The Good and the Bad:
I’ve never had anything but good experiences with AirBnB, so it pains me to leave any comments that aren’t 100% positive. My husband and I are digital nomads. Everywhere we’ve ever rented, the hosts we’ve encountered have been lovely people who want the experience to be mutually beneficial. This didn’t really feel like that kind of experience.
THE GOOD: This apartment is beautifully designed and very well cared for. The host we spoke with mostly was Jerome, who was very attentive and helpful in the 2.5 months we stayed at this location. The unit is located in the Gothic Quarter, which is very convenient to a lot of tourist attractions and a fun place to stay. The unit had a well- stocked kitchen, as far as plates, silverware and pots & pans. The old tile floors are BEAUTIFUL. There’s also lots of storage space. Good water pressure, lots of hot water and there is sort of central air conditioning (note: this isn’t really like the AC we’re used to in the US – it’s just not as strong and on that top floor it still gets pretty hot). We bought a couple fans that we’ve left in the unit for the next guests to use, which helped.
THE BAD:
Some things that weren’t communicated to us until our arrival while checking in:
*This host has you sign a temporary lease (per AirBnB this isn’t supposed to be allowed),
*The unit is on the 4th floor of a walk-up building (no elevator, in Europe it’s the 3rd floor b/c the 1st floor is considered “O”). There are 88 steps to go up every time you want to return home. I’m in relatively good shape – so I handled it, but I would say it altered my daily schedule because I wanted to minimize the number of times we had to go up and down (there’s no AC in the hallway either and it was blazing hot this past summer in Spain). There was NO mention of this in the listing. I might not have rented this place had a I known how inconvenient the walk would be.
*There were 5 houseplants in the unit which Jerome asked that we water. Again, this wasn’t mentioned in the listing (a couple of the pictures do show 1 or 2 plants). Probably not a big deal for most people, although, I don’t have a lot of experience caring for plants. Even with the AC in this apartment it was still pretty hot in the unit this summer, and 2 of the plants died, even with my attention. I took it upon myself to replace them at the cost of @25 euros. One was in the back room, which doesn’t have much light – so I specifically asked the plant store to help me find a plant that would thrive in that room.
*When it was time for us to check out of the apartment, Jerome wanted to have an in-person walk-thru. I’m from Beverly Hills, CA (where attitudes can get very over-the-top) and even there landlords don’t often ask for an in-person walk-thru after years of residency. Again, I was happy to do things the way the host wanted, though.
I was really surprised after we’d taken great pains to take care of this property that there was kind of a finger-waving attitude towards my husband and I about various tiny things in the unit. I’m a 56 year old professional and business owner; I felt like I was being scolded like an 18 year old in their dorm room. When I explained how I replaced the plants Jerome complained that the one plant in the back room was a smaller than the original! I wasn’t told I was going to be in charge of plants! I was trying to be a good guest by replacing them, even though this job was foisted upon me.
*This host also does request a cash deposit of 300 Euros, which is mentioned deep in the listing. We happily gave the cash deposit. After talking to AirBnB, they let me know that this practice, also, is not supposed to be allowed.
*In general, the whole tenor of Jerome’s vibe towards us seemed to turn on a dime when we were checking out. There was a drawer under the bathroom sink that apparently had come off one rail, although it was still functioning (opening and closing). Jerome said that WE had broken the drawer and would have to pay for it. Over a week later they said we didn’t have to pay for it, but this was only after consulting with Airbnb’s resolution center. I’ve never been in an AirBnB or a regular apartment, for that matter, where normal wear and tear of part of the unit was laid at my feet as an expense. In addition, AirBnB hosts are all covered for up to $1 million in damages. If we had actually DAMAGED the drawer somehow through carelessness or some other situation, I would have gladly paid for it. I found this to be predatory behavior and just plain petty and hostile.
Also note: we left lots of dry good groceries for the next guest to use (as is common in AirBnB’s).
In Conclusion:
Again, this is a lovely apartment. But, there are several caveats that I feel that the host was not honest about before our arrival. I’m very saddened that even though I tried to overlook those inconveniences and put my best food forward – I was met with a kind of hostile attitude that generally made me feel the owner/management/hosts were on the take.
Proceed with caution.