The Appart

The place was filthy. Easily the worst stay I’ve had.

Such a horrible experience…

The apartment itself is a nice little place and very well located, which makes the disorganized welcome and awful hygiene such a shame. We’d told them our arrival time weeks ahead, but the listed number didn’t work and nobody was there. After a six-hour drive, we couldn’t even get inside to put groceries in the fridge, so we went out to eat in Lille. Back around 4:30 pm, we still couldn’t reach anyone and started wondering if it was a scam. We contacted Booking.com, then about half an hour later a cleaner showed up. She hadn’t been told we were coming, and the apartment wasn’t ready at all. She gave it a quick once-over and changed the sheets. The hygiene was terrible. There was a poor, dirty two-in-one sponge that seemed to have been used for both the toilet and kitchen, no dish soap, and marks on all the furniture. They really need to sort out their reception and organization.

One star because there’s no option to give less. Getting in touch was extremely difficult, and collecting the keys meant driving across Lille for more than 30 minutes. That part was minor compared with the state of the accommodation. It was dirty, the bed was broken, the sheets and mattress were dirty, and the furniture was in terrible shape. The sponge was rotten, there was no dish soap, and the advertised coffee pods weren’t there. The place was nothing like the appealing description. Then in the morning we got a threatening email about noise complaints. The “security deposit” is supposed to cover possible damage to the apartment, though I don’t see how we could have made it worse. As for noise, you can’t just claim some “certain” amount of compensation. That makes no sense and would mean taking the law into your own hands. Only the police can intervene, and in an extreme case a judge if a complaint is filed. I’m asking to be compensated for all the trouble this caused.