Catherine M.
The setting was disappointing in several ways. The Booking.com App didn’t mention the roughly 60 steps to get to and from the beach, the rough unpaved access roads, or that the sea view is of an oil refinery and tankers. The place itself looked run-down, and the plants seemed to be dying for lack of water. For 90 Euros a night, our room felt extremely overpriced and had almost nothing: one teaspoon, several forks, one large spoon, and a few mismatched plates and cups. The sink was dirty, with blood on the basin, despite the wet-room hand soap. We also had to make our own bed. A complimentary bottle of water would have been a nice touch. The stairs were a serious problem for us. I was traveling with my 77-year-old disabled mother, who had just had back surgery, and my 78-year-old father, who has dementia and a new hip replacement. When we pointed out that the App omitted the steps, the owner said she had included them in the final sentence of the Booking.com website property information, rather than near the accessibility section, and that the App’s omission wasn’t her problem. I then spent nearly two hours on the phone in sweltering heat with Booking.com, which also didn’t take responsibility. The owner offered us a room one floor lower for an additional 50 Euros, saying it was worth more. It stayed empty during our visit. I felt there was no empathy or kindness, just a stubborn insistence that it wasn’t her problem. When I said she could have offered it at the same rate and we would have left a nice review, she replied that she doesn’t “BUY reviews.” Curious, since I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works.
