My partner booked this for a birthday weekend away, and spent most of his time communicating with ravi. Ravi was initially good with getting back to us before we had arrived at the apartment, however 2 days into our stay, the WiFi dropped and we were unable to have access for almost 24hrs. I and my partner called and messaged Ravi, with no response or reply. Eventually we found the router outside of the apartment (above the first stairs) and managed to reboot it, after a few hours of struggling it came back on. Ravi didn’t respond until the afternoon of the next day, and this was a message to remind us of check-out the following day, and wishes we managed to get the WiFi working.
The apartment itself is nice, there is an adequate lounge area with two sofas and some decor on the table. There is a 6-8 person dining table which was great to put the food on.
The kitchen was the biggest disappointment! I myself am a chef, so wanted to cook something wonderful. When previously messaging with ravi, we specified that we were gonna be cooking/ if there was equipment to use. Apparently there was….
When we got there, we found ONLY 1 HUGE pan, 1 large saucepan. NO baking trays, OR basics of salt and pepper or tea/coffee or sugar OR foil/ clingfilm. There was NO cleaning spray or jay cloths, in order to keep things clean, and there was NO kitchen roll/tea towels (to dry dishes or your hands) and no bathroom floor mat (we ended up using the hand towel as the bathroom floor would get waterlogged once we had both showered). There were some utensils, more than any other equipment in the apartment… but unfortunately no bottle opener, so no wine was drunk on the first night!! I don’t actually remember seeing any knives or chopping bird (cooking not cutlery), so how is one supposed to chop or cook a meal within your apartment? Luckily, I carry my knives with me everywhere, and so we had something we could use.
It would be good for the owner to be more specific about equipment, especially if customers are staying for a longer duration… as buying all of the necessities was very expensive, and if I had known before, I would’ve brought my own stuff from home.
It was freezing when we arrived, so I went round and turned all the radiators on (it would be nice if the host had done this prior to us arriving, as it’s horrible to walk into a freezing apartment at 9pm as it took 2 hours to warm the whole place up). HOWEVER, once all the heating was on, it was really cosy and warm, perfect for our Harry Potter marathon!
Other notes, I think it would be nice to have simple furniture in the garden to sit on. Use better quality bin bags as the ones you provide are very thin, and split as you pull them out of the bin (its messy and a long process). Provide more than just two toilet rolls for 4 days of stay…
Maybe let people know about parking in the area as you have no parking? Parking on the weekend is free on the street where the door is, and across the road free from Saturday afternoon - Monday. You just need to check the signage carefully! Traffic wardens are hungry in the area, and will come around often.
Overall, the stay was pleasant, and I would like to thank ravi for hosting his flat. We would come back again, however I hope ravi takes note of the few things above. They are minor additions, but would transform his place into something better. I would also say, communication with your guests is also very important, if we have a problem, and you don’t pick up your phone, or reply to your messages…that is not okay. You are the host, and thus you should be responsible for making sure we are provided for and our needs met.
We hope you have a wonderful Christmas. Jade and hassan