Castaldi A - 1905 - Milan - HLD 34449

I found this place extremely dishonest. My second payment on Booking.com didn’t go through because of a payment issue while I was on a flight, and I didn’t know about it. When I arrived at my destination, I found out my reservation had been canceled. I tried to contact the accommodation but got no reply, so I had to stay somewhere else. The host only got back to me late on the second day, after I tried to move to the original accommodation. They said the room had been available the day before, but they had given it to another guest because I hadn’t shown up. I asked for a refund and again got no response. Booking.com simply told me the host had refused it. Accommodations normally get in touch before canceling a reservation, but this place never contacted me beforehand. I couldn’t reach them even after I arrived. Be cautious, this could be an Airbnb scam!

This was the worst place I’ve ever stayed. There wasn’t anyone there to open the door when we arrived, so they sent us about ten pictures over WhatsApp showing how to get the key. This is just a rented room, not a hotel. The owner is making money by renting out this room. Look at the pictures, especially the closet. The air conditioning didn’t work, and even after we pushed the beds together, there still wasn’t enough space.

The room looked like a prison cell at best, nothing like the one in the photos. It smelled bad, and the bed was just two pillows and two old, torn blankets. Worst of all, we got bitten by bedbugs and left with itchy marks all over our skin, a nasty souvenir from Milan. I really don’t recommend this place. The apartment seemed fine when we arrived, except that it was split into two, with the rooms separated by walls so thin you could hear every little rustle or sneeze from the neighbors. The bathroom was shared, and there was no privacy since its doors wouldn’t close. If you want to shower, you have to leave your room to use it.

Our booking confirmation said we could check in between 10 and 11. We arrived at 10:50, rang the bell over and over, and called, but none of the numbers worked. A kind stranger in the building tried to call too, but no one answered. We stood there for two hours, with the phone going to voicemail. After I’d been freezing outside the gate for an hour, I finally reached a woman by phone. She said the housekeeper was definitely in the building and that she’d try calling him, but she never called me back with an update. Strangers helped us get inside, and we searched every floor for the apartment. There wasn’t a sign on any door. When I called the woman again, she just told me not to worry, though I couldn’t understand her. Then I spoke with a man who said someone was coming to open the door. We waited another 10 minutes, by then frozen and frustrated after losing two hours of the day. An hour later they called and begged us to return, but I didn’t want to. Because of them, we had nowhere to stay in the cold, at 3 degrees, until 10 pm.