IT HAS BEEN 3 MONTHS AND NO ACCOUNTABILITY, I HAVE BEEN ROBBED £1,000! I booked a rental through Spotahome for February 2025 and paid a total of £1,594 – a £1,000 deposit and a £592 booking fee. I provided clear SWIFT proof of payment. Yet, on my move-in day, the landlord refused to let me in, falsely claiming she had not received the funds—even though my bank confirmed she received the deposit a day before I was due to move in. Here's what happened: Emergency Support? Not Really: I called on January 30th, well before my move-in date on February 1st, and was assured that if I sent proof of payment, they would resolve the issue. I promptly emailed them the SWIFT confirmation. However, their so-called "emergency" lines only operate Monday to Friday, leaving me stranded over the weekend. On Saturday, February 1st, with their phones closed, I had no choice but to scramble for last-minute accommodation, using my savings to cover the extra costs. Complete Lack of Accountability: Throughout this ordeal, Spotahome's responses have been vague and unhelpful. All I ever heard was "someone is handling the case," with no further communication or updates. They continually deflected responsibility by claiming that the deposit issue is solely between me and the landlord—even though I booked through their platform and trusted them to provide a legitimate service. Forced to Incur Extra Expenses: Their negligence left me with no accommodation on my move-in day, forcing me to incur significant emergency accommodation expenses. I was not only robbed of my deposit but also put under extreme emotional and financial stress. Evidence of Double Booking: Adding insult to injury, the landlord's property is still listed on Spotahome's website, showing it's booked from February to mid-June. This strongly suggests that the property was likely double-booked, revealing systemic issues in their operations. Delayed and Partial Refunds: After threatening to escalate the matter to Action Fraud, I eventually received a partial refund of only £592 from the booking fee. My £1,000 deposit remains unreturned, and despite clear evidence of payment, Spotahome continues to avoid accountability. If you value your money and peace of mind, do not use Spotahome. Their negligence, deceit, and utter disregard for consumer rights have not only cost me financially but have also caused immense emotional distress. This experience has been nothing short of a scam, and I warn others to steer clear of this unreliable platform.

**Beware of Spotahome – Our Terrible Rental Experience**

My boyfriend and I rented an apartment in central Lisbon at the end of July, planning to stay until November 30. As soon as our booking was accepted, Spotahome immediately charged us a €651 service fee—whose purpose remains unclear since they provided no assistance—plus €1,292 for the first month's rent. We assumed everything was set for our move, but little did we know that once a booking is accepted, you still need to go through a separate approval process with the landlord, who can reject the rental.

This process turned out to be incredibly stressful, something we hadn't anticipated since we had already paid Spotahome's fee. Nowhere does the platform clearly explain that even after deducting these charges, the landlord can still refuse the lease.

After this exhausting ordeal, and since we had already paid, we decided to proceed with the rental. We then had to pay an additional €1,335 deposit, bringing our total upfront payment to €3,278 just to move in. Throughout our stay, we paid rent in advance and had no issues with the landlord.

Our contract stated that if utility bills exceeded €30 per month, we would be responsible for the excess. Near the end of our lease, the landlord sent us a spreadsheet with supposed charges, claiming we owed €194 for utilities, plus the November bills that hadn't yet been accounted for. However, he provided no proof or official invoices. To avoid confusion, I requested that he send the final total in December so we could make a single payment. Despite this, he insisted that I pay immediately, which I refused—thankfully.

When we moved in, we signed a contract stating that the landlord had up to 30 days to return our deposit. Since he confirmed he would transfer the amount by the end of December, we weren't too worried.

On December 31, I messaged him to confirm the refund, but he didn't reply. I continued reaching out daily, and on January 6, I finally received this dismissive message: *"Good afternoon, Giulia. I have been out of the office. I will be in touch in the coming days. Happy New Year."* Since then, we have sent countless messages, all ignored.

I then contacted Spotahome, which prominently advertises that if a landlord fails to return a deposit, they will step in and reimburse the tenant. However, when we reached out, a representative named Frederica informed us that this policy only applies to bookings made from August 1,2024, onward—while ours was finalized on July 27. What a joke.

Now, we are left in a frustrating situation, unable to reach the landlord and exchanging endless emails with Spotahome, which refuses to provide a solution. This makes us wonder why we even paid their €651 service fee when we received zero support at every stage and are now dealing with this alone.

This is why I strongly urge you **NOT** to rent through Spotahome. Instead, deal directly with landlords whenever possible. If anything goes wrong, you will receive no protection, be out nearly €700 in fees, and may even lose your deposit.

We are filing a police report against both the landlord and Spotahome. If we don't get a resolution, we will pursue legal action.

I had an unpleasant experience with this awful company. I rented a room from them and they took a deposit of €800, promising to return it as soon as I moved out. When I arrived at the apartment, coming from the airport by taxi, I couldn't get close to the house because I had four heavy bags. I had to drag these bags across the entire area as the owner did not provide the exact address, making it very difficult to find the house with my luggage.

Once I finally found the house, I saw a large staircase leading to my room on the second floor. I had to carry my heavy bags up alone, which was not mentioned on the website, and taxi services could not access the house. It was very unpleasant and exhausting since I was by myself.

During my stay, the apartment was only cleaned once every three weeks, and it was very dirty in all rooms, including the bathroom and kitchen. I had to clean my own room since there was no cleaning service. Additionally, I was allowed to bring my pet, a small 12-year-old cat, but they complained when I cleaned up after her in the toilet. My neighbors, who were Latin Americans, made a mess in the shared bathroom, yet they had issues with me disposing of my cat's waste.

There were supposed to be only three people in the apartment, but there ended up being four, and the Latin couple insisted I not use their bathroom, which forced me to use the bathroom on the first floor. The owner threatened to terminate our agreement because I was cleaning after my pet, and she was very rude and unpleasant.

When I finally moved out to go to my boyfriend's place, they refused to return my deposit and started demanding more money from me, claiming I lived there for two months instead of less than a month. The owner threatened me to leave immediately and spoke to me very rudely. I have screenshots of the messages she sent me.

When I left, I told her the keys were under the mattress. She later claimed she couldn't find them and would use my deposit to make new keys, not returning the €800. She won't let me back in the house. I do not recommend renting a room at this address: Carrer de la Química, 7, Sants-Montjuïc, ******* Barcelona, Spain.
Double bed in Rooms for rent in 3-bedroom
Apartment in Sants-Montjuïc
Name: Maria Farré

I strongly advise against dealing with this agency; they are true scammers who steal money from bank accounts, lie, and provide false information on their website. You will never know who your neighbors are or the condition of the housing. Please do not engage with this company.

I would like to share my wonderful experience with the Spotahome website. This is the second time I have applied to this company. The first experience was also not very successful, but the second one surpassed everything that could be done.
I have selected a room on this site. I agreed with the price and saw that it would be necessary to pay the deposit.
Next, I contacted the owner and asked him to make a contract for rent and registration at the place of stay, since I am studying on a student visa, and these documents are very important to me. He did not agree very willingly, took a photo of our passports with the girl in advance and said that he would go to the administration and let us register. A couple of days before arrival, I wrote to the landlord again, and reminded him that registration was needed – he said he hadn't done it, but when you come, we'll figure it out. Don't worry.
The day of arrival has arrived. We came to the apartment and it started.
The first thing that became a problem was that the photos on the site and in reality are very different. There is no piece of furniture as in the photo, there is no TV, everything is in very poor condition, the door handle is falling off, some nails are sticking out of the wall near the head, everything in the common kitchen is in very poor condition and dirty. There is a terrible stench in the room, which does not go even after opening the window (it has been 3 days – all my things still smell of this smell). Since we had nowhere to go and we had a lot of things with us, we decided that all this could be tolerated for a while.
Next, the landlord said that we should leave a deposit. We knew about this, were ready and agreed to it, but for our own safety, guarantees and other things, we asked you to draw up a room rental contract for us, register the condition of the room there, so that later there would be no complaints against us, indicate that we had taken a deposit of 650 euros and that they would oblige us to return it if we We won't break anything. The owner refused to give us such documents. He told us that a verbal promise that he would return it to us was enough. Since we are foreigners in this country, we insisted that we need these documents, that we cannot just give a pledge without a contract and confirmation from him, this is a very big risk for us. And moreover, we were promised in advance that all these documents would be done. So the conflict broke out. The landlord started shouting at us, tearing out our luggage, trying to throw it out into the hallway, and pushed me hard. We decided to call the police and settle the matter with them. We asked for a peaceful settlement of this issue, we simply asked for a refund of the money that we paid a month in advance, since we are not ready to live in this apartment, since it is in terrible condition, since we cannot be guaranteed a refund of the deposit, since the landlord rushes at us with strong aggression and tries to physically to influence.
We called Spotahome support. We asked them to help resolve the issue, we told them that it was written on their website that in case of problems in the first 24 hours upon arrival they would help us, and if anything, they would find new housing and compensate all expenses. But they didn't listen to us. We were told that the room is in good condition and that the photos on the site are just indicative and approximate, that you can clean up there with the owner, that you are not required to provide any documents, and since you do not pay a deposit, you can leave and lose all the money. We couldn't get anything out of this site that evening and had to urgently look for other accommodation for the weekend.
Since Monday, we have been in contact with Spotahome support for a long time. We asked them to help us, explained the reasons that the apartment was in terrible condition, that the aggression of the landlord was taken out on us, that we were not given any guarantees of repayment of the advance. But they didn't help us in any way. We were told that it was your own fault, that we couldn't help you in any way. According to your photos, there is nothing terrible in the apartment, you are not required to provide any documents. We have rules that we strictly follow and so on and so forth. I asked them to settle the issue peacefully – to return the money to us and would be generally pleased with their reaction. I would continue to rent other apartments through them, pay them a commission each time and recommend them to my acquaintances and friends.
What are the conclusions: We are submitting an appeal to the police. We are submitting an appeal to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, we are preparing a court complaint with an attorney. This is the worst rental company I've ever seen. They place unverified ads, in case of problems they will never refund your money, they will not help you in any way and they will throw and throw you at the very moment you need. In contrast, when we had problems with renting through Booking.com – we were reimbursed for financial losses, and were given a lot of bonuses and helped resolve any issues.

Do not spend your money on a house before you have seen it for yourself! Spotahome evaluators are not accurate and are probably bribed by the home owners or agents so that they give them good reviews.*

I had a horrible experience with Spotahome where I booked a studio apartment and upon check in, I found the place was in such bad shape that I couldn't even stay there. The window louvres were broken and people on the outside could see inside the house since it had no sheers. The floors were so dirty they looked like a construction was still ongoing. One of the walls had a leakage which was apparently stopped afew days before but there was left a huge patch and the wall was still wet which could lead to mold. There were no cooking utensils, only plates, cups and cutlery like an Airbnb whereas it was indicated on the website as fully furnished and I was going to be renting it for many months as a student. Oh and the interior decor was staged for purposes of taking photos for the website because it looked completely different from the pictures so that rule of Spotahome that what you see is what you get is a serious lie. Afew hours after checking in, I contacted Spotahome because I was convinced the agency managing the house was a scam and I had to rebook the place I had been staying in before and left. After two weeks of back and forth with them, they refused to refund my money because they didn't think the shortcomings of the house were bad enough that I can't stay in it. When I called and spoke to Giorgia to understand how they came to that conclusion, they had no reasonable answer for me but somehow they didn't dispute the fact that if they had provided the accurate information about the house, I probably wouldn't have booked it to begin with. So it was a scam. After my school pressured them (since my school had recommended them to begin with), they refunded the service fee which was only €221 but refused to refund the €900 I had paid as rent for the first month even though I never even stayed there. My current housing agency advised that I go to the police but I decided not to engage in the complexities of that since I already lost so much money.

So yeah, Spotahome is not trustworthy, look for a company that lets you see the house for yourself before payment.

My experience started off bad and has only gotten worse. I've had a very disappointing experience engaging with customer service which was, despite the long waiting periods, responsive but thoroughly unhelpful and dismissive. My landlord experience was also unpleasant. I'm still in the apt I booked which was not cleaned well when I arrived, the sheets had stains, I'm having to deal with cockroaches and other insects crawling around mainly at night, I'm pretty sure I spotted a bed bug crawling in the room the other day, I have out of pocket expenses for bug traps to put in the apartment since the landlord has ignored my requests to provide them (also was lied to about receiving them by the only person who I've been able to talk to associated to the apt), the landlord has been non responsive, I have lights on while I'm home and when sleeping to help prevent cockroaches from entering my room which will end up increasing my bill at the end of the month, and worst part is I'm dealing with physical reactions and symptoms from the bugs and state of the apt. I reached out about the issues the day after I arrived and was told nothing could be done in response to my concerns aside from reaching out to the landlord since the apt matched the images displayed online. The first response I received from the landlord when I reached out was that nothing could be done, and I'd need to deal with the roaches in the apt, which for one, is not true because I know at the least bug traps exist and two, is a health concern. The response I received from Spotahome, after several emails sent out about my issue not being resolved was this:

" Hello,

I hope this message finds you well and that the situation has improved with respect to your arrival. I am sure that your landlord was willing to help you to make your stay more comfortable.

We hope we have been helpful and do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or needs you may have.

Thank you very much for your patience and collaboration.

Best regards,
Andrea González"

I now have a couple more weeks here and the only emails I'm receiving are about payment requests, after I was told I didn't need to do anything further by the last representative who reached out to me about money and nothing else. It's the most they've reached out thus far of course, while none of my concerns have been resolved. I don't expect anything will be done regarding my concerns. They've even begun closing tickets I've sent that haven't been addressed.

I'm sure from the many reviews, people have had good experiences using Spotahome and with their landlords, but my experience has been and still is the worst I've had with any 3rd party housing site. I'm not even sure I mentioned everything that has bothered me from this experience as I'm honestly just so annoyed right now and yes I am feeling bitter waking up out of my sleep suddenly coughing like a chain smoker and itching cause of god knows what is in the bed. But all in all, it's been terribly unpleasant and I will not be using their services again after this.

As an 18 year-old student coming to Barcelona for a 6 month internship, this was my first experience travelling to a foreign country without a single family member. I booked my first month's stay through Spotahome and what I was promised, compared to what I found was completely different.

When I first arrived, the apartment I was supposed to stay in did not have electricity for the week - I was put into a neighboring apartment during that time (9 bedrooms and I was the only girl). The state of the kitchen and bathroom was horrendous, and each tenant who was with me could agree that the pictures we saw and what we found were very different.

After that first week, I was moved into my actual apartment. What I found was horrible; a disgusting smell from the two fridges filled with rotting food no one came to clean (it was August and we found food that expired in April in the fridge), the floor had a layer of dust you could see, the bathrooms were filled with dirt and they were unhygienic to use, all the utensils were filled with dust in the cupboards and there were cockroaches all around the kitchen, and more. The previous tenants had left the apartment a complete mess and housekeeping simply turned a blind eye to everything. Myself and the only other tenant who remained helped clean up the mess. We emptied the fridges, scrubbed the floors, tried to kill as many cockroaches from the kitchen as possible, cleared at least 8 large bags of rubbish from the kitchen's rotting food alone, and more. We took the horrible house and made it habitable again.

Upon leaving, I was promised that I would have my deposit returned to me between 1.5 to 2 months. The time came and nothing. When I requested the return of my deposit, I was informed that from an original 759 euro deposit, the company would only return 167 euros to me because of charges including maintenance of common areas, damage to common areas, some unexplained penalty fees, et cetera. The company is using false claims to steal the remaining 592 euros of my deposit, and when I asked for a proper description of the money being taken, I was ignored. I have all the pictures and evidence of the house when I first arrived and when I left, which clearly highlight how much I did to improve the state of the apartment. I shared everything through several formal emails to the company and I have been completely disregarded. Once in the beginning I heard from previous tenants that they steal your deposit but I never believed it until it happened to me.

Now a few weeks later I find out from remaining friends in the apartment that it has been completely renovated - and so it makes clear sense now, they stole my deposit along with many others using false claims and have used it to renovate the apartment. I moved out on the 13th of September 2022 and it is now January 16th 2023 and I am still fighting for my deposit back.

If you are interested in learning more about this and seeing the evidence of photos and videos confirming my claims, please contact me directly. Moreover, if you have also faced similar issues please contact me so that we can try to combine our efforts to get our deposits back together. Thank you.

TLDR: The landlord made up reasons to keep our security deposit and Spotahome refused to take action in spite of all the evidence provided to them.

I had a tremendously negative experience with Spotahome and would not recommend it to anyone. At the beginning, they were helpful and quick to respond. They asked me to leave them a review at this point, which I did – most of the 5-star reviews they receive come from people who, like me, are satisfied with their responsiveness at the beginning. It is a strategy to mute the honest reviews about what happens at the end of the rental period.

I rented an apartment in the neighborhood of Chueca in Madrid, Spain for the summer. The landlord was sketchy and dishonest from the beginning: he wouldn't reply to messages, I had to insist that he send me a contract and move-in information in advance of my day of arrival. He asked for a security deposit in person, and Spotahome said that was common procedure. I trusted that, if I got scammed, Spotahome would help me. After all, I paid them a hefty 30% fee so they could help me with the rental process. Upon arrival, the apartment did not have wifi as was listed on Spotahome and there were issues with the furniture. I had to deal with these directly with the landlord, Spotahome completely ignored the evidence I shared with them.

Even worse, when the time came for us to move out, we asked the landlord to come check the apartment in person and pick up the keys. He said he would not come, all we had to do was to leave the keys inside the apartment. What we feared then happened: the landlord made up "electrical emergency" issues in order to keep hundreds of dollars from our deposit. I had proof of the landlord's wrongdoing, I spent months asking Spotahome for help, and they refused to take action based on the evidence we provided them with. All they said was that it was between me and the landlord. The landlord also wrongfully charged us for utilities that were supposed to have been included in the rent price as per the details on Spotahome's listing. He used strategies to steal part of our security deposit, knowing we were already outside the country and unable to confront him legally.

Why pay this company a 30% fee if they won't help you when you're in a vulnerable position abroad? This is why people are calling Spotahome a scam: they will not offer you a service if it is not in their favor. They do not sanction these landlords who take advantage of foreign tenants. Their business model takes advantage of foreigners who do not have the means to sue the landlord or go to the police – in my case, I had already left the country, and Spoathome guaranteed me that it was normal to wait at least two months to have the security deposit returned to me. It took me two months, and the helps of Spanish locals I knew, to be able to get just a part of the security deposit back.

I chose Spotahome because I believed it would be more affordable and of higher quality than more famous competitors. This could not be farther from the truth: I ended up spending far more money by renting with them and being completely abandoned by their essentially non-existent customer service. Spotahome qualifies as a "scam" because they know that landlords, such as the one I had, are actively robbing tenants' security deposits, and Spotahome supports them in their wrongdoing by not sanctioning them, and not being transparent about who the landlord is during the booking process.

I regret ever choosing Spotahome. They are an untrustworthy company, and if you are looking for accommodation in Madrid, be very careful with this one-bedroom apartment in Chueca. The landlord is dishonest.

Save yourselves from a very expensive lesson!

No malice here, just an honest review based on my own personal experience.

First, none of their "emergency" numbers go through at all. This is a major red flag. Is any organization that provides a list of numbers that are all blocked and never work, serious about helping customers Something is clearly amiss here.

Second, if the landlord enters misleading information on the site and you as the tenant get into a bind as a result, Spotahome will side with the landlord and emphasize their no-refund policy.

Third, I lost about 300 Euros staying in a hotel despite the fact that I had paid the full month's rent because the landlady changed the move-in date and Spotahome wouldn't intervene.

Fourth, when I arrived in the apartment, the landlady told me I had to pay an extra 350 Euros immediately or leave. Let me explain. Spotahome requires you to pay them an agency fee and one month's rent. They then give you the exact amount that you need to pay for your stay. All this happens before you can see the apartment, meet your landlord, or sign the rental agreement.

What this means therefore, is that the landlord can take advantage of you. They can wait till they know it is too late for you to claim a refund from Spotahome and then charge you any amount they wish. They know it was not what you originally agreed with Spotahome. But they also know that you cannot backtrack without losing the rent and agency fee you paid. This was exactly what happened to me.

Fifth, after my tenancy period was over, I sent photos as evidence that there was no damage to the apartment. Yet to date, despite numerous attempts, I have never received any of the 1,100 Euros I paid as deposit back. The landlady promised to transfer the money to my account and then blocked my number after I left. When I finally managed to reach her by using a different number she did not recognize, she told me she will never pay me back. Then she hung up and blocked that number as well.

On another occasion after my arrival in a different city, I was shown into a cold, dark room that was completely different from what I originally selected on their site. As stated before, the landlord can switch things around like this at the drop of a hat and the tenant has no recourse whatsoever, because money has already changed hands and there's the no-refund policy.

So bear in mind that at any stage of the leasing process, once money is gone from your account and something unexpected happens, you are on your own.

The abovementioned landlady and others like her are still posting their apartments on Spotahome. Their agenda is to swindle and defraud the public and they know they are criminals in the eyes of the law. However, the platform gives them the freedom to continue with the malpractice and claim more victims.

I do not recommend this service and would advise anyone seeking accommodation to contact a company that truly understands the hospitality industry and has reputable customer service. Again, save yourselves from a very expensive lesson!

DO NOT USE THIS SERVICE! I booked something through them because I was looking for something quickly, but there were no places left that allowed pets. So when I submitted my booking request, I left a note for the landlord saying I had a cat, but if there was a problem, to reject my booking. They accepted my booking and my account was charged. So I emailed them later, making sure they had seen my message. They had not read it and proceeded to tell me that my cat was not allowed and to cancel the booking. I informed spotahome of this occurrence and they said they'd check with the landlord and get back to me. So I proceeded to find a new apartment because, as I said, I needed to find something quickly. I found said apartment and paid the deposit because the landlord had told me the booking was cancelled. Then, the next day they come back and say that they would make a special exception if I paid double the deposit. ANOTHER 784 EUROS. At this point I had already found my new apartment because they said they wouldn't accept me, so I told them no. Also, this was a 3-month booking, no way I was paying 2 month's deposit. I told them it wouldn't be possible for me and so they came back and said I could pay half the second month's deposit. Again, no. THEN, they even said "ok, well in that case you don't need to pay another deposit". 2 days AFTER I had already found another apartment because they told me no. THEN SPOTAHOME tells me that because the landlord offered a solution, I did not qualify for a refund FOR THE 784 EURO DEPOSIT I MADE. ARE YOU JOKING. THIS COMPANY IS CORRUPT AND ONLY CARES ABOUT THE LANDLORDS. I REPEAT, DO NOT USE SPOTAHOME OR INNOVAFLATS!