I’ve been staying in Airbnbs for 8 years but this the first one we’ve booked through a professional host, and it was a very different experience. First the positives. The location is great and the flat is OK and as described. We walked everywhere in Lausanne and it’s so easy to get a train out of the city. The balcony is great to have and the beds were comfortable.
Sadly there were negatives, which was disappointing as the rental isn’t cheap. You can see in the living room photo that wallpaper is just starting to peel away behind the sofa, we found it’s been torn even more and in one of the bedrooms and gives the flat a neglected feel.
The kitchen is finished to a pretty low standard with a slatted garden table serving as the main work surface, which is obviously too low and unhygienic. There were frustrating small things, like the knives were blunt which made preparing food difficult, and the shower drained very slowly. There was no plug in kitchen sink and one tea towel provided for the entire week. Little things that could easily be resolved.
It was incredibly hot while we were there, but we only had 2 fans between the 3 bedrooms.
There was nowhere with a mirror to dry hair or do makeup except the bathroom, and when 5 of us were using the bathroom, it just wasn’t possible.
The lock on the bathroom door is very stiff, and if you’re not all family (as we weren’t) then it can be an issue.
There were no instructions for how to use the TV. We couldn’t get any channel to play, which was frustrating when we had really wanted to watch the final of the Women’s Euros.
Communication from Maria was poor. She messaged on our first day to check we were ok, but didn’t respond to my reply with a couple of small queries, so I thought there was no point in asking anything else, particularly over the Swiss holiday weekend.
Thankfully the negatives were small and overall the positives outweighed the minuses.