Federico Fellini Apartment

The broken double bed was one of several problems, and the host's response left us feeling ignored. I reported it right away, but he said the technician wasn't available that day. When we got back from the beach the next day, I called angrily at 6 PM; he hung up after saying it would be fixed shortly. We couldn't reach him otherwise. The apartment, if it deserves that name, is on the tenth floor of a 26-story skyscraper. We were shocked by the welcome and the building, where there were people we found suspicious. We saw traces of what looked like drugs. The owner confirmed that being close to the train station made the area unsafe. My son was frightened, so we stayed somewhere else on the second day. There was only a small electric camping stove for cooking. We noticed strong aromatic, vegetal smells in other apartments as soon as we entered. There is no air conditioning, and between the train noise and holes in the curtains we couldn't sleep. There weren't even sheets. Check the photos carefully. We were misled by reviews we thought might be fake.

Booking's handling of the cancellation was a terrible experience. I asked to cancel a month ahead because of problems, fully aware there could be a penalty. But when I went to cancel, I was told I could request a penalty-free cancellation. The property flatly refused, despite it being a Saturday in high season, a date that surely would have been booked. A week later, they had no availability, so it had been booked. I asked again, but they wouldn't listen.

The one thing I can say in the apartments' favor is that both were clean. Otherwise, they were a disappointment and looked nothing like the online photos. They're in a very old, run-down 26-story skyscraper. We rented two units, one described as having three beds and the other a sofa bed. The larger one had a two-burner camping stove instead of a proper stovetop, and a tiny camping fridge that couldn't hold groceries. There were no pots, pans, moka pot, or other basic cooking items. The second apartment had the same lack of supplies, plus a cramped layout and a sofa bed so uncomfortable and unstable that you had to balance carefully to avoid ending up on the floor. There's no air conditioning, just a useless little table fan, and the afternoon heat was unbearable. With the train so close, sleeping with the windows open was impossible. The only other positive is that it's fairly near the sea. This really wasn't suitable for a family with children like mine.

My daughter saw the apartment and cancelled straight away. The photos were nothing like the place, which was a dump with a sofa instead of a bed. A very unpleasant disappointment.