Our
AirBnb apartment for our last 3
nights in
Tokyo was not meant to be. While it was affordable and
located in quite a prime area of
Shibuya, not to mention the host was
fast in replying our queries, it was not what we quite envisioned it to
be. Small it was, however it was not the space that was the deal breaker
but the cleanliness.
The apartment is but a few minutes (around
10-15 minutes) from the
Shibuya Station and is right smack in the
center of all the vibrancy and bright lights. The famous
Shibuya
crossing and
Hachiko statue, not to mention
Shibuya Station, are but a
stone’s throw away. But when you have a luggage in tow while wading
through the immense crowd on uneven and sometimes a little sloppy path,
it isn’t as simple as it looks anymore. What is said to be a 10-15
minute walk away took us almost 20 minutes!
A leisurely stroll
would have taken us 30 minutes or so to the apartment (the pavement and
slopes are really not that luggage friendly). When we arrived at the
apartment, it was already in the middle of the afternoon with the sun
shining down on us (i.e. it was hot!). It took us a while to identity
the building complex in which the
AirBnB apartment was located in: it
was an inconspicuous dull sandy brown building tucked away at the corner
up an alley. Getting the keys to the apartment was just as instruction
and soon we took the elevator up.
 |
| The place where the nightmare began. |
From the doorway looking into
the apartment, it looked alright and the host(s) even provided us with 2
bottles of water, a packet of snacks, a little souvenir and an adorable
greeting card to welcome us. It was a warm welcome that was
appreciated and made us feel all nice and fuzzy. But that was when
things started going downhill from there….
 |
| What greeted when we opened the door... Looked pleasant enough. |
 |
| Looks nice doesn't it? But looks can be deceiving. |
 |
| It was thoughtful of the hosts to provide two bottles of water, the travel guides and Japanese snacks... |
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| Since it was late in the afternoon, the sun rays made it look not as bad as it was. |
 |
| I was a bit iffy about this bed sofa though, the color was not only not appealing, the material exuded a 'dirty' feeling, especially after reading that one guest had placed the (not so clean) luggage on it due to the lack of space. |
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| There's not much space to maneuver and almost impossible to open 2 medium sized luggage at the same time. In fact, opening 1 was a challenge in itself that made the Kyoto apartment feel like a bungalow! |
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| The space was so lacking that everything was stacked up and pushed to a corner. |
While we were happy
with the welcome and the pocket WiFi, there were other issues upon
closer inspection: the apartment was dusty, extremely dusty and gave the
room an unpleasant musky smell (which we soon found out why later on
that night).
In addition to the dust and smell, the toilet was
not cleaned properly and had a bad sewage smell that lingered in the
air. It did not help that the color of the toilet was… a not so
appealing shade of brown. Just as I thought that I would have to bear
with the smell and dust for 3 nights, came the deal breaker and
apparently contributor to the musky smell… bed bugs! Yes, you read
right… bugs (ok so I saw one but still… that’s more than enough)!
 |
| The bathroom with was so tiny I do not know how people can use it, and that bad sewage smell too! |
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| The moldy and falling apart shower curtain |
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| The moldy fan ventilation above the shower |
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The mildew stained sink |
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| The dust and mold beneath the sink |
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| The layer of dust one the window sills |
|
 |
| Some more fine dust |
Awakened one hour into my sleep, I was about to head to the toilet when I
spotted something on the pillow the size of an apple seed in the dimly
lit room. Instantly, I frantically reached for the lights and switched
them on. Lo and behold it was a bed bug scurrying around the pillow the
moment my head left it. Horrified, I grabbed a piece of tissue and got
rid of it. Upon further inspection of the bed, there were a few red
blots under the sheets, which are what I assume to be flattened bugs.
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| One of the numerous suspicious 'red dots' underneath the sheets. This dot was near the pillow (the head) area of the bed. |
Needless to say, it was a sleepless night for me as I researched on
whether I would be able to get a refund and alternatives to stay for the
next 2 nights. M was too tired to bother and just slept, rather
peacefully I might add (she still cannot understand how I was able to
manage catching some snooze in an odd cross-legged/standing position 😂).
Although contacting
Airbnb and getting a replacement or
something would have been an option, I felt that the best option was to
just book a hotel that was within the vicinity (and it would also save
the money and time spent on international calls and whatnot).
Traumatized, I scoured the internet for a clean hotel within walking
distance of the apartment.
4 hours later, I managed to find a hotel just
right around the corner of the apartment; less than a 5 minute walk
away. It was newly (re)renovated and had an ongoing promotion for its
soft-opening. As reservation did not have to involve a credit card, I
instantly booked us a room at the newly renovated
Shibuya Hotel En and
have not looked back since.
All prepped up to move out the next
day, I waited for the sun to to peek its way out the sky and set the
packed luggage at the door rearing to go. Unfortunately the hotel had a
check-in time of 3pm and since we did not want to stay in the apartment
any longer, we decided to head out to roam and explore the streets of
Shibuya. It was also supposed to be the day that we were to go to
DisneySea, but not only did we not get enough sleep and were traumatized
(ok, I think I was the only one who was more traumatized… but still…),
it also was raining. So we made adjustments to go to
DisneySea the next
day instead.
With pocket WiFi in hand (the only major plus
point about the
AirBnB apartment), we shopped along
Shibuya (
H&M was
a gem while
Uniqlo was rather disappointing) until it was time for
check-in at the hotel. Meanwhile, I also messaged the hosts via
AirBnb
to inform them of the situation and our decision to checkout early,
asking for a refund for the 2 nights we will not be staying (in the
filthy apartment). They were understanding of the situation and agreed
to refund is the last 2 nights stay which was
S$265. Refund of the
money was relatively fast, within 1 week of the request the host agreed
and the money (or in this case the credit) was transferred back to my
credit card.
After this experience, I would have to say once
bitten twice shy. The next time I go to
Japan I will be more likely to
stay in hotels rather than
AirBnb (which seems to work much better for
South Korea). For something slightly cheaper with a high(er) potential
of (almost) ruining a good holiday is simply not worth the risk. I would
really rather just pay a little more for that much more quality. But of
course, if you manage to find a clean, comfortable and affordable
apartment off
AirBnB, it is a good find.
I’ve checked the
(latest) reviews for the apartment and it still seems to be just as
popular. So maybe the hosts have clean up the apartment and made the
necessary changes to the apartment, or maybe the latter guests are not
so particular about their accommodation as long as it is cheap. That
said, if the price fits your budget and you aren’t too picky, than you
may want to consider this apartment.
Otherwise, I would strongly
suggest you stay in at
Shibuya Hotel En instead to save yourself the
hassle if you plan to stay in the
Shibuya area.
Do note that this review is only that of Great view Shibuya High-grade APT#3 using AirBnB, and not all properties that are available on AirBnB. When booking other properties on AirBnB, please conduct your own research before booking anything. If you are interested in joining AirBnB and want a discount off your first stay, sign up here!
First Impression for of 1Great view Shibuya High-grade APT#3
Verdict: 2/5
Not Recommended: If
you are not very particular about cleanliness and can make do with a
potentially bed bug infested place, than this might be the place for
you. It baffles me that there are a lot of good reviews for the place,
but none stating about the cleanliness in detail. Well, I too, did not
state that much in detail when reviewing the place as the refund was not
yet accepted by the hosts and I just did not want to risk it as horror stories of not getting refunded and being stranded in the middle of nowhere flooded my mind. Well, I did state that the room had issues with its cleanliness... 😅 That's one of the flaws of AirBnB, you have to leave a review first before the refund could be processed... at least that was what I understood at the time.
When travel collides with a byte, a unit of information made up of bits, TravelBytez is formed: snippets of ramblings on travel, food, shopping, living and anything else that comes to mind.
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