My husband and I have been using Booking.com for several years and never had a bad experience until one booking in May 2017 when we rented an “apartment” for 5 days in Podgorica, Montenegro. My card was charged right away instead of upon leaving which should have raised flags for me but I didn’t think much of it at the time. Our driver drove past the property several times before realizing where he was to drop us of – the place next door is a ruin, literally, a ruin of what was once a stone house, partial walls without a roof and completely overgrown. The gate led to a courtyard where we were greeted by an old woman who opened the door to the apartment. The place looked nothing like the photos on the website. It was dark and dingy and there was a visible, thick layer of dust on the furniture. I am allergic to dust mites so right away I felt ill at ease. The “kitchen” located in the entry way, consisted of a tiny basin with about a foot of counter space, stained, dirty, and covered in crumbs. We had a look at the bedroom and noticed too large stains on the walls which looked like mould. It was hard to believe. I feared for my health and we quickly walked out into the courtyard. We told the woman that we could not stay and we left. We had to scramble to find alternative accommodations. We found out that the woman is not the owner but a caretaker, obviously not doing a very good job. I contacted Booking.com right away and they replied that they would get back to me within 7 days. I did hear back and they promised me a partial refund from the property. They said partial because we did not cancel to booking, that was the agreement they reached with the owner. We did cancel verbally with the old woman but I could not prove that. Booking then offered me a credit of 25 euros as compensation for the trouble. I did receive the credit of the 25 euros from Booking.com but Apartments Old Town never refunded anything. Booking.com is aware of this but have not taken any steps to rectify the situation. I realize that Booking.com can't possibly inspect every location they list however there needs to be a recourse if the space is not up to standard, such as not charging for the room until arrival. I feel the listing was misleading, the state of "cleanliness" was appalling, we did cancel the booking as soon as we saw the property, and no partial refund was given despite a promise to do so.