Feeling Lisbon Fado

The location was the one good thing: close to Lisbon’s historical centre. But the apartment we got wasn’t at the address on the Booking.com confirmation. It wasn’t far away, but it looked completely different from the Booking.com photos and had only 1 Bathroom instead of 2. I’m writing at length so others know what happened. I’m not posting the pictures I sent to the Host. The apartment was older and dirtier than the one we booked. The second bedroom had 2 small beds instead of a double bad. Cleaning was terrible, and it was infested with cockroaches. We found dead and almost alive ones under the sofa, other the furniture, and near the large window. There were traps everywhere, so they knew. The small garden outside hadn’t been cleaned for ages and was full of dead cockroaches. They only came to clean after we complained. I couldn’t use the dishwasher because it was blocked with stagnant, smelly water. They came and simply started the machine. The TV decoder never worked and was never fixed. After leaving, I asked for the Euro 300 deposit back, which I’d paid by bank transfer. For almost a week they came up with a different excuse every day to hold onto it. They’re using customers as a bank to earn money from it for an excessive week.

My whole suitcase was stolen from the apartment, and I’m devastated. The hotel then took photos of the open sliding doors to the garden and claimed I’d left the apartment open. They also removed the TV from the wall to stage a robbery. They’ve been no help at all. The place is disgustingly dirty, and the whole Feelinglisbon team are scammers, thieves, and dishonest people. Avoid this company like the plague. I have a lawsuit open against them and am waiting to see what comes next. Feelinglisbon, be very afraid of what is coming next.

I found the room exactly as pictured, spacious and well equipped, with a kitchen that had everything I needed and very fast Wi-Fi. I booked it in the Rato neighbor through spotahome and paid rent and deposit in advance. Vanda was easy to reach whenever I needed her, and I never had any problems with the owner. My deposit came back after two working weeks, just as she’d said at the start. I’d book again if I return to Lisbon and recommend it to friends.

It took 9 days, three follow-ups, and a complaint before Vanda replied, less than 24 hours before my scheduled check-in. Spotahome had sent confirmation right away. When she finally provided the check-in details, she said I owed another month’s rent as a security deposit. The website hadn’t told me about that, and there were too many red flags, so I decided not to stay. Update: In response to the owner’s comments, I never stayed at her apartments, but I was a customer because I paid and never received a refund. The website should make the contract details clear, and she could also write them on the webpage herself. The poor communication and unexpected fees match the other negative comments I’ve read here.