A few great qualities about the flat. 1. The heated towel rack. 2. The flat smelled fresh and clean upon entry. 3. Very close to the train station. 4. Easy check-in!
The description of the flat “Modern and brightful apartment” was used to lure me in... for from the truth!!!
The negatives!! We booked this flat for 10 days. We arrived on Sunday 11/17/19. Smooth check-in. Once we got settled and were ready to shower and head out for the day...the shower drain was clogged. I emailed our host and she replied shortly after. Since it was Sunday she informed me that she couldn’t get anyone there until the next day. I mentioned to her that this wasn’t what I was expecting to deal with on vacation and asked her if she could refund me my money so I could find something that better suited my best friend and I. She asked to allow her to fix the problem first, I told her fine. Also the water was not adjusting to cold temperature and the water was scalding hot! So after 12+ hours of traveling we couldn’t shower or freshen up!
Monday afternoon the handyman arrives and unclogs the shower drain, and told me I had to twist the knob harder to adjust the water temperature to cold water. Great! Finally a shower!!!
Tuesday night the temperature dropped and we woke up Wednesday morning freezing our butts off! You can feel the draft from all three windows in the flat, reason why it was so cold in the morning! I looked around for a thermostat so I could turn the heat on...nothing to be found. I messaged our host yet again for another issue with the flat. She informed me she sent me info on how to turn the furnace on...with pliers!! I used these pliers, turned the furnace on, waited 10 minutes and still no heat. I messaged my host another time telling her there was no heat and the flat was freezing cold since it’s late evening. She informed me because of the time she couldn’t get anyone out until the following day and if her colleague could enter for repairs. I’m on vacation, I’m not here to deal with issues that should have been fixed before my arrival. I’m also not going to sit around and wait for someone to come by to fix the furnace- when I should be out exploring and enjoying my vacation! Also I’m not going to trust just anybody with my belongings, since we literally just filled the flat with shopping bags. I asked again if she could let me just leave, charge me for however many nights I stayed and refund me the rest. She asked me to be understanding and let her fix the issue. That night we slept in our pajamas, socks, thermal long sleeves and also a sweatshirt. Thursday morning I woke up and turned the oven on, opened the oven door to get some heat into the flat! My host messaged me and told me she couldn’t get anyone there between the times I gave her and if I could leave the keys in the lockbox so someone could come by and fix the furnace. Yet again, I told her I didn’t feel comfortable. I told my host the I left the heater on all night, was hoping eventually the heater would warm up. It never did, I could have possibly breathed in fumes from the furnace as well since I left it on all night. There were no carbon monoxide detector which the flat listed it had in the amenities. Also the two smoke detectors the flat had were broken- no batteries inside or cover on the outside of it.
Another issue with the flat which was not listed in the description was that it’s across the street from a school and you would hear screaming kids play during recess! For 3 mornings straight we were woken up by the noise and being jet lagged that’s not what I wanted to deal with!
The flat is extremely bright! In her description of the flat that is very very true! The curtains were thin so the light still peaked through! At night the street lights are so bright in shines right through the curtains!!
The upstairs neighbors are extremely loud! Every footstep, every slam, every conversation and you can hear them climbing up and down the stairs as well!!
All while this Was happening I was in constant communication with Airbnb customer service to get some sort of assistance. It lead me completely no where! They were not sympathetic at all to the situation, one case manager had the audacity to tell me, “because the place is not up to my standards” they couldn’t refund me my money! Who would want to stay in these conditions, and and how is this flat up to anyone standards?! Can you imagine being on vacation and feeling completely uncomfortable and your value time being drained by issues that shouldn’t be happening!
Finally Thursday, after several messages back and forth the host FINALLY agreed to let me leave. She charged for 5 nights plus cleaning fees even though we stayed for 4. She wouldn’t negotiate even though my stay with her was completely disastrous!!!
If you want to enjoy your vacation, do not book this flat!