There is a simile rooted among the people who work in tourism in Serbia. When they want to make someone look really bad, they say that this person lies like accommodation near the beach.
The phrase has been abused so many times, that it has come to mean anything between 20 meters and twenty minutes on foot away from the beach.
Belgrade short term rental agencies also have an enviable arsenal of statements, that are, in the best of cases, economical with the truth. Here are some of the biggest lies of Belgrade short term rentals agencies and our advice how you might grapple them.
Lie No 1
A PIPE HAS BURST!
Sorry, the neighbour's pipe has burst, the apartment is flooded. There's an army of plumbers sorting it out...
You come at the address and the agency representative tells you that a pipe has burst in the apartment. They offer to take you in another apartment.
How should you to deal with it: Don’t reject the alternative before you get to see it. If the location is comparable and the price is same, check it out because it might turn to be better than the one you originally booked. If it’s worse, thank the agency for nothing and just dial the next one (there are literally dozens of agencies competing for guests out there).
Given that they all provide the same thing under a different name (with just two or three exceptions), brand loyalty is obsolete.
Lie No 2
IN THE GREATER CITY CENTER
a pleasant walk will get you to the very center of the city...
Just like the accommodation next to the beach in the introduction, the umbrella term for the greater center of Belgrade becomes as elastic as a chewing gum. For those who are unaccustomed to relative distances in the capital, this may come as an additional shock.
How should you to deal with it: Well, you ought to do it during preparation stage. Every phone has got a Google map app, and any serious website for short term rentals has a geo-location of the apartment (if it doesn’t it is fishy). If not, you can always the booking agent to calculate the distances for you.
Lie No 3
In a Historical Building
that exudes the charm of pre-war noblesse...
Most of the apartment buildings in the center of Belgrade are over a century old. Although elevators existed at the time, some of them still have a gaping hole where it is supposed to be.
How should you to deal with it: Do your fact checking before booking. A serious short term rental agency should have that data readily available.
Lie No 4
ON STREET PARKING IS AVAILABLE
and limited up to two or three hours...
Yeah, it’s as available as a cut price HDTV on a Black Friday sale. If you’re not resourceful, quick and sometimes downright cheeky, parking usually becomes an hours long pursuit, that usually ends up with leaving the city center to park your vehicle.
How should you deal with it: Google Maps rings a bell? Actually street view. It’s a place where you can start getting the impression how busy it might get and start considering your options. Therefore, if you don’t know the driving conditions in Belgrade in general, do not count on on-street parking.
And there you have it.
Those are in gist, the greatest lies of Belgrade short term rental agencies.
Apart from the “burst pipe” the remaining are really a bunch of euphemism that won’t fool the experienced short term rental users. Foir those less experience, they should definitely serve as caveats for the less experienced ones.
Hope you have those in mind next time you decide to book. You might turn a potentially unpleasant situation to your advantage.