Pilastri Garden by Mmega

The property problems ended up affecting our vacation, which has never happened during our more than 20 years staying in VRBO properties. We know homes can have minor issues, but this was different. We checked in to Pilastri gardens at 2pm with the concierge and found the living room door wouldn’t close all the way and the back bedroom door was broken and unusable. The concierge gave us a number for a maintenance person. Used sheets and towels from the previous guests were still there in two tall piles in the dining room. The top sheet was filthy, possibly with blood, so the room wasn’t fit for eating. We were told the linens would be removed later that day, but they never were, despite several conversations and emails. Both back bathrooms had mold in the showers. One shower was missing half its door, so water spread across the floor, which may explain the non-slip strips. There were mosquitoes throughout the property, so you’ll need to buy control products for the bedrooms and other rooms. We also found several roaches in and around the kitchen and in the hallway near it. The neighbor’s dog barked a lot at 5am, though the owner can’t control that. And the neighbor upstairs threw dirty liquid into the open garden area. Hopefully you’re not sitting outside when that happens.

In the end, we had to move to another apartment. The owner suggested refunding only the nights we didn’t stay, ignoring the discomfort and unsanitary conditions we’d endured. We spent a whole night with a nauseating smell and a bathroom flooded with excrement, and her response showed no consideration or professionalism. The apartment had been booked for eight of us specifically because it had three bathrooms, but the one near the entrance was unusable from day one: both the shower and toilet were out of order, and excrement came out of the shower. Attempts to repair it made things worse, leaving it clogged and foul-smelling. That was completely unacceptable from a hygiene and health standpoint. The suggested repair appointment at 4 in the morning was absurd. A bedroom door also wouldn’t open from the inside once closed. We had problems with the Wi-Fi and heating too, and contacting customer service was an ordeal because they kept directing our calls to another number. The owner blamed us, saying we had used the bathroom when we hadn’t. On the second day, while we were visiting another city, we were told they had entered the apartment without permission and found it flooded. They didn’t even know how to clean, yet expected us to stay with flooding and excrement floating around. I’m outraged by what we found in the apartment we’d reserved.

It was shameful. We arrived at 4:30 PM after a 6-hour drive to attend the Vasco concert in Florence with my family of nine, and found the apartment in the condition shown in the photos. It was dirty, smelly, and indecent. The manager just said, “Sorry, the cleaners are late.” I’d paid well over $1,000 two months in advance for this birthday trip, and I’m speechless. Or rather, Vasco-esque. Don’t go here. I’m giving one star only because I can’t give less.

The published photos were nothing like the place we found. It looked abandoned, with tall grass in the garden and rusty chairs, and the house smelled damp. Everything was dirty, from the doors to the kitchen and bathrooms. The white curtains had turned gray with dirt. I could go on, but it was clear nobody had cleaned in months. We found a cockroach in the kitchen. The mistake was booking based on the photos without reading reviews. Staff said on the phone they’d clean all the rooms that day, but nobody showed up. Terrible property, not recommended.