The apartment is in a central location and was clean, but I had a very disappointing and frustrating stay here.
I booked and payed for 5 nights in advance with a non-refundable option. During the first evening and night I heard a very annoying and a recurring noise (sounded like a washing machine in its final spinning cycle) from a room next to my apartment (studio apartment). It started every 10 minutes and lasted for a couple of minutes (it later turned out that it was a boiler). Since the walls are quite thin, the noise doesn't need to be very loud to be disturbing.
It was not possible to stop the noise, because the door of this room was locked and there was no one from the company (they just replied per whatsapp, that they can offer me a different apartment the next day. But if no one is present, a message doesn't really help).
I was also already irritated because you need to download an extra app to check-in (that was not mentioned in the airbnb-description), which didn't work quite well and since I received the access code later than announced in a previous email (announced for morning, recevied in the afternoon just short before check-in time; which would be actually no problem if you have permanent internet, but if not, it is a problem - but at least it should be announced correctly).
So, I just wanted to check-out completely, because i had the impression that I won't get happy and comfortable here (I also realised during breakfast that you hear a lot of noises from outside, when a group of people was leaving their apartment it sounded like there are no walls/doors).
Based on the negative experience, I had the naive assumption that the apartment owners/hosts offer me a refund for not staying all 5 nights, but leaving after the first one, even though I have booked with a non-refundable option. But they denied a refund completely (not even offering a partial refund!), referring to their policies.
The people I spoke to (or better texted, because they were not willing to talk to me in person) said, that they "cannot" or are not "allowed" to grant a refund. Unfortunately it was not possible to talk to a responsible person.
So they offered me a different apartment (even an apartment of a higher category - probably becasue they had several free apartments during the week anyway), but didn't really consider the fact that I didn't want to stay there anymore.
As I said, there were a number of empty apartments (weekdays), so my bookling didn't prevent anyone else from a reservation (which could be an argument, if they are fully booked. but apparently that was only the first night SAT/SUN).
Some general things about the apartment:
In the apartment (no. 6), I didn't like that there only transparent curtains in the living room/kitchen area, so neighbours could see inside in the evening (not a big problem, but also not comfortable).
I have to say that the staff was supportive in the way, that they brought me a normal-sized pan, which was not part of the kitchen equipment. But for longer stays (more than a weekend) the existing kitchen equipment is more minimal than good.
All in all, the stay and the booking has dampened my mood a lot, as the situation could have been handled in a better way quite easily. Probably it was a mistake from my side to book so many nights in advance and not thinking about refunding options. On the other hand, the company presents themselves as very friendly and cooperative, but in the end they refer to their policies and kind of switch to mute (same answers, not real explantion why a refund is not possible). There is a lot of appeasement rhetoric, which doesn't really help and even makes you angry after hearing them repeatedly.
I think I've never written such a long comment anywhere, but this behaviour and treatment has annoyed and disappointed me such much, that I still don't understand it .
Probably, the company thinks they are right and they really offered me a good solution. But there was never any chance or motivation to find a solution that I was comfortable with too. So it was just take it or leave it....
If any of their apologies or expressions of understanding had been sincere, they could have easily offered me a refund (and still keep some money for the days I wasn't there anymore). But in the end it felt like you talked to a bot that got its instructions. So for me it was a waste of a lot of money...