Since I’m a frequent user of Airbnb who regularly relies on reviews in order to select the places I choose to rent, I’d be doing a disservice to others to not be honest about my experience. Leading up to my trip, Cesar was incredibly responsive and helpful. He even agreed to let me drop off my bag before my official 3pm check-in so that I could walk around Madrid without worrying about my luggage.
When I arrived to the apartment to drop off my bag, I was greeted by a very nice woman who was in the apartment cleaning the space with a young man who was there. She let me drop off my bag and gave me a set of three keys with instructions to return at 2:30pm because that’s when the apartment would be ready. I took the keys, grabbed lunch and returned at 2:30pm. I was able to use one of the keys to entire the building, but then the key to enter the foyer which was going to give me access to the apartment door did not work. I tried the key several times and after about 30 minutes, I reached out to Cesar. I continued to send him messages and also reverted to calling him and finally after two hours I reached out to Airbnb for help; they were also unable to contact him. I spent a total of four hours on the floor in the hallway while Airbnb continued to try to reach him. Finally, neighbors, who share the foyer with Cesar, arrived and they kindly let me in. The key to the apartment door worked...luckily. As soon as I was in, i reached out to Airbnb and they tried to help me find a new place because without a functioning key, I wouldn’t have been able to leave the apartment. Airbnb’s customer service was excellent and they really went above and beyond (thank you, Lilian!).
I did not hear from Cesar until the next morning and his explanation was that he didn’t have adequate internet service because he is enjoying his own vacation in Peru. I explained to him that if he knew he wasn’t going to be accesible, he should have told me or Airbnb how to reach someone close by in the event of an emergency.
From what I can tell during the brief 5 minutes I was actually in the apartment, the space is exactly like it’s depicted in the photos, it looked very clean, and the location is great. Despite all of that, I cannot in good conscious recommend that one choose to stay. We are all human and allowed mistakes, but there are some basic common sense practices a host should utilize to ensure the safety of their guests if they are going to participate in Airbnb. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.