This summer, my boyfriend and I decided to traipse across Europe and see as many cities as we could. To save a little cash for things (food) we really wanted, we chose to stay in AirBnB's. I had done a lot of research into them and meticulously gone through every city and almost every listing to find the host and apartment that would be bested suited for us. For the most part, all of them have been amazing. Except, one little room in Barcelona.
I'll do my best to not give away, which place it was exactly because the hosts were lovely, their "home" just wasn't a reflection of this. I've already reviewed the place for the hosts and other AirBnB-ers to read, but now it's time to share our mini nightmare with you.
The listing itself looked enticing and didn't let up to the fact it wasn't quite as "central" as it was making itself out to be. The area we were in was nice enough with metro stations close by and a supermarket right across the street, but it's not what was being sold to me in the initial reading of the listing. If you haven't used AirBNB, you also only get your exact address after you pay to stay there, which meant I handed over the cash before I knew I had been duped.
After realising the location wasn't quite where it was, we decided it'd be fine for the few days we were there - it was a room after all. A room with a double bed and an adorable balcony too! A room with a door... with no handles or real locks... In lieu of a handle, the hosts threaded string through the door hole and tied knots to either end in order to lock pull them shut. Surprise, surprise, they never full closed and we ended up having to sleep with a table barricading the door in order for it to be closed. Not being able to lock/close the door while we were in the room wasn't too bad, but when we left the room it made us uneasy. Never fear though, the ingenious hosts who gave us the string handle provided us with tiny padlocks to lock it from the outside. Tiny padlocks that leave a gap in the door for anyone to peep through and see our things.
All of these things would have been fine had it been just us and our hosts in the apartment, but upon arrival we learned that our hosts don't actually live there anymore and instead AirBNB out their other 3 double rooms too! That meant George and I had 6 other people living in the apartment with us! 8 people in a home was awful but when you learn that there's only one bathroom, it goes from bad to worse very quickly.
Our other guests were fine for the most part, they were quiet and stayed out of the way. They also left the bathroom floor wet, sweaty used towels hung up on the only bathroom hooks, and a full kitchen bin. After our second day there, it started to smell... really smell. The smell added to the already awful bathroom, which was tiny... maybe I've got high standards but I don't think anyone really wants to sit on the toilet and have their knees be touching the wall.
After 3 days in our glorified hostel it was time to leave, which neither of us were too sad to say goodbye to. My takeaway from the situation is definitely to pick my AirBNBs more wisely, as our other ones have been amazing. Next time I use AirBNB, I'll be sure to do a little more research and definitely take the bad reviews more to heart.
Until next time friends,
Soph x
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Mid Autumn Festival approaches, and the time comes for me to shove an ungodly amount of mooncakes into my mouth. But, before we dive into the cosy autumn months, let's take a quick look at this past summer through the lens of food!