We have been using Airbnbs, VRBOs, etc for a while to travel domestic in the US and internationally and this is the first time in years that we have to leave a negative review.
First the positives - The place is in a great central and very convenient location with many public transportation alternatives. The rooms and bed spaces are very good and the overall sense of the place is that it is very safe as well. The problem we had with this rental was readiness, cleanliness, and a sense of disconnect and disengagement and supervision from the owner.
After our long flight and journey we needed a place to store our luggage as we arrived early in London. When we asked the owner if that was an option, she was nice enough to let us access the flat before our 3PM check in time. We were directed to pick up an envelope with the keys at a nearby gym, which at the high level is really not a problem or an inconvenience. We were supposed to pick up the keys from the gym, go to the house, drop our bags and return the keys to the gym so that the cleaning lady that was going to clean the flat could also pick up the keys from the gym at 3PM. The problem with the gym was that the person there had no idea what I was talking about when I asked for the envelope and on top of that the gym was going to close from 12-5pm, meaning that there was no way the cleaning lady was going to be able to pick up the keys at 3PM to access the flat to clean it up. SO, after we dropped our bags before 12PM at the flat we had to stay in the area to go back to the flat at 3PM to give the keys to the cleaning lady. That was so frustrating as we had to arrange our first day in London around it and stay in that area for several hours to give the keys to the cleaning lady. The cleaning lady finally arrived past 3PM and access the flat to START the cleaning process. We were supposed to check in at 3PM and instead, the cleaning person started the cleaning process until past 3PM. She said the cleaning process would take 3-4 hours, so we had to again find things to do in that area for 3-4 hours until the place was cleaned. The place was finally available around 7PM and by then we had already wasted our first day in London, my kids and wife were beyond frustrated, tired, and furious. After we finally accessed the flat at 7PM, we were shocked with the level of cleanliness. Nothing against the cleaning lady, as she tried very hard to do what she can in a short period of time, but it was just humanly impossible to clean the place in such a short period of time after it had been occupied by a family for a month. There were bedding drying all over the place, so much food in the fridge and every where in the kitchen, wet towels drying in the master, bags of trash still in the kitchen, etc. I mean, it was a disaster.