The apartment was pretty much what I expected with only a couple disappointments with how the apartment was kept. The reason for a 2 star review was how he handled a mistake on my part.
The apartment is clean and bare, which is what I expected from the photos. It is a little disappointing that he chooses not to have towels and sheets “because past guests left them so dirty”. But it wouldn’t have motivated me to write a bad review.
I don’t usually write reviews, especially negative ones because I have been in the hospitality business for 25 years, and understand that mistakes happen all the time. But he really handled a mistake that I made during reservation very poorly.
I reserved the apartment on a Friday Afternoon for a Sunday Check-in at around 5 pm. 20 minutes later I realized that I had my dates mixed up and that we
weren’t planning on being in the city until Monday. I contacted him immediately, telling him the mistake I made. He did not have Monday available and refused to let me cancel, claiming that in the 20 minutes since I had booked that he had already “rejected other guests”.
I knew that the reservation was non-refundable when I submitted the reservation. But being in the business I also understand that these policies are there to protect operators when they hold reservations and lose business. I was very surprised and disappointed in his unwillingness to be understanding when he only held the reservation for 20 minutes.
In the end I understand that he was within his rights to uphold the cancellation policy, but it definitely shows what kind of host he is. I would think twice before booking a room with him