This was a disappointing stay. We booked to stay from a Sunday night through Wednesday night. Due to an emergency we couldn’t check in on Sunday night so we messaged them to say we would check in Monday morning. I was told that was fine. On Monday morning I called the number provided to enquire about access to the building. We were told that there is someone doing check in and it will be fine. That we should come right away.
We lugged our suitcases into the building and entered. We were greeted by a check-in attendant who welcomed us and facilitated our check-in. She asked for our passports, and then she took our city taxes. Then came the bombshell: “You can’t actually enter the flat now. The apartment isn’t ready.” I was confused because we were checking in 12 hours later than planned. She went on to explain that mysteriously there was no water or electricity in the apartment and it needed to be fixed and we won’t be able to enter the apartment for some HOURS.
Imagine looking forward to settling in and having a rest only to be told AFTER check in that we would now have to find somewhere else to go!
The problem I have with this is no one messaged me to say the apartment had a problem. Even though I called ahead. What was particularly slimy is the check-in attendant waited until she took our city taxes to say we couldn’t enter the flat. She knew full well once we entered the building. An honest person would tell us upfront and let us make the choice over whether to stay there or not. But it’s clear they wanted to make sure they had our money first. We were therefore boxed in with no choice but to find somewhere to be for some hours.
This is a building with several flats. But mysteriously only THIS flat had no water or electricity. We asked if we could at least put our bags in the flat while they fixed these problems and she said no. Odd.
I noticed there were no workmen in the building. No electricity or water is a big problem that would require major fixes. So I asked how long we needed to stay away to wait until we could check in. The attendant then turns to the cleaner and asks her in Spanish how long it would take to CLEAN the apartment. The check-in attendant was not aware that I speak Spanish. The cleaner told her two hours and then the check-in attendant relayed to me we would have to wait two hours. So one apartment out of several has no water or electricity, but this would take exactly two hours to fix? We guessed at this point that because we said we weren’t going to check in on the Sunday night, they rented the flat to someone else and it needed to be cleaned. They were perhaps too embarrassed to admit this so they lied to our faces and said there was no electricity or water.
She offered to pay for our breakfast which was a nice gesture.
Once we got in to the flat, we used the bathroom sink and it completely filled up! The water never went down. We told the check-in attendant and no one was ever sent to fix it. This is odd. If you recently had an electricity and water problem, surely you have access to workmen and a plumber. But you NEVER attempted to fix the sink during our stay.
We brushed our teeth in the kitchen sink the whole time.
Not a huge deal but when you pay for a flat with a bathroom, you hope you can use the bathroom.
I would be careful of staying here. It’s a big operation. It is a building with several flats. And it is managed by a team - albeit poorly and dishonestly.
Problems arise sure, but what I cannot tolerate is being lied to and feeling like I was swindled which is how this felt. Again, you don’t wait until someone has fully checked in and given their money for you to announce that they can’t enter the very flat they paid for to say in from the night before. It made you look shady, slimy, and dishonest. It left a really bad taste in my mouth. Then your refusal to do anything about the sink further underscored to me the kind of dishonest operation you are running here. Bottom line is they
Want your money but they don’t really care about your stay.