Our stay at Angel’s flat has been the worst experience with Airbnb by far. It’s difficult to know where to start as it went so wrong in so many ways. AVOID IT IF YOU WANT TO HAVE A PEACEFUL AND A SMOOTH STAY. CHEAP CAN BE COSTLY.
To start with, the condition of the flat is way worse than what you see in the photos and it needs proper refurbishing, including renewing appliances.
Pre Booking
Since we were travelling with our 4-months old baby and we were staying for a whole month, we were after a few basics to make our stay as smooth and pleasant as possible, so we asked Angel if there was any chance my mother-in-law could visit the flat prior the booking (my partner is from Barcelona) He said it was too much of a hassle but he assured us it would be perfect for us and our little one. Trusting him was a big mistake.
Cleanness and hygiene
On our first couple of days of our booking we had to clean all over again the dining room and the kitchen as both were dirty. As we were celebrating my partner’s birthday we couldn’t wait for Angel to get someone to clean the same day. On the third day, we had to do some laundry with our baby clothes. Our big surprise was that her clothes came out full of dirt! I checked the washing machine and the rubber is all covered in black mould. Really disgusting and obviously unsanitary. FYI The dryer was in a pretty similar condition.
Also, we decided to not use the small bathroom as it has fungus all over the wall of the shower with everything rusty.
Appliances & other commodities
The mattress of the main bedroom is old and you can feel its springs. He told us “it’s a matter of taste”The blinds in both bedrooms don’t work, but in Angel's own words “they have been broken for the past 5 years and no one has complained, so I won’t fix them.”
Besides the problem with the washing machine and the dryer, we found out after celebrating my partner’s birthday, the dishwasher is not working. Well it works, but the box where you add the soap tablets doesn’t, so there’s no point in using it just with water.
I could go on and on with other small things here and there. Like when the guy who came to do the check-in found out that the entrance door handle was broken, and they had to fix it whilst we were unpacking.
Customer Service
The first time we asked Angel to fix all the above, he suggested that if we were not happy we could cancel, but after telling him all we were asking were basic things he agreed to try to solve the problems. He sent someone to clean the flat, including the washing machine. But they couldn’t remove the black mould, and as you can imagine we were not willing to use it again. So we told him that and he again said it would be best if we cancel the booking and get our money back. Even though you could think Angel was being kind, he manages 10+ flats and he understands the renting market and he well knew finding a new place for a whole month in Barcelona was almost impossible. Not to mention he could picture the big hassle of moving 6+ big suitcases and the endless baby gear.
The 2nd time we claimed the washing machine and the dishwasher problems we got a message from him telling he didn’t want us in his flat anymore and that he had contacted Airbnb to tell them so and to ask them to help us find a new place for us. He told us he would give us a full refund if we were leaving the next day no later than 11AM. You could argue that’s fair, but far from it. Finding a flat for a whole month in Barcelona in the middle of a pandemia while travelling with a 4 months old baby is not just impossible, but a massive hassle. Basically he kicked us out knowing we would struggle to find a home jeopardising the safety of our little one.
Last but not least, as we didn’t trust him anymore we asked for someone to come and do the check out and confirm that we left the flat in perfect condition. He refused saying “he didn’t want to see us at all” as if we were criminals. We agreed to leave at 11 AM (took photos and video recorded everything) but at 11.20 we were still waiting for the taxi, and carrying some of the bags downstairs so we crossed paths. He was so rude, and when my partner went back to pick up the bin bags that we forgot, he even tried to accuse us of breaking the toilet tank of the WC we barely used. Ridiculous!