First, we found the ad misleading due to the photos. The first picture is of the pool house, so we thought the apartment is in that building. Imagine our surprise when we found that itâs actually an apartment block with a dozen neighbours, all sharing the space that was supposed to be tranquil and private.
The ad also said the apartment has two terraces, which further added to the confusion. It doesnât, it has two balconies.
They call it very silent. It was surrounded by construction sites, the people downstairs were making noise, and the neighbourhood dogs were barking non stop.
The ad lists amenities which are either not there or not working. First, they advertise the property as child-friendly, which it isnât. Carrying a baby and the pram up and down the narrow staircase is hard without a lift, but you cannot let small children take the stairs on their own either, because the railings have big gaps and children might fall all the way down. One of the balconies in the apartment has the same issue so it couldnât be used. The ad says cupboards have child locks but they donât. Instead, our toddler soon discovered tools and hazardous chemicals in the bottom drawers in the living room. She was also able to reach the buttons of the gas stove. The ad mentions games for children, but one of the game boxes had a vibrant community of insects in it. Therefore I cannot think of anything at all about this apartment that would be particularly child-friendly.
Of other missing things I could mention the extinguisher, the blender and the dishes for children. The grill doesnât work, and the first-aid kit that was supposed to be there is very limited. The coating on the frying pans is so scratched that it would not be healthy to use them for cooking. There were no hand towels and some of the bath towels were tiny. And this would be funny if it wasnât so tragic: when we asked the owners where the bikes are, they said we can go rent some!
We had booked and paid the apartment for two weeks, and over the course of the days exchanged messages with the owners. We clearly explained that we want a discount because 1. the ad was misleading, 2. there were health and safety concerns and 3. the amenities were missing. First the owners gave evasive replies, just wishing us sunshine and getting stuck on the smallest details. When we repeated our request, they stopped responding. So they took our money and ran away with it.
