Hello everyone. Today is a slightly unusual, but also important story from me. Everyone knows that during long journeys you need to rent accommodation in time and often people do it through the well-known booking site. My mother also reserved several accommodations for us along the route of our journey through European countries.
During this time, I found out that free parking, a warm bedroom, the ability to cook or heat up food for myself and my son, as well as an electric kettle, and free access to the Internet are important for me.
The first night was with Mr. Krzysztof in Poland. He was a very attentive and pleasant man. He was very worried that everything would be comfortable for us. From the window of his apartment during the day we saw wonderful views of the city, and in the evening the view of the city changed to city lights and various lights, as if the starry sky reflected the city. We were very sorry to leave this house, but new cities and other accommodations awaited us.
In the evening I reached Vienna. When I arrived at the place where I was staying, there was no one at the reception. The hall was filled with people who looked very upset. There were four of them, one of whom was a man in a wheelchair. One of the women asked if I understood English, I refused her help. Later, they left the hall and drove somewhere in their car. My story was just beginning. No one came out to meet me, the reception was empty. There were no detailed instructions in the message from the booking site. The phone number was inactive. I accidentally went to the comments for this accommodation in google maps. I was shocked, because the first thing I read was completely my story of getting to know this accommodation. I started calling my mother, maybe she had new information from the rented accommodation, a key, a code, at least something, and that it was just some kind of misunderstanding. My mother advised me to look for room number 10. And there was no room on the first, second, or third floor. All the numbers were there, except for room number 10. One of the tenants told me that: "booking - no chance!"
Maxim and I were staying in the lobby when a young couple came in the door. I decided to watch them first. They went to the reception and started looking for and calling out to someone. Then I asked if they had rented room number 10. We spoke in English. The woman spoke English, and her husband Spanish. They were very reserved, having arrived by train to Vienna for the weekend. Carlos started calling the hotline of the booking website. My mother also started calling there remotely. She was told that according to their internal instructions, you need to contact the owner of the apartment first.
That's a large number of boxes, but none of them are from our rented apartment.
Це та велика кількість скриньок, але жодна не з нашого арендованого помешкання.
The new tenants of apartment number 10 came to the door again. They were a young guy and girl from Hungary. We started explaining the situation to them, but they didn't believe us. They made all the same attempts to find the dream code to get into the rented apartment. For some time we had a silent scene. Then I watched how differently people endure difficult situations that arise in their lives.
Maxim began to worry that we would spend the night on the street, he was tired of moving, and here is such a situation. A couple from Mexico clarified our question on the phone. The woman Jenny encouraged everyone, and Carlos confidently spoke on the phone with the booking operator. The guy from Hungary believed in deception the least, he was looking for a way out of this situation and a key in every way. It was interesting to watch, I also entered the pin code into all the boxes. All our actions were in vain, but they occupied us for a while.
People who actually lived in this hotel entered the lobby. They rented this accommodation through another Airbnb site. Jenny explained to them the situation we were in. One of the women showed her rental letter and said that they see situations like ours every day, and that in fact those apartments do not exist, and that the landlord has been closed for three years, but the apartment is still for rent. Carlos and Jenny said that Booking had offered them a replacement apartment and a refund. They said goodbye and wished us luck. My mother was similarly given the same opportunity. The condition was that the rental dates coincided and that the new accommodation was no more than 60 euros more expensive than the previous one. But it was already 11:45 PM, and we had little time left to match the dates. My mother quickly rented the apartment. Although it was already quite late, the owner was happy to write a thank you note for choosing his accommodation. He provided detailed instructions to get inside. I was very worried that we would get into a warm room and sleep on the bed. We said goodbye to the Hungarians, they were very in love and smiling, later they also went to new housing.
Our new housing was further from the city center, the room was small, but Maxim and I were very lucky that we spent a few days in Vienna and met the new year 2025 there.
I also want to mention the accommodation with which we had big problems. Apartment Bianca is located in a good location to the historical places of Vienna, on the booking website this accommodation has excellent reviews, but on google maps - on the contrary, they are true, so read the reviews from different sites. In the hotel lobby there was a locked toilet, and there was an information sheet that did not carry any information on how to get into the accommodation, and a non-existent phone number. No one is safe from this. Ten people were deceived that day. And these are only those that I personally saw. The first family probably chose this hotel because there is an elevator that allows a wheelchair user to use it. This is very insidious and I find it very strange that Booking allows such scammers to list non-existent accommodation on their website.
The best accommodation during our trip was in Slovakia. After a small room on the outskirts of Vienna, it was a real penthouse. A large spacious room, with a kitchen, a washing machine. It was spacious and comfortable. It was especially nice that the lady was worried when we arrived whether everything was okay.
Analyzing this experience, I can draw certain conclusions that it is important to be vigilant even with those whom you want to trust (I mean the Booking website). It is very important to maintain communication with the owner of the accommodation. Not all comments are true, because people often write emotionally, due to certain circumstances. People often want to leave a negative review to compensate for the lack of a sense of security and comfort. But there are those people who come to write a good review, thank the owner and provide truthful information for future travelers. Thank you all for your attention, maybe you have your own stories of renting housing, then you can write them in the "Life Stories" community.
Це помешкання, яке ми замінили у Відні. Тісно, але тепло і не на вулиці. Хоча якщо подумати, то треба мати розум, щоб здавати це та високу ціну. В десять квадратних метрів вміщено -спальня, кухня, коридор, шафа, ванна кімната. Одним з великих мінусів було те, що кімната не мала вікна.Тобто воно було закрите вагонкою з іншої сторони. Насправді це був колись гараж, який був перебудований і переоблаштований для здачі в аренду. А в нас в Україні ще жаліються, що житло дороге. Прошу вас, поїдьте по світу, подивіться як все там працює. Потім будете тішитися, що маєте номальні апартаменти.
The view from the window is also a big bonus in the accommodation. We were lucky in Rabka, a Polish town with an extremely beautiful view from the window.
This time we managed everything and our journey was not spoiled by obstacles.
В помешкання також великим бонусом є вид з вікна. Нам пощастило в Рабці, польському містечку з вікна розкинувся надзвичайно красивий вид.
Цього разу нам все вдалося і нашу мандрівку не зіпсували перешкоди.
We are currently staying overnight in an apartment in the mountains. But tomorrow I have a long journey home.
I wish everyone a good mood despite the circumstances of life.
Зараз ми ночуємо в гірських апартаментах. Але завтра мене чекає довга дорога додому.
Усім бажаю гарного настрою незважаючи на життєві обставини.