Firstly, the communication was not ideal. We messaged in advance to ask whether there was an iron and ironing board in the flat and were told there was not, so didn’t bring items which needed ironing and ironed some items in advance. Then, when we arrived at the property there was an iron. The company doesn’t even know what it’s own properties have in them.
We also asked if an early check in was possible and were told their cleaners would need the full time to clean the property. We were told we could drop off our bags at 1pm but when we arrived and dropped our bags the cleaners had already been and gone. I think the reason for Hopewell not allowing early check in is because they don’t want to communicate with the cleaners and guests to arrange this for you.
This is reflective of the overall lack of care for the property and the experience of the customer due to this being a commercial lettings company.
When we first arrived at the property, we felt it was nice, but we went into the bedroom, we found a condom wrapper on the floor between the bedside table and bed. We then accidentally moved the bed to one side slightly when moving suitcases around and found a thick layer of several inches of dust underneath the bed. On closer inspection, there was thick dust and dirt between the drawers and wall and underneath all the furniture. There was no hoover or dustpan and brush at the property so we did not feel we could resolve this issue ourselves. We sent photographs to Hopewell, who didn’t offer to send a cleaner during our 3 night stay to fix it, and instead only offered a £24 refund, which was the cleaning fee minus the linen charge. So they didn’t even refund the full cleaning fee! When we explained we didn’t think this was suitable given the impact on our trip and enjoyment of the property, they told us this was all they could agree with their management team.
We later found that the oven was dirty and the only oven tray was in the cupboard dirty. We sent photos of this too to the company.
Overall, the apartment is fine but it is very poorly stocked - one pan, one dirty oven tray, very little cutlery, no cleaning equipment if you spill something or have an experience like ours, extra pillows but no extra pillow cases - and the bed is very small - really not big enough for two people. However, the most disappointing aspect of this rental was how little care and effort the company put into making it a good experience for their customers.
We wouldn’t come back and would always now try to hire Airbnbs from individual hosts rather than companies like Hopewell. Avoid.