This was the dirtiest place we have ever rented on Airbnb. It's a shame that we cannot leave any photos. The place was cleaned on the surface; beds made and quick wipe down. However there was so much dust on everything, and every surface was dirty and sticky. The floors were very sticky.
It was a very sketchy building with dog feces and trash on the long balcony which connects all the flats. The stairwell smelt like urine and a man who was mumbling to himself grabbed my son by the arm to express to him something incoherent. We quickly realized we were in a subsidized housing building and not the luxury apartment close to downtown that was advertised. The flat is quite far from everything, grocery stores included.
While it saddens me to write this review the owners; Kay (whom we never talked to or communicated with) and Tamara were not receptive nor willing to find a reasonable solution to our concerns. Our family was upfront and honest with the owners and very cordial in our communications while sharing our concerns with them and stating that we did not feel safe.
Before booking, I had asked if we could drop our luggage off at the apartment in the morning (before our check-in) as our train would arrive early. Tamara responded that there would be no problem. However the night before our stay she sent me messages to ask me for new fees for the early check-in (20£ to leave our luggage early and 40£ for an early check-in). This was the first sign something was brewing. We paid the fees because we had to if we didn't want to carry our luggage all day.
Once we arrived at the apartment around 12pm, I communicated with her to ask if the place had been cleaned. Her answer was 'I am confused as I don't know what you mean by that....', clearly insinuating that the place had been cleaned and prepared. Furthermore, the extra bed for our kids had been prepared as asked and so this proved that the place had indeed been cleaned.
Once we had announced to the owners (before our check-in time) that we would not be staying there due to the mentioned concerns expressed. We then proceded to inform airbnb clientele service of the situation. Tamara demonstrated double standards and was having 2 contradicted discussions with both us and airbnb clientele service. On the one hand she acknowleged our concerns after we sent her pictures as proof stating that she would get back to us after discussing the issue with her 'management team'. On the other, she told Airbnb that the state of the flat reflected the fact that the cleaners had not yet come. After many attempts to resolve the matter in a very civil way she finally responded 2 days later stating that unfortunately there was nothing she could do for us. Her answer was that her partner would not aknowledge our concerns as the place was not ready due to early check-in and they weren't given the chance to clean it properly. This position in my humble opinion made no sense whatsoever as Tamara did aknowledge that the place was cleaned prior to our arrival and that she would follow-up after receiving the pictures we sent her. Her change of position within the next 48hrs shows great lack of character and a tremendous lack of offering her clients a good service. We ended up renting another flat which was way bigger and modern off another platform for cheaper in Pattington (way closer to closer to downtown).
The fact that our family was willing to lose over 600 dollars by not staying at this place should be enough to convince anyone how bad this situation was.