Casa Linnea Vacanze

We'd paid for the reservation in advance, but only as we were arriving did an email tell us the lodging wasn't allowed to provide hygiene supplies. There was no shower soap, so we had to buy some at a supermarket. We were also asked for €12 per person per night in taxes, and I don't understand why that hadn't been collected earlier. They required cash, not a credit card. I had US dollars but no euros, so I spent two hours looking for somewhere to exchange money. Some places offered just €40 for $80 before I finally found a better rate. You can use a card for the bus, metro, train, and everything else, but here we were made to pay in cash. They wouldn't hold our luggage before arrival or after checkout either, only recommended another place for storage. I wasn't happy with the service.

The room itself was good, but we arrived to find no soap in the shower. Only then did we get the information that the property wasn't allowed to provide hygiene supplies, so I had to buy soap at a nearby supermarket. We were asked to pay $12 a day in taxes, which I don't understand since we'd already been charged for the room. That wasn't even the main problem. When I tried to pay by credit card, I was told cash was the only option. We'd used cards for the bus, train, and Metro, and had no euros on us. We had to search for a place to exchange dollars, with some people offering only 50 euros for $100. We finally found a fair rate and got 82 Euros for $100, but the whole ordeal took about two and a half hours out of our day when we didn't have time for it. It was unacceptable for the apartment manager to insist on cash, especially when stores accept cards even for a bottle of water. I'd already posted a review hoping the manager would understand how inconvenient this was and do better for future guests. His reply was insulting, and it says a lot about him. For luggage before arrival or after checkout, they point you to a storage place instead of keeping it for you, even if you only need somewhere to leave it for a few hours.

The building was noisy enough that we couldn't rest properly, and there were problems with the bathroom pipes, so the stay wasn't the best. The location was quite good, though, and communication with the owner was good too. He gave us some advice for our holiday.

Avoid this place. The apartment had an unpleasant smell, and the room was dirty. There was mold and fungus in the bathroom and shower, and the toilet hadn't been cleaned after the previous guests. After I gave it 4/10 on Booking for those reasons, the owner accused me of not paying the tourist tax, even though I'd paid him directly on the second day. He threatened me with a lawyer, then backed off when I reminded him I'd paid. Under my Booking review, he still wrote that we'd broken the rules and hadn't paid the tax. He said the dirt was due to the climate. When I wrote a few words on Booking, he called it bullying and useless. I gave the place 4/10 at first. After the harassment, it's 1/10.