Short version: An obnoxious host can kill your experience no matter which property you book. The host was super rude, overly offensive and did not want to move a finger, complained to AirBnb, blackmailed me and got very upset when I requested extra pillows and blanket etc. The photos are not accurate. This place apparently has not been deep cleaned for a long while and it feels filthy after you start living in it. I would not recommend this place at all if you want to enjoy your time in Istanbul.
Long version:
1. The apartment was super dirty upon arrival. It was organized but dirty. Not some regular dirt but more of an accumulated dirt. It seems like the building manager's wife is being hired to clean the apartment and apparently she is not doing a good job. The place was apparently never deep cleaned and they have been doing just a surface cleaning for a very long period of time. At a first glance it looks OK but as you live in there you realize everything feels filthy. There were no cleaning supplies in the apartment so we had to go out and buy to clean the place but no matter how much we cleaned the place almost magically kept getting dirty immediately. The dust and hair under the furniture and on top of the furniture kept spreading around. Some dirt was stuck and embedded onto the upholstery. The walls have large cracks all over the place and some ceilings seem to have leaked and dried.
2. The image shows a nice down-white duvet and 4 pillows in main room. In reality I found an old fleece blanket and two tempurpedic pillows on the bed. I contacted the host and mentioned it’s a hot summer and there is only one fleece winter blanket on the bed as well as tempurpedic pillows that are not comfortable at all. I kindly requested regular pillows and a regular blanket at least like the ones on the photo. The host refused to supply anything. The second bedroom also had very small two pillows and one duvet cover without a duvet in it. So again no blankets. Additionally that room did not have an A/C. The room is also very shallow since it’s a multi-angled roof and you can’t walk around without bending.
3. Seeing the place filthy and the host not accommodating essential needs I asked the host if I can cancel and move out immediately but she could still keep 2 days of booking fees as I wanted to do a courtesy. The host responded with a no cancellation and no refund policy. So I went shopping purchased towels, bedding sheets, pillows blanket etc. (and I left these for the host at the end of my stay)
4. Once I arrived home I realized the TV is not properly working. The listing says satellite TV but there wasn’t any at home. So I contacted the host. She said they don’t have Satellite but have Dish network. I checked also there was no active Dish network. When I wrote back to him she said he filed a complaint against me to AirBnb and started attacking me on chat. She said I was trying to negotiate.... She said I didn’t have enough money to pay and was causing problems etc to get discount. The only thing I asked was actually a blanket and two regular pillows…. I was very offended but I tried to explain to her that was not the case but she became more and more rude as I tried to communicate with her. Eventually around 8:30 PM at night she asked me to leave the apartment within 15 minutes if I wanted to cancel. At that point I had already shopped, cleaned and very tired coming from a 15 hours trip. I told her I was exhausted, it was such a short notice that I could not possibly leave that fast and find a place after all I have been through. She said her offer is no longer valid but then she sent a request from Airbnb to limit my stay to two days which I did not agree.
5. The towels they supply are as hard as a sand paper and unusable. Just one half toilet paper supplied for 15 days stay. The sheets didn’t seem very clean.
6. There is so much dust in the apartment that even though I’m not allergic I started to have issues with my breathing towards the end of my stay. The air conditioners filters have also apparently not been replaced for a long time.
7. Major issue: The apartment is on the top floor of a 7 story building. Actually this was apparently a loft and they converted it into an apartment. So you have to first take the elevator to top floor then you have to climb stairs to get to the apartment. This is not the issue. The real issue is that the apartment is next to the motor of the elevator. So every time someone operates the elevator there is an initial big banging noise followed by the operation noise of the elevator coming into the apartment. It gets pretty annoying especially in late afternoon and at nights as there are a lot of people goingin and out of the building and the elevator is constantly being operated.
8. The toilet has a broken flush. Luckily the smaller side flush works so I was able to use that one.
9. Several cats abd dogs in the building. It didn’t other me but if you are not animal friendly it may bother you as the tenants feed the cats on the street and many cats are greeting you when you arrive in front and inside the building.
10. No detergent, no cleaning agents etc were provided in th apartment so we had to buy everything. I stayed in several AirBnb’s all over the world and there were always some essential