Cecile's flat is right in the heart of central London. Unfortunately, that's where the positives end.
Cecile uses a local agent to manage her properties. On arrival at the office, the gentleman was extremely friendly and helpful.
Despite us arriving at the agreed time, we were advised the last person had not returned the keys and that we would have to go to the property and wait for the keys to be delivered.
We made our way to the flat and waited at the front door. While we were waiting the downstairs neighbor turned up. Clearly drunk at 2pm in the afternoon he shouted aggressively to his flatmate who threw the front door keys out of the window to him.
After around 25 minutes of us standing on the street with all our luggage, someone eventually arrived, handed us a key and rushed off.
The flat is not at all suitable for anyone with mobility issues. It is accessed by around five flights of incredibly steep and narrow stairs. As a 37 year old fit male, my husband was struggling by the time we reached the door with our suitcases. We had to traverse electrical cables that were leading up the stairs into a neighboring flat.
In arrival at the door to the flat, we noticed it was ajar. My husband entered before the rest of the family. Once inside we were met by an unknown male walking around. My husband asked what he was doing. He said he was doing maintenance, before rushing out. He was not carrying any tools or anything else to be doing any "maintinence ". As he left, he left the door open. I felt instantly unsafe as I had no idea who this guy was and he had to tools or anything else to substantiate his claim of being a maintinence man.
As it had been a long journey, we headed straight to the toilet. We were shocked to find the bowl covered in poo and urine on the floor. We instantly called the management people whom Cecile employs and in absolute fairness, they sent a cleaner back who arrived within around 15 minutes. She offered to clean the bathroom again.
While we were waiting for the cleaner we took a walk through the flat. It is filthy. The pictures online are incredibly misleading, the floors are dirty, walls are filthy and most shockingly one of the black chairs in the lounge upstairs was stained with what appeared to be white bodily fluids.
The flat had a very strange smell. We were concerned that smell was gas. I went to open a window in the bedroom, when I did so I found the aforementioned unknown male standing on the other side! I quickly closed the window again and was shocked to find there was no working lock. We were aware that this guy could enter the flat at any time!
Due to the unhygienic and unsafe nature of the flat, I called the management agency again to express my concerns. They explained that Cecile, the host was in Spain, where she lives and there was nothing they could do. No alternate accommodation was offered.
As a family we had a chat and decided that even if we could get past the fact the flat was filthy, we felt unsafe due to the unknown make and "down and out" downstairs neighbors. We could not stay in the flat despite having paid for 3 nights. We renurned the keys within 40 minutes of having been given them. We checked in to a local hotel and paid for the three nights again.
Before we arrived at the flat, Cecile was responsive to messages. When we requested an extra bed, she sent the request for more money within 10 minutes.
On the advice of the management office we contacted Cecile. She said she was sorry for the experience we had, however we are stunned when, despite all the above, she initially said she would not refund anything at all!
After some dialogue she offred to refund the cleaning fee, a tiny part of the cost of three nights accommodation.
I realised I was getting nowhere and contacted AirBnB directly. Once they saw the photographs I had taken of the flat including those of the toilet and appatent bodily fluids, Cecile agreed to refund only ONE night of the three we had paid for. She did not refund the extra bed she was so quick to ask for payment for.
When we raised our concerns about the smell of gas, Cecile advised us there was "no smell of gas". I am still confused how she managed to ascertain this, from Spain.
There are many awesome hosts on AirBnB. Hosts that care about their guests, their experience and comfort. Cecile does not appear to be one of them. She is clearly motivated purely by profit and does not want to know when anything goes wrong.
If you are looking for a place in central London and are not concerned about your security, not worried about the place meeting a level of cleanliness expected by the average person and willing to take a chance on a host that will want nothing to do with you when something goes wrong, then this may be the place for you.
If not, avoid this place AND HOST at all costs.