✉ My daughter and three friends have used Airbnb for four years and received glowing reviews from owners after their stays until this summer, when they rented an apartment in Cala d’Or, Mallorca. When they arrived, the air-conditioning didn’t work. The owner couldn’t be contacted after 4pm, so my daughter rang Airbnb. It was finally fixed after two sweaty nights, plus long calls to the Airbnb helpline, and Airbnb agreed to a partial refund. Later, the electricity kept tripping and the owner accused them of lying about this to get more money back. Worse still, after they left a fair, balanced review, they were shocked to see the owner’s retaliatory review, falsely claiming they had damaged the apartment and left it very dirty, advising other owners to “proceed with caution” if asked to rent to them. There was no damage to the property and they actually left it cleaner than it had been when they arrived. Fortunately they had taken photos, but despite this, Airbnb refused to remove the defamatory review. Then came the £109 phone bill. Airbnb had given my daughter a US customer service number with no warning and she assumed it was included in her roaming. Despite screenshots, she has been told she doesn’t “fit the criteria” for reimbursement. I am appalled about the way my daughter has been treated and it feels morally wrong to let it go. Can you help?
Sarah Dean
A. The owner’s behaviour was outrageous, and you and your daughter shouldn’t have needed my help to get her money back and her Airbnb rental reputation restored. An Airbnb spokesperson said: “We were disappointed to hear about this experience and want to make it right. We have fully refunded the guest and removed the review as per our policies. While calls to Airbnb’s customer service are typically free to use, this guest was charged due to human error and we have offered to reimburse them in full. All bookings come with AirCover, meaning in the rare event of an issue that the host can’t resolve, we’ll help guests find a similar place or give them a refund.” The apartment is no longer listed on the site.
The turquoise waters of Cala d’Or in Mallorca
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✉ On July 7 we experienced the disaster area that is the Eurostar terminal at Gare du Nord in Paris. As instructed, the four of us arrived at 15.10 for the 17.10 service to London and found ourselves in a scrum of approximately 3,000 people in an area suitable for maybe 500; this was on a day when the temperature was 30C. It was chaos. The flustered staff were desperately attempting to extract those hoping to travel on the (delayed) 16.10 from the mass of people and get them through check-in. But, as the staff admitted, Eurostar is trying to run too many trains without the capacity to process the passengers. There was no alternative but to stand and shuffle forward in the sweltering conditions for two hours. There was no possibility to take a seat and for a group of 70-year-olds, this was completely unacceptable. Surely this is no way to treat paying customers.
Mike Barclay
A. Unfortunately there’s no plan to expand Eurostar’s departure area at the Gare du Nord any time soon. The ambitious project to revamp the station in time for the 2024 Olympics was scrapped in 2021 and the only recent improvement to the Eurostar terminal has been the addition of an extra 100 seats. Eurostar said it was sorry to hear about your experience in the July heat, and that passport and security checks carried out by the French authorities and the station’s security provider can take additional time during peak periods due to the high volume of passengers being processed. It added that it was continuously looking at ways to “improve the customer journey in these high-demand conditions”. A spokesperson said: “Water refill points are available at Gare du Nord and we encourage customers to speak to a member of staff if they need any further assistance. Our teams will do their best to help.” Of course you could upgrade to Eurostar Premier, which comes with lounge access, to avoid the crush but a one-way ticket starts at about £245 (eurostar.com).
✉ My friend and I want to visit Lucca in Tuscany in the autumn as a birthday treat. My friend also wants to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa so we thought maybe a day there first. How easy is it to travel on public transport between the two and can you recommend any reasonably priced hotels in both places?
Christine Marks
A. That’s a great plan. Lucca is still relatively uncrowded in the autumn (especially compared to hotspots like neighbouring Florence and Siena) and it’s easily reached from Pisa; the train journey takes less than 30 minutes. In Pisa stay at the cosy B&B Relais dei Mercanti, a ten-minute walk from the tower and in a quiet street but in the middle of everything; B&B in a standard double starts at £106 at the beginning of October (relaisdeimercanti.com). Timed tickets to the tower start at £17pp and you mustn’t be late (opapisa.it). In Lucca it’s fun to stay inside the well-preserved Renaissance-era city walls; on top there’s a wide tree-lined path that’s ideal for burning off pasta lunches. The comfortable San Martino hotel, near the cathedral and the station, has a quirky history: it’s a renovated 1950s brothel where the rooms don’t have numbers but the names of the girls who worked there. B&B doubles start at £131 (albergosanmartino.it).
Tickets to enter the Leaning Tower of Pisa start at £17
ALAMY
✉ I have a big birthday in August 2026 and want to book a luxury villa in the Mediterranean. We’re a party of ten and need at least five bedrooms. I want something with a sea view or within a short walk of a beach, local restaurants and shops. A pool would be a bonus. We have a budget up to £20,000 for the perfect place. Any suggestions?
Joan Johnston
A. With a budget like that you can afford somewhere special for your bash. In a spectacular setting, with direct access to a beach via a rocky path at the end of the garden, the five-bedroom Beach House is a cool, contemporary, superbly equipped villa overlooking the Gulf of Valinco in southwest Corsica. The elegant interior is open plan and spacious and there’s a deck surrounding a large heated swimming pool. You’ll find an excellent little restaurant on the beach, with several alternatives in nearby Abbartello, five minutes away by car. A week’s self-catering for ten in August 2026 starts at £14,560 (simpsontravel.com).
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✉ I’m looking for a health break in the UK that specialises in weight loss. Any ideas?
Paul Johnson
A. Homefield Grange in Northamptonshire has a mainly female clientele but you will be very welcome on one of its five-night weight-loss retreats, which start at £2,461pp, including treatments, classes and juice cleansing or light plant-based meals (homefieldgrangeretreat.co.uk).
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Have you got a holiday dilemma? Email traveldoctor@thetimes.co.uk