I am an experienced air bnb user in Switzerland with over 15 stays here across several years. Unfortunately this is the poorest experience so far here. Yet there are also positives as well. I hope readers will find this helpful. These hosts also seem to have a monopoly on Montreaux airbnbs - so to be aware of this for their other listings.
Wrong advertisement of self check in: The apartment is advertised as self check in with lockbox on Airbnb. This is important for guests like me who need to arrive at flexible times. I was contacted by one of the hosts Roman who informed me that I would need to contact a man called Edgar (also listed as a host), in order to meet Edgar outside of the building for the key. This meant changing my plans to organise a meeting in person. The opposite of self check in.
Breach of confidentiality: I was asked to SMS Edgar on his mobile number. I do not like to do communication outside of Airbnb messaging for safety- but I had seen Edgar listed as a host so thought it would be fine. Edgar never responded. Instead I was called by a number I did not recognise. I was then messaged by this number. Edgar had given my personal mobile number to a man I did not know, who is not listed as a host on Airbnb, and who said that instead of Edgar he would meet me outside the building to give me the key. As female travellers this is not a great scenario to be in.
Strange confidentiality issue: the man who met us never said his name. Instead of giving the key, this man took us to the apartment to show us around. A very nice gesture but he was a large tall man and shut the front door when we were in the apartment with him. This made us uneasy. He then asked for my identification and I let him take a photo of it. I found the request strange since Airbnb already does ID verification - so I gave him a redundant ID in the hope he would not notice. Thankfully he did not notice and left. He was a perfectly nice guy but (not his fault) the scenario for us was strange at this point. I acquiesced because I wanted him to leave and to avoid any potential conflict.
Communication or lack thereof: When I questioned why the apartment was not self check in Roman did not reply. Edgar never replied to me, and instead passed my personal mobile number to a stranger. There are no instructions for the wifi in the apartment. After requesting these I received the answer 3 hours later (from another host called Maria). When I wrote to ask how to fix the television which was not working (it didn’t connect to wifi or wired connection) - I was told by Maria to contact Edgar. I admittedly did not contact Edgar, since my last message to him received no response, and who knows which stranger he would pass my number to this time. In hindsight, why Maria couldn’t contact Edgar herself on my behalf was unclear.
Cleanliness: one of the beds does not have a sheet. Instead it had the cover of a duvet laid over the top of the bed which did not fit all the way. This is not great for hygiene in shared beds.
Positives: the views are amongst the best views I have experienced and the location is excellent.