Upon arrival, we were unable to access the keys to the apartment as the code provided for the lockbox did not work. Our host assisted and retrieved our keys for us.
We were pleased with the condition of the apartment. However, it was quite warm inside and thermostat was locked. We sent a request to our host asking for an adjustment. This was answered promptly within the hour.
We began to unpack and noticed that no clothing or suitcase storage was provided other than the bedroom closet. The rooms were very small and there was little space to store the suitcases in the rooms. The closet was full of household items and could not be used to store even one of our suitcases. An ironing board, iron and 2 large air conditioners making the space impossible use in storing our belongings. We attempted to lay down one small suitcase but it was rather cramped in the space. We rolled out the air conditioners and were able to put one of our suitcases down. The air conditioners were large and there was no other place to store them. We then rolled them out in to the house’s interior hallway with the intent to contact our host to let them know we placed them out there next to the furniture and boxes already being stored there by our host.
The apartment itself appeared to be tidy. However, we took time to personally clean the surfaces in the apartment using a surface cleaner spray and paper towels. This is what filed up the trash baskets which were on the small side to begin with. The surfaces were NOT unclean. Cleaning the surfaces was a personal preference of our own and not a reflection of the apartment surfaces appearing dirty.
We have pictures that document the state of the linens provided to us as explained below.
We discovered a bed pillow that was not fully inserted into its pillowcase. What was clearly once a white pillow was covered in overlapping yellow and brown stains, most likely from sweat and blood. We inspected the remaining pillows and found that all of the, including those on the couch, had similar stains. While this was unsettling, we decided to make the best of it and chose to wash all the pillow cases ourselves with the intent of double casing what we could during our stay. With our first pass we removed the bed linens with the intention of sending everything through the washing machine ourselves. The worst pillows we placed in the hallway with the air conditioners.
With linens in the washing machine, we thought to use the additional linens provided to remake the beds but when we pulled them out, we discovered that they were all damp and could not be used. We put them in a pile to be washed with the other linens. After much discussion, we decided the best move was for us to have a small delivery sent from Target with new pillows. We made washing machine size piles of the linens in the apartment to be washed that evening and we would have clean pillows to lay our heads on however, additional issues arose.
We do acknowledge that not reaching out to our host regarding the unhygenic pillows was a choice on our part. We didn’t because EVERY pillow had the same issues and then we found that all the fabric surfaces such as the sofa and chair seats (both were covered with throw blankets) were also in a heavily soiled, unhygienic condition. Touching these surfaces, you could feel the different stains overlapping each other. We realized that even with washing all the linens, our concerns would not be solved because every fabric surface was soiled and covered to conceal the soiled areas. The condition of these and the presence of the stains on every fabric surface were unsettling. As and example, a chair in the bedroom had a small throw blanket placed over it. When we removed the throw, the fabric seat of the chair was heavily soiled.
The adjustment to the thermostat earlier was not quite enough, so we opened windows in the bedrooms in and effort to bring the temperature down. Shortly after our daughter (6 years old) came to us saying that her room smelled “bad”. Her bedroom and the main bedroom were filled an overpowering smell of marijuana. We closed the windows but the smell remained. We waited a bit for it to dissipate. It did not. We opened the windows again to test the air and the same smell was present. We felt that we could not stay in a place that exposed our family, especially our daughter to illegal substances regardless of the response our hosts would have. When we were leaving, more than and hour later, the odor of marijuana was still present.
While planning to depart, we discovered that the lockbox to leave the keys in was not accessible. The code provided still did not work. Our only option was to leave the keys in the locked apartment. We messaged our host to share that we were leaving immediately. We locked the apartment to secure it and the keys within.
As per our refund receipt, we have paid:
$120.99 service fee
$100.00 cleaning fee
$300.00 for accommodations, the equivalent of two nights’ stay. This is in violation of the cancellation policy, which states that we can “get back every night that remains 24 hours after you cancel.” We canceled our reservation at 5:51 pm on Monday, April 4.
Additionally, we had to secure a last minute stay elsewhere and pay full fees with another host for our trip due to the unsanitary condition of the apartment and exposure to illegal substances.
Our host requested an additional cleaning fee to wash linens that were already unclean, unhygienic and damp. We do not feel that the extra fee should be upheld as we did not soil any item or any of the environment in