found:
- the staircase of the building with wads of dust and dirt
- a smelling toilet
- layers of dust in the apartment
- bedside lamps not working
- no bedside tables, that kind of "wardrobe" filled with old cushions, and the nearby area used for storing a fan, an iron (there was no table for ironing in the apartment), and a toothbrush!
- hairs in the bed.
Due to the time, I reported the issue but stayed for the night.
The following day Hogo offered to send his trusted team of cleaners and an air refresher. I say no to the cleaning because:
1. I already slept in there anyway
2. Did not trust his team to go into the apartment while all my belongings were there and wanted to enjoy my time in Porto - rather than wait around for the place to be cleaned.
3. I told myself that it was only for the other 2 days only!
Also to note that the place is not a bright apartment as shown in the pictures: the windows have never been cleaned and you do not want to open the shutters either...unless you are ok with the neighbors and people from the street watching inside the apartment. This is quite personal thought. And the kitchen is not properly equipped.
On the second day, I returned from sightseeing and discovered that the heating in the living room was not working (it worked in the bedroom) and the lamp beside the sofa was not working. I reported the problems but they haven't been fixed.
I woke up on the third day to find out that there was no electricity in the apartment. I reported the problem at 7 am - initially the team replayed but then it turned out impossible to actually communicate with them.
I left the house and come back at 11.30 am to see if, by any chance, something has happened...nope. Still, no electricity and no communication with the team. During the morning, I called 3 times and send several messages...no luck.
At 12 am, I was in the building when a maintenance guy arrived to deliver a second set of keys to another apartment (the couple got locked into the building due to the checkout system in place: you have to leave the keys on the table but you actually need the keys to open the main door! No fire safety in place either!).
He was not aware of my issue but, very kindly helped to communicate with the management team and he actually tried to fix the issue. I finally spoke with someone in the office who offered to send another maintenance guy to the apartment to check the problem but asked me to wait for him because they did not have a second set of keys. In the end, they decided to find me alternative accommodation.
In the meantime, I got in contact with the AIRBNB platform because the level of hospitality, management, and assistance was, at this stage (after all the issues popping up day after day) unacceptable.
I decided to deal with the platform (instead that with Hugo) for canceling the current booking and finding another accommodation.
And... while I was dealing with AIRBNB, Hugo booked me somewhere else - WITHOUT MY CONSENT.
I could not waste any more time and energy on this entire story so I moved to the other place.
However, I asked for a compensation through the Resolution Center and Hogo did not accept it because he found another accommodation. It sounds like a joke, right?
I could not be asked to spend time writing a review but... I have received Hugo's review and felt that I have to share my side of the story too.