WARNING: DO NOT RENT THIS APARTMENT!
So... We'll start with the good part: great location, quite a nice and modern apartment, although poorly maintained.
And now for the more problematic part - extremely unhelpful, dysfunctional and rude host, who lack the most basic understanding regarding his responsibility as a host. And this is how the story goes - we arrived at the apartment and noticed immediately that it was a bit cramped and not very highly maintained. Upon arrival, we were welcomed by laundry of towels hanging in the apartment's kitchen, blocking the kitchen's cupboards. Kevin, the host, explained to us that it was the apartment's laundry that did not dry so they just left it hanging there. We thought that it was a little strange and unprofessional but hey, we're cool people so who cares about a few towels hanging and blocking the kitchen's cupboards? little did we know...
When Kevin left us, he gave us one set of keys. we asked for another one since we are a family of four with two teenagers and knew that some of the time we will split. Kevin told us he had only one set with a chip to enter the building. After we insisted, he gave us another set, saying it was his set, but without the entrance chip. Instead, he gave us the building's entrance code. That seemed like a logical solution. Unfortunately we quickly found out that the code wasn't working. We called Kevin who insisted that the code was indeed working. Time after time we tried operating the code but alas, the code wasn't working... For the next two days we were calling Kevin again and again, and he kept insisting that the code was working. After two days of inconvenience, we asked Kevin to please come and show us how to operate the code. Edouardo, another host called us with a message from the landlord: If he comes and the code is working, we will have to pay another 50 pounds for this service. We were quite shocked by the rude attitude. Edouardo did arrive, and off course found out that the code indeed wasn't working and moreover, the reason was bad relationship between the the neighbors and the apartment owners that led to the cancellation of the code. Well, at that point we weren't surprised... So, we were left with only one set of keys. Neither Kevin nor Edouardo thought that they should try and do something about it. We were told that this was the situation and we should somehow manage and by the way, not a word of apology about the rude remark about us having to pay extra 50 pound if the code was working. At that point, our expectations were quite low but the worst was yet to come...
The next day we woke up to a drain blockage in the toilet. Not a mild inconvenience but a serious health hazard. We immediately called Kevin, who promised to take care of it. We left the apartment and came back 8 hours later to literally the same shit. Nothing was being done. the toilet was still blocked. I called kevin to try and understand what the hell is wrong and why the hell he didn't call the plumber and took care of the blocked toilet. Apparently, kevin did not think that there was any urgency. He informed me that due to the late hour he didn't think that he will be be able to get any plumbers today. "But Kevin"' I told him, "You had 8 hours to take care of the shitty toilet. Why didn't you do that???" Kevin's answer was astonishing. Kevin explained to me that this was actually our fault, since only we had the apartment's keys and we "forgot" to deliver the keys to him. I was left speechless... At that point. we totally gave up the idea of getting any basic service from the useless Kevin. Luckily, the hubby is the handiest guy on earth. He went down to a store at the end of the road, got some equipment and took care of the blockage himself! Quite a unique vacation activity... Unbelievable!
Needless to say that after all these ordeals we haven't heard a word from Kevin during the rest of our vacation. Apparently He didn't think that it was his responsibility as a host to ask us how we are doing or show any interest in our wellbeing, not to mention apologizing for all the discomfort and inconvenience caused to us throughout our vacation.
So... Go to London, it's a great city, Sleep in Fitzrovia, it's a charming neighborhood in an amazing location, but whatever you do, do yourself a favor and DO NOT RENT THIS APARTMENT!