Zurich - Accommodation Problems

Basel (I needed a drink!)

I arrived safely at Zurich airport. My plan had been to have a KFC on arrival, but in the end decided it was better to arrive a little early at the studio flat I’d booked with AirBnb. The host had never confirmed that it was okay if I came a  little after 6pm, and since the flight arrived early, I had a chance not to take any risks.

After a little dithering, I did find the flat easily enough and there was a bell with his name on it. I rang it, but nobody answered. It looked like the top floor flat from the photo and I made a mental note to myself to check that a lift was available next time I booked anywhere.

I trudged up the stairs with all my luggage. Nobody was around. The flat had another person’s name on it and I saw a girl (who was presumably not called Davide) enter. I waited and waited, peered downstairs every time someone entered the building. It was opposite a psychiatric clinic, so I felt a bit conspicuous.

After half an hour, I tried to phone, but his number was not a valid number. I tried texting a different number, thinking maybe there was a typo. It was a valid number, but no response.

I ended up eating at a restaurant round the corner, my luggage piled up beside me, still hoping he’d arrive. Finally, I had a text from the other number saying it wasn’t the person I was looking for.

Eventually, I had to give up. After searching on my phone for a cheap hotel, I decided just to go to the hotel on the corner where I used to live. It had the advantage of being close to the airport (aka KFC), which would be handy for my leaving day when my flight was very early.

I was quite proud of how Egyptian I’d become. I went in and had to phone at reception to speak to someone. I enquired how much one night was and then asked for a “special price” for ten days. It turned out to be the same price as my AirBnb in the end, which was a relief.

With coronavirus, hotels are no longer providing room service. If I wanted clean towels, toilet roll, etc, I had to bring the old towels to reception and ask for replacements. It was a bit of a pain, particularly since I didn’t like advertising how much loo roll I was using! Due to corona, buffet breakfast couldn't be offered (the main reason for staying in a hotel, in my opinion!), just a brunchbox. The free (but not refilled) minibar was stashed in a fridge in the room, so I just bought a bowl and a spoon, and kept milk and cereal for my breakfast. That was a treat as there's not many of my usual cereals in Egypt. I was so grateful for that fridge.

There was a big sign in the foyer to the coffee machine, so I helped myself liberally and didn’t discover until the third day that I was supposed to pay for it. Oops.

I spent ages on the AirBnb site (which I could access only via my laptop because I didn’t know my password [as the password was automatically saved on my laptop] and I no longer had the phone I registered with, which I needed to retrieve my password). From the rules, I decided I needed to apply first for a refund via my “host”. I was skeptical since he seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth. 

After waiting 72 hours with no reply, as dictated by AirBnb, I needed to phone AirBnb. They were discouraging people from phoning due to the many phone calls during coronavirus. I gave up the first time as they wanted to confirm who I was via the phone I no longer have. Am I the only person who changes phone numbers regularly and finds this a real pain?

But it had to be done. I logged in via my laptop (to think I nearly didn't take it with me!), changed my phone number on my profile, got my new number confirmed. Then I phoned the helpline. Phew. After about forty minutes, even the holding music stopped and I was left with silence. Should I stay or hang up? My phone was still flashing, which seemed to indicate the call was still ringing. I carried on waiting. After another five minutes, the phone was finally answered. Hurrah.

Upshot was that I got a full refund. Once I got through to a person, it was fairly smooth, but getting there in the first place was an issue. It wasn’t how I’d intended spending my time in Zurich.