21 The Hallmark Bond St - Rhys Davis

We did manage to get inside, which was unfortunate. I booked two rooms for four people, but the second room had just one single bed, and I couldn't see where the second person was meant to sleep. There was a sort of sofa bed, but no linen for it. Neither room had curtains, and people walking past could see straight into the below-ground lounge. In the first room, wires were exposed where something had been torn off the wall. The kitchen looked good in the photos, but there wasn't even a kettle. The place didn't look cleaned. The floor was sticky, and pulling out the couch revealed spills and rubbish. The hall smoke alarm was hanging from the ceiling and kept sounding; there was no battery when we checked. Both alarms went off all night. We couldn't get a reply from the owner, either. Definitely not somewhere I'd book.

We had no hot water for hours, and there were no cleaning products. The apartment was marked up and dirty when we arrived. I booked the five-bedroom place for six people, and was told at the last minute there'd be a £200 deposit because of our ages. I didn't mind paying it. We had a cake and a small birthday gathering with just the six people on the booking, not a party. We left the place spotless, despite having no cleaning products. The cleaner told the owners it was a mess, and they kept my deposit on that basis. I sent a video showing how clean it was, with the date and time visible, but the owner still sided with the cleaner. I took the matter to small claims court because I believed the accusation was false and that my £200 was being kept unfairly. I needed a postcode to prove when a letter had been sent, but the owner stopped replying and wouldn't answer calls or messages. A few months later, a friend of a friend booked there and was also told they wouldn't get their deposit back, this time because of a late checkout. I'd avoid these people.

They left me outside in the cold for hours on check-in day because they hadn't sent any arrival details. When they finally got in touch, they demanded a £200 deposit immediately, and I paid it. Weeks later I'm still trying to get it back. They've ignored my emails, calls, and messages, and I believe they've blocked my number. For your own sake, don't book here. These people are useless and money hungry.

The bedding hadn't been washed, and the apartment smelled of weed and body odour. There was damage everywhere, including holes in the walls and a missing front panel on the dishwasher. The listing photos look like they were taken a year ago, when the place was new and undamaged. It's vile and unsafe. Environmental health should shut it down, if anything.