That was my worst Airbnb experience to date! I initially booked the apartment for a couple of weeks. I arrived on the day of my birthday at 3 pm Istanbul time. The place reeked of cigarettes (and even though it said that that it was a non-smoking apartment, it had an ashtray right in the room!). I tried airing the room out but an hour later understood that it was absolutely futile, the smell was so strong that it just wouldn't go away. I contacted Irem right away and she told me she'd send a cleaning lady to help me look at another room in the building and that I could move there if it didn't smell. I agreed to that and then Irem stopped replying! It was getting dark, I couldn't leave the apartment as I was waiting for that cleaning lady and for the issue to be sorted out.
I was tired after my flights, hungry (and had no food on me), and I was having a headache from that cigarette smoke. It was also getting dark outside. Irem reappeared in 3 and a half hours, telling me that her phone battery died and that she couldn't reply to me. By that time I already contacted Airbnb and asked for their help. After reappearing, Irem told me that I could go grab a key and take a look at one of the other rooms (the key was there all along so I could've easily looked at that room right when I texted her first). I went into the other room and it smelled just as bad. There was also cigarette smoke in the hallways and on the stairways and since there is space under the door, the smoke can get in that way. Also, it gets through the vent in the bathroom. After realizing that, I requested a refund from Irem as I wanted to move to a new place. She replied with "sure" and disappeared for another 3 hours!!! By that time it was already 11 pm in Istanbul and I had to move out at 11 am the next day. I didn't even know if she'd refund the money and I was frantically searching for a new place.
Finally, she reappeared again, agreeing to refund the money and I was able to book a new place. I had to spend a night at that place and woke up with a horrible headache (because of cigarette smoke). The place also has really very poor sound isolation, and looks "worn out" and not as good as it does on the photos.
My birthday was ruined completely and I had to pay for it too! If you are curious, you can go to my profile and look up the reviews, I gave positive reviews to all other hosts and places where I stayed at, and have been positively reviewed by the hosts.
This is the first time I've had such an unreliable host and such a bad experience. Just wanted to warn others! Fortunately, I was able to find another place and am now enjoying my stay in Istanbul.