My goal is to write an honest review about our stay without meaning to throw any shade.
The location of the airbnb is very nice. If you wish to be close to the beach, then Barceloneta is your best bet. It's one of the most historical and oldest parts of the city. We decided to stay in this area for about 6 weeks because we wanted to enjoy the last of the summer heat and be by the beach. We decided to book this particular airbnb because it was one of the only ads that did not have an added cost for utlities mentioned in the bio. After they confirmed our booking they sent us a private message letting us know that infact there was an extra charge for the utilities and that we could either pay it to them or rebook with the corrected price. When we argured against it, they decided to cancel anyways. Although we were upset and found it a bit unprofessional, we ultimately decided that we would rebook with the new price because there were not many other options available during our stay in Barceloneta. This should have been a hint of what was to come.
The check-in went very smoothly. We had really good communication and they showed us and explained to us about the airbnb as per usual. There are cameras in the flat that the owner had installed. Two were covered and the third we ended up putting a post-it on it. They said that they aren't on during our stay but that they keep it for security mesaures. Understandable, since it is Barceloneta. We felt that the flat was a bit dusty. Based on the reviews at the time, it didn't seem like they had not had any recent stays so I am unsure if they had people before us. The vaulted ceiling was a really nice feature but it was not glazed over so we feel that over time and with the neighbors stomping upstairs (which was a lot and mostly at night, also not the fault of the airbnb hosts) that dust fell from there quite regularly. It made the flat dirty faster.
The kitchen only had a half fridge, which we didn't notice when we booked. If you aren't much of a cook, then this would be no problem. However, my partner and I work from home and cook almost all our meals. We found that kitchen wasn't particulary stocked with many kitchen supplies that one would need. For example, there was only one mini sized cutting board. We could only cut one fruit/ veg or whatever at a time. There were no tea towels or cleaning towels either. There was also almost no cleaning supplies. I understand it is an airbnb but usually there are some sorts of supplies to start with but we had to go out and buy a lot. I'm sure we spent more than the cleaning fee we had paid already.
The bedroom was nice. Another reason we decided to book was because of the wardrobe. However, when we got there almost all of one was filled with bedding and sheets and some miscellaneous supplies. I had to reorganize in order to have our things in there. Also, they gave us 6 hangers. We were staying for 6 weeks and only had 6 hangers for our things. That means 3 for me and 3 for my partner. LOL. So yet again we had to go out and get some hangers. There was also no laundry basket therefore we kept our dity clothes in a suitcase. We also brought in a mirror because there is only one in the bathroom and since I am relatively short, I could see my head. But that's just me.
All of these concerns were brought up to our hosts one week after we arrived. The day after, we found a cockroach under the sink. Again, we went out to purchase things to kill it and we decided that we would wait to mention it til they replied. They did not reply for a week and within that time we went away for three days and when we returned we found 3 dead cockroaches. After this we were very upset with the communications and messaged them again with pictures. We asked for a refund on the cleaning fee and for someone to come and take care of the situation. We have stayed in a airbnb in Barceloneta before and never had this situation happen. We also could hardly ever open the windows because there were so many flies. Fruit flies are inevitable but here it was like raining them. They did reply finally, apologized and they agreed to have someone come and clean the flat and put cockroach traps and also sent us some more kitchen supplies through Amazon.
After that, we only really commincated when it was time for us to check out.
If you would like to come and stay for maybe two weeks, this place is not so bad. But after our 6 weeks exprience, we don't really recommend it. After everything, it didn't really make us feel comfortable and also affected our relationship so lets just say the juju was there from the beginning.
Just trying to leave an honest review. That is all.