Flat Via Torraltinha

Getting into the apartment at 9 in the morning was a real help after arriving in Lagos at midnight. The landlord was flexible about that and checked in with us carefully, even while very busy. We were there in February, and the place was much too cold outside the bedrooms. Only those rooms had an air conditioner that could heat, and the insulation wasn't good enough. It shouldn't be rented in winter. The windows were dirty and hard or impossible to open, and the cupboards had a musty smell. The kitchen wasn't equipped well enough for four people, with too few dishes and pots to make the dishwasher useful. Its faucet was loose. There were hardly any bathroom hooks, either. The balcony was tiny, and its furniture was barely usable.

The landlord was only pleasant when he had to be. We were insulted when we asked for a space heater, even though he rents the place in winter with heating only in the bedrooms. In a poorly insulated home, that's nowhere near enough. He was completely uncooperative. I'd avoid him.

The apartment might work for a summer break, but using things was such a struggle that it took away from the holiday. There’s no air conditioning in the living room, and the heavy sliding balcony door is hard to move. From this ground-floor place, people can see through the windows. The kitchen supplies are incomplete and jumbled: there are old pots and pans, but just one lid, too small for nearly all of them. The beds are quite hard, which some people may sleep very badly on. The old TV has no way to connect anything to it. The shower is loose and can't be adjusted. The old mixer taps make it hard to get the temperature right, and since hot water is heated by gas in the apartment, the supply isn't steady.

People smoke a lot of weed here!