We had significant issues staying at this place and had to cancel the reservation after just a few days into a 3 week stay. The host’s attitude and written harassment was the icing on the cake.
Most significant issue: both my girlfriend and I found the shower very slippery. You have to step up quite high to get into the tub. The tub is very smooth and slopes upwards toward the back. There are no handrails. My girlfriend fell, twisted her ankle, and hit her chin on the edge on the tub. Since the bleeding did not stop, we ended up spending half the day in the hospital to get the wound sealed.
When I brought the issue up to Ali and requested an anti-slip bath mat, he said they do not provide mats as some guests think they are unsafe. When I insisted that this is a safety issue and the problem needs to be fixed, I got a lecture on manners and was told this is not a safety issue. When I mentioned I would bring up the safety issue to Airbnb, Ali said he would also provide his comments to them. This passive-aggressive harassment disguised as politeness really put me off.
We moved out a couple days later. When we checked in, Ali handed us the keys and told us quite explicitly to leave them in the mailbox upon check out. Right before cancelling the reservation, I left the keys in the mailbox as instructed. About an hour later, I received a call from Airbnb saying the keys could not be located. I told Airbnb and wrote to Ali that they were left in the mailbox as instructed. Ali told me I was not instructed to leave the keys in the mailbox. I suspect this gaslighting is an attempt to manufacture a case against us.
Other things you should know, mostly flaws but not dealbreakers:
- The flat is quite spacious, although it is a bit more beat up than what you see in the pictures
- It is close to the highway, so there is traffic noise if you open the windows.
- The place was relatively clean upon move in, but the cleaner was still there when we arrived at the agreed upon move in time because the previous guest checked out late. Not a huge deal, but it would have been nice to shower right after arriving from a 10 hour flight.
- We noticed it smelled quite bad near the kitchen sink area. I saw there was a trash can under the sink that likely had not been emptied in a while. So I had to take out the trash for previous guests.
- If you are a hot sleeper, best to look elsewhere. The windows in the bedroom are not operable, because the flat faces the highway and an extra layer of glass was added, probably for soundproofing. The fan provided does not cool the bedroom down enough for my tastes. Like most UK flats, there is no air conditioning. I believe it was around 25-26C in there at night.
- The shower and kitchen sink drained very slowly. I purchased drain cleaner to fix the shower drain. I find it comical that Ali offered to send over a plumber but could not provide a £10 bath mat.
- Paper towels, cooking oil, salt, and pepper are not provided in the kitchen. A used sponge was left in the sink, wet. Would have been nice to have a new sponge and paper towels at the very least.
- There are some restaurants and shops nearby, and the Canning Town DLR/Jubilee station is a 5-minute walk away. Although not ideally located, for the price, it would have been fair if there hadn’t been any issues.
So, this place would have been fine for the price had we not had the experience above. If you stay in this place, be aware that if anything goes wrong, you may get an attitude and harassment from the host. We’re not expecting Ritz-Carlton levels of service at this price point, but safety is important at any price. Considering the amount paid, a few small concessions and a friendlier host were all we would have needed to be happy.