Storage Apartment Sonnenallee - Berlin

Natasha L.

25/08/2022 - Better late than never.

This experience put me off Airbnb, terrible host.

Booked for a company "workation" for a group of 8 for a week.

We were charged on arrival for 1 extra person 200 EUR, even though the host had asked beforehand number of guests weeks in advance. The place was listed as accommodating up to 12.
Cash deposit on arrival.
The host sells drinks, the lower half of fridge is taken up by this.
Not sure why self check-in and lockbox were in the listing at all, no lockbox at all for just 2 sets of keys. Lockbox on listing was important for a large group (8), but was non-existent.
Aircon and shampoo was in the included amenities list on Airbnb but removed a day before arrival, very deceptive. It was incredibly hot the week we were in Berlin and the aircon was something we considered when booking.
Check-in was supposed to be 4pm, which is already a bit late, but when we arrived the host was in the apartment, still cleaning until after 6pm while we waited.
Essentials were stated to be provided: Toilet paper ran out on the 2nd night out of 4, Shower gel/soap was missing from one bathroom, 2 bottles in the second bathroom had very little, and may have been left by previous guests rather than provided by the host. Bear in mind that the number of people was provided beforehand and some people did not end up going.

Washing machine - washing detergent was not provided - bought pods to wash clothes, went out in the evening with the wash on because it wasn’t completed 30 minutes after indicated, another person did stay in the apartment, tried to open the machine when done, but did not open. When we arrived home it was late so only contacted the host in the morning. Around 10:30 host said they would come, waited until 13:30 and still hadn’t arrived, was about to go get lunch because it was getting late and he arrived. He tried the same things we said we had already tried and went away without saying anything. Clothes still in the wash were needed because the weather was hot and humid for the duration of our stay resulting in the clothes becoming soaked and smelly quickly. Turns out the door is jammed and it we had to leave the clothes behind. Though the host had offered to send the clothes, when I asked when, he said I was “funny”.

The host said mechanic was coming, I asked about it the day after the day that was told he would be there, and got no response then was told they are coming the next week. Happened a few times. Got passive-aggressive when I kept politely asking about it.

Eventually he tried to claim from airbnb insurance and made us wait longer, airbnb eventually rejected his claim entirely and he told us we have to pay half of an exorbitant cost (emergency rate) for the repair, saying we broke the machine by trying to force it open when it wasn’t done washing (not true, lock icon was off and wash cycle was long done, we definitely did not force it either). The company agreed to pay but I don’t think it’s okay. I did eventually receive the clothes around 1.5 months later.

Clothes drying rack mentioned in amenities also nowhere to be found.
“Portable fans” still on the listing at the time we stayed is deceptive, there is only one large fan in the lounge/kitchen area, no fans for the bedrooms when it is hot at night.
Technically stated in the listing, but climbing the stairs to the 4th floor feels more like 8th floor because there are 2 long flights of stairs for each floor, definitely not ideal for coming and going.

Beds were squeaky and uncomfortable - mattresses hard and pillows do not hold any shape and just sink. Bedrooms are otherwise a bit sparse.
Objects in the apartment are interesting, but overall nothing really goes together and is a bit like a charity shop with a lot of random junk that is mildly interesting.

The place is big, there is an area suitable for working and a decent amount of seating. I think if it wasn’t for the host’s attitude towards his guests, I would have let most of these things slide, but I just cannot recommend staying here.