Spacious apartment but……
NOTE: Host does not follow 2 important airbnb rules: She came into the apartment when we were not there without telling us (and stopped all communication when we asked her about it) and she charged us the tourist tax fee (~7eur per day if >16 years old) which is something she is supposed to either let renters know in her airbnb ad or in correspondence with the renters before they reserve
One the positive side:
-This apartment is well situated in the gothic quarter. It is a 10 min walk to the beach and has restaurants, grocery market, and stores near by…GREAT LOCATION
-It is on the 4th floor walk up (69 narrow stairs)…burn off the calories you eat during the day :) The apartment has character
-The layout of the apartment is great. We are a family of 5 and the three bedrooms are are opposite end of each other, giving lots of privacy
-The living room is spacious and has air-conditioning (note: the AC unit cools the main space but not the bedrooms..we actually had to pull out the main mattress to the living room because it was too hot to sleep in the bedroom)
-The host provided suggestions for restaurants and came back to help us figure out the TV for the kids
On the negative side:
1) The apartment was dirty. It needs a good cleaning. More specifically:
Bathroom: The tub is old and stained but we were able to get it cleaner with a good scrub. The walls look dirty. it is cluttered…I counted 15 bottles of left over shampoos/conditioners people have left behind . (note: the tub drink slowly which we we were informed was due to the old pipe system)
Kitchen: There was old coffee grinds in the coffee machine when we got there. The utensil jar had utensils on it that had not been cleaned properly. There are utensils that don't work (e.g., broken bottle opener)…it needs a really good clean and some decluttering.
Rooms: There were hairry dustballs under the bed in the kids room. One of the beds did not have an undersheet /protective layer on the mattress. The protective cover on the main bed looked dirty (stained?) when we took sheets off.
2) The apartment could be better equipped
-Knives are super dull
-I went out and bought a sponge to do dishes because the one there was super old
-There was one dish drying towel for our 10 day stay
-There was no change of towels or bedding for our 10 day stay
-No dustpan
-To dry clothes you have to hang them off a drying rack over the balcony and there were limited clothes pins (had to run out and buy some)
3) It is a bit noisy at night.
There is a small square outside of the apartment and people hang out and drink there…it can be loud at night. the noise is manageable if you keep the windows and shutters closed…it did not prevent my kids from sleeping.
We have travelled extensively and have stayed in lovely old apartments….this was not one of them. It would not take much to make this a great place to stay but for now, it is not worth what we were charged for it. We would not stay here again.