I planned to book this place for one month, as the location was good, being close to Portobello Road, but I sadly left half way through my stay.
I paid a premium price for ‘what I thought’ was going to be a premium flat.. but sadly the flat is incredibly overpriced for the poor condition it’s in.
I found the hosts communication immediately slowed down after the full payment was made in advance.
On check in, the flat was not professionally cleaned, the place was covered in hair and dust and on arrival I could smell there was a sewage smell lingering around the flat.
In the wardrobe where I hung my belongings, I found two sacks filled with dirty bedsheets and towels, I believe was from previous tenants.
The washing machine, dishwasher, coffee machine was all out of use.
No clean towels, bedding, toilet roll, hand soap, shower gel, bins bags, coffee pods on arrival - these items are the basic needs and maintenance before a long term tenant checks in. The host did fix these issues one week after check in, but unfortunately the problems didn’t stop there..
12 days later I was able to use the washing machine, I stripped the bedsheets to find the pillow I was sleeping on was covered in nasal mucus (snot).
From then I decided to check out early, because the place was dauntingly unhygienic - especially after covid and the premium price I had paid, this was unacceptable.
I felt I had been cheated so I requested a refund, but the host made me out to be ‘difficult’ and messaged me saying:
‘I am leaving for personal reasons and not because of the flat and that I didn’t have a real justification for leaving early’!
Which left me feeling that I was not treated in a respectful manner.
I wasn’t given a refund due to the ‘cancellation policy’ no matter what condition their property is in.
At the very minimum you would at least expect the property to be professionally cleaned and basic maintenance before check in - which is their job to be sorted beforehand.
Sadly, overall my experience at this property was careless and unacceptable, losing an incredible amount of money along the way.