This has been an absolutely terrible experience and I strongly advise everyone: never book here. I rented an apartment through HousingAnywhere managed by Joivy and what I found upon arrival was completely unacceptable and honestly shocking.
From the very first moment things went wrong. We were initially given the wrong key and only later received the correct one. When we finally entered the apartment, it was filthy beyond belief. The kitchen and bathroom were extremely dirty, clearly not cleaned before move-in. But the problem was not just dirt — the apartment was simply uninhabitable. There was no hot water in the shower and the shower itself was broken, with the shower rod detached and unusable. The washing machine looked damaged and in very poor condition. The oven and microwave did not work at all and need replacement. The stovetop was unsafe to use because the extractor hood above it was in such terrible condition that you would not dare to cook underneath it. The mattress was also unacceptable and unhygienic.
This means you cannot shower, you cannot cook, and you cannot properly live there. These are basic human needs. An apartment in this state should never, ever be rented out.
Trying to get help made everything even worse. The Joivy app, which you are required to use for payments and maintenance requests, did not work from the beginning. Because of this, I could not properly submit maintenance requests. I contacted them via WhatsApp, via the platform, and repeatedly sent photos as proof. Instead of taking responsibility and offering a real solution, I was constantly redirected to other “channels” and told to contact someone else. No one took ownership. No one provided immediate action. Just endless back-and-forth messages while I was standing in an unlivable apartment in a foreign country.
On top of that, there are high admin fees, a mandatory final cleaning fee, deposit payments, and strict cancellation conditions. You are expected to pay everything perfectly and on time, yet they do not deliver even the most basic living standards in return.
Moving to another country is already stressful enough. Arriving and discovering that your apartment is dirty, broken, and uninhabitable — with no real support — is devastating. This experience caused enormous stress and disappointment.
If you are an Erasmus student, an international student, or anyone relocating, please be extremely careful. Based on my experience, I cannot recommend booking with Joivy via HousingAnywhere under any circumstances. This was a horrible experience and I would never book here again.
