Raoul Voorhans

04.03.2025

At first glance, the apartment seemed quite good. I shared it with two other tenants and had the largest room. However, one of the first things I noticed was that the wallpaper on the ceiling was peeling off, which made the room look poorly maintained. Additionally, I found the €110 administration fee excessive, as well as the optional €40 charge for bed linens. After a few days, I began to notice some serious issues. One of the biggest inconveniences was the heating system. Tenants were not allowed to control the heating themselves—it had to be requested via Mercedes, the property manager. Every time we needed heating, we had to send her a message and hope she would respond. She often made excuses about energy prices and was reluctant to turn it on. The system also took a long time to heat up, meaning my housemate sometimes had to wait an entire day for her room to warm up. At one point, she even bought an extra blanket because she was sick and Mercedes ignored her messages all day. Another major issue was the hot water supply. The shower had a small 50-liter boiler, which, according to personal experience and internet, allowed for about five minutes of hot water. The kitchen had an even smaller 30-liter boiler. However, in practice, it felt like we got much less than that. Once the hot water ran out, it could take up to an hour for the boiler to refill. This was a particular problem for my female housemate, who couldn’t even wash her hair properly. Since there were three of us in the apartment, we had to carefully plan our showers or risk waiting an hour between each turn. Electricity was another recurring problem. The circuit breakers tripped frequently, especially when cooking. If the electric stove was used at the same time as the washing machine, the power would shut off. Even using three stovetop burners at once was enough to cause an outage. While this wasn’t the biggest issue, it became frustrating when we were in a hurry. The Biggest Issue: Mercedes The worst part of my experience, however, was dealing with Mercedes. She was by far the most unhelpful and unpleasant landlord I have ever encountered. On my second day in the apartment, I was taking a shower. When I stepped out, wrapped only in a towel, I suddenly found Mercedes and a male colleague standing in the kitchen. They had entered the apartment unannounced to replace a broken microwave. Without introducing herself, Mercedes immediately started shouting at me about how dirty the oven was, claiming it was our responsibility to keep it clean. The apartment had a biweekly cleaning service included in the rent, but apparently, the oven was not covered. I hadn’t even used the oven yet, as I had just moved in. When I tried to explain this, she cut me off, claiming she didn’t speak English, and continued yelling at me in Spanish (which I don’t understand). This was my first interaction with her. There were several other incidents. When a drainage pipe became clogged, Mercedes blamed us for causing the issue and for not reporting it sooner. In reality, the problem happened on a Friday morning, and we initially tried to fix it ourselves. However, when water started leaking from the sink into the washing machine, we contacted her immediately. She responded by accusing us of negligence and said the plumber wouldn’t be available until after the weekend. While waiting was understandable, blaming us for a problem we didn’t cause was not. (1) Since my full review is too large for the first one, here is the rest Mercedes

raoul voorhans

28.02.2025

Mercedes also frequently accused us of using too much electricity, stating that we were responsible for the constant power outages. She imposed strict usage rules, telling us we could only use two out of three stove burners at a time and that the oven or washing machine could not be used simultaneously with the stove. She also complained about our water consumption. When I mentioned that the 50-liter boiler only provided about five minutes of hot water, she warned me that if I truly used that much in such a short time, we would have a "huge problem." However, my own tests confirmed that the water ran out exactly as expected based on the boiler size, and online sources confirmed the same. To make things worse, Mercedes refused to communicate in English, even through Google Translate on WhatsApp, making every issue unnecessarily difficult to resolve. Final Thoughts Overall, the apartments she offers are decent, with a reasonable price-quality ratio (except for my room, which was in worse condition than expected). However, the management was unprofessional and completely unhelpful. Mercedes provided terrible service and was entirely unfit for her role. Her attitude and handling of issues made what could have been a pleasant stay an incredibly frustrating experience. I would not recommend renting from her unless you are prepared to deal with poor service, constant restrictions, and unprofessional behavior. (2)

Hamza Aouji

10.02.2025

The room was exactly us Described and service was very professional.... i recommend it for sure

Bruno Filipe

08.12.2024

My experience with them was always awesome. Good communication, excellent availability and sympathy, and most important, always willing to help with any reasonable request, both with the flat or in general. Truly wonderful, particularly for a foreigner taking their first steps in Bilbao. Would recommend!

Artemis Kioussi

15.10.2024

I didn’t end up renting a property with this company, but I was in communication with a representative about a room that I was very interested in. I initially reached out via WhatsApp and was met with polite communication. When I was asked about my preferred move-in date, I responded immediately, knowing the room was popular and likely had a lot of competition. I’d like to point out that waiting one or two business days for a response is normal and not rude, as I had experienced waiting for their replies on previous occasions. Despite my prompt response, the message didn’t send and was stuck with one checkmark on WhatsApp, despite being connected to active and working WiFi and later, mobile data. This was clearly an issue on the company’s end. I didn’t think much of it at first, but the next day I received a hostile and unprofessional message from the representative. I was criticized for supposedly not responding quickly enough, even though I had replied immediately, and the message simply hadn’t gone through. The representative claimed they had waited around all day and seemed intent on starting an argument. I tried to defuse the situation calmly and politely, apologizing for the inconvenience and explaining that the message didn’t send until 11:30 that night, most likely when they checked the company’s WhatsApp. After attempting to resolve the situation without success, they then mentioned that the room wasn’t available anymore anyway, rendering the argument essentially pointless. If I could offer some advice, it would be that the representative should avoid wasting the company’s time and resources arguing with clients about when a message was sent, especially if the room was already filled. This level of unprofessionalism discouraged me from wanting to rent any other properties, regardless of their appeal, because if this is how prospective clients are treated, I can’t imagine how communication would be if issues arose during the tenancy. After reading other reviews, it seems that the argumentative and unprofessional behavior extends beyond WhatsApp. I encourage anyone considering this company to read the company’s responses to the one-star reviews, where they’ve referred to previous tenants as “abusive” and “a brat.” Please note that y hese are direct English translations from the Spanish reviews, but I can only imagine the tone is equally unprofessional in the original language. Issues between tenants and property management are inevitable—such as a tenant smoking in the apartment, which was a mistake on their part. Or a property owner selling the apartment causing a tenant to vacant before their contract is fulfilled. However, there is a way to handle such disagreements and take accountability without resorting to rudeness, dismissiveness, gaslighting, and unprofessional communication. Personally, I have only a limited experience communicating with this company, but I had a bad feeling from the start. After reviewing Reddit and Google reviews, I feel compelled to speak up to protect future tenants from potentially toxic and unfair housing conditions. Especially as an expat, housing security and safety are crucial when you don’t have family nearby or a strong grasp of Spanish housing laws. Please proceed with caution when dealing with this company. In hindsight, I truly believe I dodged a bullet by not renting from this company. While some reviewers seem satisfied, it’s clear that if you run into any issues with the property, you shouldn’t count on this company to be understanding, helpful, or even professional.

Nora G.

08.04.2024

I recommend Habitaccion for flatshares in Bilbao! My apartment was very nice and clean, with a perfect location near the Casco Viejo. Mercedes was very responsive and willing to help with any and all problems. A weekly cleaning service was another huge plus! I would rent again with Habitaccion, no questions asked!

X B

04.10.2023

During my year in Bilbao I lived in a nice flat with a beautiful view all over the city. It was kinda hard finding something with bad Spanish language skills. They were very friendly and thanks to them I had a great time in this cool city! Eskerrik asko:)

Benjamin GOMIZ

18.08.2023

I spent a good time in this apartment during my studies in Bilbao. It’s well located but the common parts are a bit small (the bedroom was big enough). The agency was nice and available for any problem. Some rules on the contract can be stricts (you will have to take that into consideration before renting the place). Most of the neighbors were nice.