This was without a doubt, the worse rental experience I have ever had.
The moment we opened the door to the place, a strong smell of dampness, grease and cigarettes hit us. The furniture had stains of grease, the upholstery on the sofa was ripped, the floor was heavily scratched and the white walls were yellowish. Many years have passed since the photos were taken and the apartment has not been well maintained.
The apartment was disgustingly dirty. But most disturbing was the heavy smell that filled the air. I am allergic to cigarettes and we always choose no-smoking properties to rent (which this property was listed as); within a few minutes of being at the apartment, my sinuses were completely congested.
I immediately contacted the host to let them know the condition of the apartment was unacceptable. The host eventually responded and said she was sorry and would send somebody to clean. She also said a “technician” was on his way to check about the smell. Neither ever arrived.
The host stopped responding, so we contacted VRBO’s customer service. After the host was contacted by VRBO, she said they were “still waiting for a response from their team“. I communicated my health problems and asked for a working phone number, their response was “We understand your concern and the urgency. We sincerely apologize for the delay. Please know that all of your concerns have been raised and reported to our team. We will let you know as soon as we get an update regarding the refund. As for the phone number, we suggest this option of communication so please send us a message here if you have other concerns.”
We refused to stay any longer. I communicated this to the host and let her know we were vacating the apartment and expected a refund.
I did not hear back from the host for the rest of that day or the next 3 days. Four days later, I received a message saying they were working on the refund. After that, I was completely ghosted. I have not received my refund nor my deposit and it’s been almost 3 weeks since the host has responded to my requests for an update.
The apartment's condition was considerably different from what was depicted and the host handled the situation by lying and doing absolutely nothing to fix the issues.
All of this should make anyone very weary of renting anything managed by UK Home Partner / UHP Paris. It is very disappointing that VRBO lets companies like these be part of their community.