This was my third stay at Arielle’s. It’s a great apartment in a great location. No issues there. But here are some significant issues:
This time I paid around $6,000 for a 2 week stay. Pricey for sure, but that was fine and my decision. It’s a nice apartment and convenient to see my family who live nearby. But when being opportunistically asked to pay ~2x what I paid just a few months ago, and costing as much per night as a good central London hotel, I have some basic expectations. So here are the issues:
1. The toilet was dirty on arrival with an unflushed stool inside
2. The tap in the bathroom dripped loudly and continuously throughout my stay and was audible from the bedroom and kept me up. Despite calling and texting the management company multiple times, they did not fix it or even bother to get back to me. I note that a prior review by another visitor mentions the dripping tap, so this represents a long-standing and organic failure to respond to guest feedback and perform basic maintenance
3. There was a wholly inadequate supply of soap (one small bar) and toilet paper (one partially used roll)
4. At week one I enquired whether they planned to provide me with clean sheets and towels. I was informed that this was ‘not part of the deal’. I asked to discuss this with the owner and was stonewalled. So I was left with the same sheets and minimal supply of towels for the whole 2 week stay.
Arielle, if you are reading this, have some basic respect for your guests. Management company, if you are reading this, have some basic professionalism.
It’s a nice apartment in a great location, but if you charge top dollar rates and even if you charge basic rates, be professional, respect your guests, maintain the property to the appropriate standard, and if you don’t want to bring the cleaner in for longer stays, then at least provide extra sheets and towels upfront and make it clear that that is the deal as far as you are concerned.
The ‘it’s only AirBnB’ philosophy may work and be applicable for the $250/night I paid last time, but not for $500/night, and regardless, it’s just common decency and professionalism. If a dripping tap is reported, fix it promptly and graciously, and value your guests and their business. Especially those like me, who are thoughtful, loyal, who respect your property, and are return customers.
I will be taking this up with AirBnB to register a complaint.