Maybe it’s because we stayed in 3 Airbnbs over the last 2 weeks, but this one is…seriously underwhelming.
Pros: the location is convenient to a national rail station and the 2 beds in the second room gave my sons a tiny bit of their own space.
Cons the owners can’t do much to change: the apartment is on a VERY busy road. If you stay in the summer, either prepare to be hot, or bring ear plugs. The minute you open a window it’s really, really loud. Also, note it’s a rail station you’re next to, not a tube station. You’ll need 2 different types of tickets to get to central London.
Cons that can and should be fixed: the entire apartment is shabby and poorly maintained. I get that the last few years have been tough for Airbnb owners as some of my extended family owns a few. However, there are issues here that make this apartment both disappointing and gross. First, upon check-in with the housekeeper we were told about a “previous leak that was fixed now, but had damaged the entry light fixture, so it wouldn’t work.” Okay, fine. But where you look at previous reviews the light fixture has been broken for 2 years AND the leak was still active, which we discovered when we stepped in a puddle leaking from the toilet. The area around the glass in the shower is green and black with mold, as is the area around the toilet. The toilet brush was red with grunge and half the grout is gone from the floor tiles. There were at least 3 stairs where the carpet pieces were completely detached from the subfloor, exposing the strip of carpet nails. The curtains are pulling off the tracks and there is nowhere near the beds in either room to place eye glasses except on the floor.
Check out is 9 am, which is earlier than I’ve seen anywhere else in 25 years of traveling.
There was no house guide to refer to for instructions on operating appliances or with local recommendations.
And when I messaged the owner asking if there were light bulbs available for the upper hall light which didn’t have one in it, I was asked to buy it myself with a promise to be reimbursed. I’m sorry, I’m on vacation in a foreign country. I don’t know what type or wattage of bulb to get for that fixture, nor do I know where to go to find one.
Like I said, we stayed in 2 other Airbnbs this trip, next to the castle in Edinburgh and next to the Minster in York. Both were fabulous, cost less, and had more responsive hosts than this poorly maintained one outside of the central London ring. I would not stay here again.