My wife and I are veteran users of VRBO’s in many countries but especially in the UK. We love the idea of living in a community, doing our own cooking and “living as a local” in a way that is not usually possible in a hotel. This is because we are staying in a place that someone takes pride in personally. Our most recent experience, however, was a bit different because it was owned by Still Life, a corporate entity that apparently manages some 100 such apartments across London.
This review is not about the City of London flat on this website because, just a few days before we were due to arrive, we were informed that there was a boiler problem and that the flat would be unavailable for the week we had booked. This had happened to us once before in London and we were suspicious that there was a different reason for the cancellation. However, we were desperate and accepted one of two replacements offered, which was in the King’s Cross area. This is an excellent location for public transport and train service.
The flat was large with a dishwasher, washing machine, lift and shower, but bleakly stark. It was immediately obvious that it was not family owned. There were no pictures on any wall, no curtains or drapes (just basic blinds that had to kept closed for privacy). The kitchen was minimally equipped. For example, there was no way to make coffee (other than instant), no pot holders, one tea towel and no dish cloths, and no functional knives for chopping. The chopping board was old split unsanitary wood, and we had to keep washing the limited dishes and cutlery supply. There was generic information in the flat but nothing on local shopping and restaurants. When asking for a bodum or coffee machine, I was told that to supply this, they would have to do so for all of their 100 flats, suggesting a lowest common denominator for their decision-making. And even though we ended up staying 10 days, Still Life did not honour its website commitment to one free house-cleaning for any stay of 7 days or longer because we booked through VRBO rather than with them directly.
We nevertheless made the best of this flat and even extended for three nights because of a friend’s illness which prevented us from moving to our next accommodation. Our conclusion was that this was acceptable accommodation but lacking the personal touch and care that we have almost always successfully associated with stay at a VRBO. We will be more careful in future VRBO bookings
