I booked this property advertised as 4 bedroomed and suitable for 8 occupants. After booking I was contacted by an agent of the owner who asked about my use of the apartment. I said there would likely be at most 6 of us but I was never asked to restrict my use of the apartment to 6, but I was told the 4th bedroom could be used by 2 but was a tight squeeze. Upon arrival we discovered there was no 4th bedroom, that small room now only had a desk in it. The other rooms were all double bedded. Our party of 6 needed 4 bedrooms, as we do not all of habitually sleep together!
I now discover that AFTER THE FACT the description of my stay has been changed at AirBnB to be for a three bedroomed apartment sleeping 6. This is dishonest (my main concern) and fraudulent (the legal issue).
I paid the full advertised rate for a 4-bedroomed apartment suitable for up to 8 persons. Having been charged this full rate, the property was downgraded to 3-bedroomed and our stay was annotated as being for a maximum of 6. Again, I never agreed to this and this change was never brought to my attention.
I will be demanding a 25% refund from AirBNB. This is not full recompense as it wasn't only that we got 75% of the beds and bedrooms, but that what we got was not fit for purpose. Our party of 6 needed 4 bedrooms.
More minor but still significant issues are as follows:
After I had paid in full and I was past the no-refund date additional constraints were imposed by the owner or their agent. I was informed outside of the AirBNB messaging service of a £50 fines if certain things were not done, such as locking up in the required way upon leaving, and extra cleaning fees. I was also informed that the lounge sofa was not to be slept upon as it was new. I leave it to the readers imagination as to whether, given the missing bedroom, we obeyed this late imposed constraint, but anyone will recognise that a lounge used as a bedroom cannot be properly used as a lounge.
The toilet cistern takes 20mins to fill after being flushed, this is not good enough in a single bathroomed apartment for 8 or even 6. We were often forced to use to a bucket to fill the cistern.
Note this "fully equipped" apartment does not have TV. OK, no TV is mentioned, but nowadays surely it's the absence thereof which should be noted in the advert.
Other than these significant defects, the apartment was well located, and was comfortable and clean, and everything save the toilet worked well. It was well-equipped save for the missing TV. Cleaning products including dishwashing and washing machine detergents were supplied.