Casa Cor de Rosa

From outside, the place looked cozy, but our night there in June last year was disappointing. The rooms had been cleaned, yet the kitchen and dining room smelled of stale dust. The walls were stained and the bed linen was ragged. There were no towels, the shower door and fan were broken, and there was no hairdryer.

The location was good, but the stay was terrible. I had booked three nights and couldn’t manage even one. The house was in completely unacceptable condition and shouldn’t have been listed on Booking. Within a few hours I saw four cockroaches, a clear sign of a serious infestation. I was there with my one-year-old baby, who couldn’t safely touch the floor. I spent the whole night awake, watching to make sure the cockroaches didn’t climb onto the bed where my family was sleeping. It was distressing and far below any basic lodging standard. The house was very hot, with no fan or air conditioning, and only heavy comforters, no light sheets. That made it even more uncomfortable in summer. Opening the window was the only way to ease the heat, but then we got mosquitoes, street noise and no privacy, since the windows are at sidewalk level. The entrance door was very low, so there was a real risk of hitting your head, and a bougainvillea also got in the way of reaching it. Wi-Fi was slow and the mobile signal weak, which made internet use difficult. The host’s communication made things worse. The replies I received were sarcastic and indifferent, as if everything were perfectly normal, even though the situation was clearly unacceptable. The house simply wasn’t fit to host guests. It was frustrating, uncomfortable and unsafe. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

A really pretty apartment, and the owner was welcoming and attentive. The mattresses were great, and we slept very well. It was well equipped for a holiday, and you can park right outside. For summer, a small fan would have helped with the heat, but otherwise everything was perfect.

We had the worst hotel experience we’ve ever had. There was a septic tank inside the apartment, and at night it gave off a foul smell. The shared photos show it filled with water, feces, toilet paper and cockroaches, all photographed inside the apartment. Several of our personal belongings, including shoes and clothes, were damaged. We notified management, but it took them two hours to arrive. While we waited, we had to bail out the water ourselves to protect our things. We had to pack in a rush and find another place at the last minute during Holy Week. We received no compensation, not even a refund for that night’s room. We told Booking.com we disagreed with its decision because this was a serious threat to our well-being, but nothing was done. Management said this had happened before, which shocked us. It suggests they take no preventive measures for situations like this. Why does Booking.com allow places like this on its platform?