Not bothered about apartment accessibility, reliable heat, hot water, or electricity? Not concerned by a little soil on the floor or curdled milk in the fridge? Happy to let your infant crawl underneath the unfinished tub in the bathroom? Liam’s got the place for you.
After an initial 2.5 hr check-in delay due to the “cleaners” being late, we discovered the flat keys unsecured outside the multi-tenant flat block. No worries, Liam explained, visibly intoxicated, after meeting us at the building - the key fob was not actually working to open the flat block door. We would have to buzz neighbors or “figure it out” until such point as he could obtain a working fob (maybe that night, maybe tomorrow). He was kind enough to help us up with our bags, but seemed confused as to why, as I stood with a 9-month old baby on my hip, we were so concerned about getting a replacement fob as soon as possible. When an even tipsier Liam returned with a functional fob a bit later, he was overtly rude to my husband, who had asked to check the functionality of the fob before Liam took off.
Throughout these struggles, Liam made sure to regale us with the fact that he had nothing but five star ratings on AirBnB. He began to mention partial refunds, but wanted our personal bank details to refund us as opposed to going through the AirBnB system.
No other information was ever provided about the property which meant that, as the utilities began to shut off one-by-one over the coming days, it was left to me to contact Liam to ask why we no longer had electricity or hot water. Oh, he says, that’s the pay-as-you-go meter system I forgot to explain whilst so “pre-occupied” with the key situation! On Day 1, the electricity was able to be reinstated by activating the emergency payment option on the meter. On Day 3, we were not as lucky with the hot water and heat – Liam instructed us to go to the shops at the bottom of the road and top up his pay-as-you-go gas card for him. We sprung for 10 pounds (cash only), which ultimately turned out to only last two more days.
Otherwise, while the flat generally matched the description in the listing (minus the carefully taken bathroom photo failing to show the unfinished tub), the cleanliness was subpar – on arrival, there was debris on top of the toilet, plant soil next to the bed, crumbs on the oven. The “cleaners” also must not have spotted the six-week old chunky milk in the fridge while they were there. There were a handful of threadbare towels. Bed was fairly comfortable, with decent bedding.
All in all, a stressful guest experience, especially for a family traveling with a young child.
Oh, and in case you are wondering, the Aesop soap is fake.