PLEASE RECONSIDER BOOKING THIS APARTMENT
I was fooled by the professional photos and mainly good reviews: please do the digging and read the negative ones because they are entirely accurate. I wish I had done so myself.
Yes, the flat is in a great location. It had just been cleaned. The check-in is easy - you don’t meet anyone face to face, it’s a keysafe arrangement. If these are your main considerations then you may not be disappointed by the rest.
The accommodation is in serious disrepair. It started immediately: the front door knob fell out. The shower isn’t screwed into the wall. The flush doesn’t work very well on the toilet. There are loose tiles and damaged plasterwork. The bed is held up by a block of wood. The few bits of crockery are chipped. The light fitting was flickering. There is nothing “grand” about this apartment. The furniture is all scratched, worn. The decoration is desolate. Peeling wallpaper in the lining room. Mismatched hangers on a clothes rail in front of a wardrobe full of junk in the bedroom. Cutlery thrown in a drawer without even a cutlery tray. Scratched floor. The whole apartment smells musty. It’s sad, because this place could be wonderful, but it needs extensive renovation to live up to what the listing makes it appear to be. If you want space in a good location, great. But be prepared that the flat is the worst possible version of what it could be from the photos.
The reason I’m writing this review is because this is the only time this has happened to me on Airbnb, and it is a misselling of an apartment.
If I had known the reality, I would never have booked, and I hope that whoever reads this is aware of what they will be met with.
Please don’t expect any understanding from the host Rebecca. I have photos of and videos of the whole apartment and she dismissed all my complaints.
The best part was her telling us to leave if we weren’t happy. We received a message at 8pm to get out if we didn’t like it and that Airbnb would apparently find us alternative accommodation. In the middle of the night. In a city nearly 300 miles from home. Airbnb do NOT offer that service if you had any doubts!
I would say that the host’s intimidating messages were the worst part of the experience. A very brisk change from the polite standardised messages you receive when you make your booking.
This is not someone’s home, this is one of a portfolio of thirty something properties that Rebecca manages. I don’t get the impression that anyone other than the cleaner visits this apartment to check the state it is in.
Please read the other negative reviews for confirmation.
If you are expecting the flat from the photos, that is not what you will find.