When we arrived at the apartment, it was literally filthy. The place hadn’t been cleaned for a very long time.
The cooker hob was so greasy, I could have written my name on it and the entire sofa was covered in what looked like dog hair. Crumbs on the bedroom floor, clumps of dust on the carpet, human hair in the bedside drawer, dead insects on the window ledges, fluff in the kitchen cupboards, food splattered inside the microwave, oven full of bits of food, garlic peel and other bits of food stuff in the kitchen food cupboard, food stuck to the back of the fridge, inches of dust on TV unit, a thick layer of (animal?) hair and dust all over bathroom floor, dirty navy velvet cushions etc. I had to spend several hours cleaning the place to make it habitable. Also, be aware that the communal hall/stairs area is absolutely squalid.
Then, given we were staying three weeks, there was just one set of bedding, plus one hand and two larger towels. There’s a washing machine, but no means of getting anything dry, and the local laundrette takes more than 24 hours to turn a ‘wash’ around.
Before we arrived, Sim had said: ‘Any issues during your stay, just give me a shout’, but when I told Sim about the above issues, and suggested they refund me the cleaning fee, their response was: ‘your (sic) good to cancel and find alternative accommodation if you prefer?’. No suggestion of a refund, and knowing that it would be impossible for us to find alternative accommodation in August, during the Edinburgh festival period.
No apology or explanation. These are the type of owners who give Airbnb a bad name.