Dishonesty and unprofessionalism in a beautiful apartment complex on the Thames.
The listing said the apartment is 5 minutes from the Fulham-Broadway station. Of course, you don't know the address of the airbnb until you've paid for it, so I messaged to confirm that it was indeed a 5-minute walk. I explained to Francesca why I was asking: my traveling companion had recently had a hip replaced, and while we both love to walk, walking longer distances was an issue right now. She responded, "Yes, that's correct. A 5-minute walk." Nope. Not even close. It's a 22-minute walk, 8-minute cab ride and 11-minute bus ride from the flat to Fulham Broadway station. Of course, I didn't discover this until it was too late; I'd already paid in full in advance, per airbnb rules. This was disappointing to say the least. I messaged Francesca and asked about the 5-minute thing. She didn't respond, so 24 hours later I sent a second message asking for an explanation. Her response: "The Imperial Wharf tube station is just 9 minutes away from the flat." Wrong again. It's a 19-minute walk. And no explanation for the "5 minutes to Fulham Broadway" thing.
It's almost like she said what I wanted to hear so she would get the booking. And my friend had to walk a lot more than planned, which caused her a lot of pain. Just shameful, really.
Multiple reviewers mentioned it's hard to find the place, and concur: It's really hard finding the place.
One reviewer pointed out that there's no clothes dryer, even tho the listing says there is. Francesca responded to that review, saying she would remove that from the listing, but last time I checked, it still said there was a dryer.
"Check in" involved sitting on the ground in a nearby plaza fumbling with a lockbox in the rain.
The House Rules manual is extensive and punctuated with threats of fines if the rules are broken. Bit of a downer, really. The first rule: Tell NO ONE at the complex that you're staying there as an airbnb customer. Side note: the flat has a lovely balcony, but there's no furniture on this balcony, just dirty empty flower pots. Of course, if there were furniture on the balcony, the people living in the building would quickly figure out the place was an airbnb when they saw a constantly changing array of strangers sitting on the balcony. Any case, a balcony without furniture is pretty useless.
Francesca asked me multiple times when we'd be checking in. Every time, I said the same thing: 3:00. Shorty before check-in, she messaged me that the unit wouldn't be ready at 3:00. "Please confirm if it is ok for you." Not even sure what this means. Did I have an option? Any case, check in was delayed by a couple hours.
Here's an odd thing: There are multiple table lamps in the apartment, and not a single one works. They're all broken. I don't mean the bulbs are burned out. I mean they're broken. The one exception: the desk lamp in the living room does work.
Finally, the apartment complex itself is lovely (or it will be when the rampant construction is done), but as others have pointed out, there's nothing nearby in terms of restaurants, bars, shopping, etc. except for a Sainsbury.