PROCEED WITH CAUTION. You might not get what you booked. We were not put in this unit, but another, shoddier apartment in the same building. We were unable to rectify the situation until we escalated the issue to Airbnb, following which we were told to leave a day early by the host without compensation (we eventually got it from Airbnb, who sided with us) . Read through all of the reviews before you book (the host has 6 units for rent).
Check in (Wednesday): The process was bumpy, it’s beneficial to speak Spanish or use G-Translate. We were told to pick up the keys at the concierge, who asked us for the apartment number which we didn’t have. (We later realized the apartment numbers are not on the listings/check-in instructions, most likely because you’re just going to put be put in whatever room is available.) Concierge ended up just calling Arnaldo and he met us in the building. The other reviews are correct: when meeting Arnaldo he is very kind and welcoming. He gave us tips on the neighborhood and staying safe. (By the way, the apartment did feel safe, but the area was a little sketchy since it’s in the going-out/bar district. Also, luckily we were on a higher floor, because the barrio is quite loud at night.) Arnaldo was very nice and offered that we could call him at any time if we run into trouble. However, in retrospect, it felt more like trying to smooth-talk us since we were being placed in the wrong apartment with no mentioning.
Room: We get to the room, and it’s very clearly not the same one pictured. Not only were all of the decorations, furniture, and fixtures completely different, the entire layout of the apartment was different with the rooms in different locations than the listing. There was no carpeting as pictured, and the view was on a different side of the apartment. It was listed as a nonsmoking room, but it smelled like smoke. The walls had holes from fixtures that had been removed, the toilet seat was broken and off the toilet, the paint was falling off the ceiling of the bathroom, and the balcony was enclosed in a cube of thick-gauge fencing so the “best view” was obscured. The same day as check-in, we asked Arnaldo if he accidentally placed us in the wrong room, but he said it was correct and the apartment has just changed over the years and has new “amenities.” My husband and I discussed if we should just stick it out and stay in the room, but we had booked it for 3 weeks. Since we’re not just vacationing and are working remotely, we’d be spending a LOT of time in there, so we wanted a more comfortable place, like the one pictured in this listing. Thus, we messaged Arnoldo to request a change in the reservation to only stay for 4 nights.
He said he needed to speak to the “owner” of the apartment first. They offered us a 30% refund, which clearly was not sufficient given this was not even the apartment we had booked on Airbnb. He also apologized if the apartment wasn’t what we expected, which indicated to us he was aware he had not put us in the unit we had paid for. We told Arnaldo we were going to have Airbnb figure it out instead and see what they say. After sending the photos of the place to Airbnb, it was clear to them we weren’t in the listed apartment and they approved our request to check out on Sunday and just pay for the 4 nights we stayed (plus cleaning and services fees).
Saturday morning at 10:30am we got a message from Arnaldo: “I'm sorry I didn't meet your expectations , on the other hand, as the cancellation policies were not respected , I would like to inform you that there are some guests who want to enter the apartment today and want to book for 10 days” and told us we needed to leave that day instead of Sunday. A.) It seemed like another example of putting guests in a different apartment than they booked, because how would they be able to see the place was available for Saturday night let alone book the apartment on Airbnb when we had it reserved through Sunday? B.) We understood that it would be disappointing to lose out on a 3-week booking, but clearly the Airbnb policies were not being followed in the first place on his end. At that point, we more thoroughly read through the reviews on several of Arnaldo’s 6 listings and A LOT of them mention being put in the wrong apartment, (with a suspicious number claiming they had been given the exact same reason, that “the water heater was broken”). Lastly, C.) he was not going to refund us for Saturday night after having essentially kicked us out. He stopped responding to any of our messages on Airbnb or texts on Whats-app. Airbnb was great and understanding; they approved our change request and we did not pay for Saturday night, and we were happy enough to be able to get out of there as soon as possible anyway.
All in all, a very awkward experience and felt like a scam. If you just want a place to crash in Bellavista after going out, this place is fine. If you’re looking for a pleasant Airbnb experience, this is not your place. Please do yourself a favor and read through more reviews on all of his listings before you decide to book this.