We were so excited for our first trip to Europe but unfortunately we were greeted with a terrible experience at Ines’ place. We arrived to no hot water in the apartment and after contacting Ines to try and have it resolved, we were told to push the reset button on the water heater several times on the first day of our stay which did not fix the problem and were then given a phone number of someone else who could help us (not the host). That person claimed they contacted the water heater company and the issue was “fixed remotely” on the second day of our stay, however, upon our return to the airbnb at 2am, wanting nothing more than a hot shower and some sleep it was not fixed. After being blatantly lied to for two days and more failed attempts to contact the host/this other person we had to leave and pay more money to stay in a hotel. Our stay was for one week and we could not go a week without hot water to shower in, especially with an outdoor shower on the rooftop exposed to the wind making it extra cold. Our other option was a cold bath in the tub inside the apartment. We actually used the smelly electric kettle to boil water and somewhat clean ourselves in the bathtub.
One day before our scheduled checkout date, we received a message from the host claiming someone had come to take a look at the water heater and stated the issue was fixed. She also sent us messages claiming people had come "again and again" to the apartment to check the water and called us rude for not spending our vacation time waiting to open the door for a repairman. At this point we were long gone to a hotel. Had we stayed, we would have been without hot water for the entire stay because based on other recent reviews on Ines' profile, it seems the issue is still not actually resolved.
She also accused us of stealing the key to the apartment and wanted to charge us an extra $50 to replace it as well as threatening to report a robbery to the police. This is after following her check out instructions perfectly and even contacting the supermarket where the instructions say to leave the key to confirm they’d received it from us. They had, they actually mentioned that they gave the keys to the host.
The listing states under the list of amenities that there is a TV, room darkening shades and a bluetooth sound system which is false. The listing also states that the property is waterfront with a view of the water, and the mountains which is also false. There are also some other false statements under the list of amenities but these are the most blatant ones in my opinion. We would have loved to stay as the terrace was great and the location was perfect for us. Many of the other problems were things that could have been easily overlooked but after such a bad experience and treatment from the host the little things really start to add up.
Our experience with the amenity not working, the hosts responses/lack thereof, apathy towards our concerns and the accusation of stealing the key soured the beginning of what should have been one of the best vacations of our lives. Be wary of this host, it seems like she is one to retaliate against guests who have issues with her listing according to previous reviews and now confirmed by our experience. Please check the reviews on her personal profile as well as the listing and stay tuned for her response.