Sadly, we had to leave the property because there was a problem with mould in one of the bedrooms. It was visible on the wall in one of the wardrobes. One of our friends arrived a day earlier but slept in another room, however once the rest of us arrived, we discovered the problem. As we spent the first couple of hours cooking in the kitchen with the window open, we only discovered the mould at night while getting ready for bed. As it was the middle of the night and all of us were feeling unwell after being exposed to it, especially myself as I’m allergic to mould, we called airbnb support hoping to be moved to an alternative place. We knew we couldn’t stay there, and that there was nothing the host could do about it at this moment even with the best intentions, which is why we contacted airbnb directly (who just kept promising us help but never delivered). We were forced to stay for one night in the unaffected room. As airbnb got in touch with the landlord and the caretaker of the flat, the latter came in and tried to convince us in a continually more raised voice that it was not mould and there was no problem. We packed and left feeling really unwell, which passed about an hour after leaving the place. That confirmed for us that staying there was just not safe.
I have to point out a few things:
- as previously mentioned, airbnb was not very helpful that night. We were sending them pictures of the white mould, and as this was not enough also the pictures of issues which we would have considered minor, had it not been for the mould (paint falling off, some items missing, some cleanliness issues).
- we took pictures and videos of the mould, however the owner (who lives oversees) did not own up to it. He did not apologise, he claimed this was „paint” (I’ve never seen fluffy paint ;)) and that the apartment matched the photos in listing, but sadly it didn’t.
- The person taking care of the apartment did not speak any other language than Spanish, which as we experienced before and after doesn’t have to be a problem if openness to communicate is there - sadly here there was none. Also, as per my friends account, on the first day this person barged in complaining of noise at 17:30 and started banging the table against the wall herself, raising her voice at my friend - which was disrespectful and peculiar honestly. The noise by the way was my friend trying to resolve a problem with the broken kitchen door that got stuck. There are better ways to communicate even if you don’t speak the same language. We made an effort to speak some Spanish, but would have liked to be met half way.
Overall, here’s what needs to change to make this apartment a pleasant place to stay:
- mould needs to dissapear
- the manager needs to be open to communicate, even if she chooses not to learn a foreign language (but rather use translation apps, for example).
- The owner needs to pay more attention and own up to the issues.
This can be fixed, but there are serious issues to be resolved.