We were a family group of 5 adults who stayed in this holiday apartment to attend a family wedding nearby in Braga. First, the positives. This is a large 3-bedroom, 4-bathroom modern apartment on the 5th floor with amazing sea views. The area is quiet with mostly Portuguese holiday makers which is a close walk to the old town and amenities.
Now the negatives, there were maintenance issues, NO WASHING MACHINE, no hot water in the kitchen and first bathroom, the main bedroom has a very poor mattress on the bed, no proper pillows, scatter cushions were supplied instead. My husband and I had back pain after the week’s stay. The main bedroom ensuite bathroom had wires hanging out of the wall and missing light bulbs. Some of the lamps did not work. The main bedroom door and frame surrounding it leading to the smaller balcony showed significant wear and tear. This was pointed out by the bnBird management team host who greeted us on arrival and I was sent a text to say this would be repaired after we left.
All the maintenance issues we would have overlooked had we not been sent a message after we left that we had left the towels and sheets in an ‘irreparable state’ and a demand for 100 euro to replace them. This has never happened to us before in all our years of travel to various countries around the world at various hotels and holiday accommodations. This complaint was immediately referred to the Airbnb ‘resolutions team’ who examined all the many pieces of ‘photographic evidence’ of still mostly white towels and sheets, showing ‘evidence’ of the use of 5 adults after 1 weeks stay, and a sheet with a 1 euro coin size blood-stain which would be easily washed in the regular cycle of a washing machine, plus some make-up which is even easier to wash off. We have been assured from Airbnb ‘that ‘for full transparency’, they want us to know that a note of this has been put on your account’. Thank-you for that.
So, I have some suggestions to avoid a spoiled holiday stay:
1.	Bring your own sheets and towels
2.	Failing this, find a laundromat and wash and dry everything even if you are leaving early in the morning as was our case.
3.	Some inservice training/education for the cleaning staff to tell the difference between ordinary laundry and what is considered ‘irreparable’