Anywhere On Foot — Big Belgrade Fortress Flat
Cara Uroša 8/13, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Owner and host: Nataša
- Booking.com — Anywhere On Foot – Big Belgrade Fortress Flat – Free Parking
- Airbnb — Anywhere on Foot – FREE Parking
The air conditioner in this apartment is packed with dust and cannot be run. Switch it on and it blows that dust through the rooms you sleep and eat in. Nobody wants to breathe it, and dust loading like this is a well-known respiratory irritant — you don't need a pre-existing condition for it to matter.
So you leave it off. In a Belgrade summer that means no cooling at all — and because a split system is the heating as well, it means the same in winter.
The bathroom smells of sewage. Reported, the answer was that the pipes are "outside of my control" and that I could try pouring boiling water down the drains myself.
She agreed the apartment was unacceptable — and then did nothing. Told the flat had not been cleaned, she replied that it was "unexceptionable" — plainly meaning unacceptable — and apologised. Nothing was done. Told the rest, her position became "Unfortunately, I can't do anything about it" and "in this moment I can only help by listening."
Consider that offer. The person proposing to help by listening was the same person who had let the flat in that condition, declined to clean it, told me to clean it myself, promised money in writing, kept it, and then stopped answering altogether. Being listened to by her was not a remedy — it was the problem, restated as a kindness. What she was asking, in the end, was that I accept it.
Same filter, second view10 Aug 2026, 14:39
Rubbish on the balcony9 Aug 2026, 17:34
Watch: the WiFi, and the drilling outside the doorRecorded in the apartment
Nataša knew about all of it. She was told, she agreed in writing that the filter was the problem, and she still refused to have it cleaned — she told me to wash it myself. She would not let me out of the booking while workmen were drilling and sawing in the common hallway immediately outside the apartment door, through the working day. She promised a refund in writing and did not pay it.
It photographs beautifully. That is not what staying here is like.
Documented 8–11 August 2026 by a guest who paid in full. The unit may since have been cleaned — I have no way to know. Everything below is what was found, when, and what the host said about it in writing.
Four reasons not to book
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No working air conditioning — and no working heating
The filter was matted shut (photographs below, taken 10 August). Asked when it had last been cleaned:
"A month and a half ago"
Host, 10 Aug 14:43The quantity of dust in those photographs is not what six weeks produces. Asked for it to be cleaned that day:
"They are fully booked for today … the filter you can rinse under water or vacuum if you think it is causing you allergies."
Host, 10 Aug 14:52That leaves two options, and both are bad. Run it, and it drives that dust into the air of a one-bedroom flat — nobody wants to sleep in that, and heavy dust loading is a recognised respiratory irritant whether or not you arrive with a condition. Or switch it off, which is what I did, and have no cooling in a Belgrade August.
And this is not only a summer problem. The wall unit is a split system — the same box that cools is the heating. A filter in that state means the apartment has no working climate control in either direction, all year.
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Construction right outside the door — and no way out
Workmen drilled and sawed through the working day in the common hallway immediately outside the apartment door (see the video below). When I said the apartment was unworkable and asked to leave and be refunded, the answer was no.
"every apartment has a right to be loud" … "Balcan is not set up for remote workers"
Host, 10 Aug 10:44 and 10:51You are not getting released early from this booking, whatever happens in the building.
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It was not cleaned before I arrived — and she agreed that was unacceptable
Uncollected rubbish inside the flat, old pizza and old drinks in the fridge, cigarette ends on the balcony, and a cracked balcony pane.
"What? I'll tell my housekeeping. That is unexceptionable. They forgot to take it out" … "I apologize"
Host, 9 Aug 17:39Her word is "unexceptionable" — plainly meant as unacceptable. So this is not a dispute about standards. She agreed, in writing and immediately, that the state of the apartment was unacceptable.
Then nothing happened. The rubbish was still there the next day. When I asked for it to be removed, I was told housekeeping could not come until the following day and that I could leave the pizza box out on the balcony myself — followed by:
"I wish you told me you want them to take out the trash"
Host, 10 Aug 14:52Having called it unacceptable herself, she did nothing about it and then suggested the problem was that I had not asked clearly enough. What she is actually asking, across the whole exchange, is that you accept it.
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A refund was promised in writing and never paid
She agreed in writing to refund one night. Instead, the following day, the booking record was altered — removing that night, and with it her commission and the city tax on it.
No money was ever sent. I asked repeatedly — "Did you send money?", "I see no paypal. You said you would send yesterday." She stopped replying altogether.
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The internet does not work — and the prescribed fix is to keep rebooting the router
The listing advertises free WiFi. It never once completed a speed test. Pages took around twenty seconds to load and a voice call could not stay connected. Reported to the host, her remedy was this:
"Unplug it from the socket and plug it back in"
Host, 9 Aug 21:58It made no difference. The next morning I reported it was still failing, and this was as far as it went:
"Let me call the company and see what the problem is" … "I checked with the internet company. Unfortunately, they gave a very generic answer. They are experiencing technical difficulties, and they are working on it. I asked for a time frame but they didn't say when it will be better"
Host, 10 Aug 09:29 and 09:59Unplug-and-replug is what you tell someone about a router you have never touched and do not intend to. Nobody came, nothing was fixed, and I never had usable internet for the length of the stay.
Photographs
On the timestamps. Each photograph's camera clock falls within minutes of the message reporting that problem to the host — fridge and cigarettes at 17:29 and 17:34 against a 17:36 message; the filter at 14:39 against a 14:41 message. They were taken as things were found, not assembled afterwards. The original files retain the metadata.
Video
The same apartment, under two names
If you are comparing places in Belgrade, check the photographs on these listings against the ones above before you book.
Reported to
| Body | Grounds | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Booking.com | Health and safety; alteration of the booking record | Open |
| Airbnb — safety report | Air-conditioning maintenance, same unit | Open |
| Turistička inspekcija Ministarstvo turizma i omladine | Condition and maintenance of a categorised unit; guest registration; residence tax | Open |
| Sanitarna inspekcija Ministarstvo zdravlja | Hygiene of air-conditioning and plumbing in a unit let to the public | Open |
| Poreska uprava | Declared income and residence tax on the altered night | Open |
Accuracy and right of reply. Every quotation here is verbatim from written correspondence, and every figure comes from Booking.com's own invoice and system emails. This page states no claim I cannot document. If anything is shown to be inaccurate I will correct it and say on this page that I have. The host is welcome to reply and I will publish her response alongside this.
Rahul Lio
Guest, 8–11 August 2026
Everywhere this apartment is sold
The same 60 m² flat at Cara Uroša 8/13 is resold under slightly different names across a dozen booking sites. If you are comparing places in Belgrade, check the photographs on any of these against the ones above before you book.
| Platform | Listed as | Rating shown | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Booking.com | Anywhere On Foot – Big Belgrade Fortress Flat – Free Parking | 9.8 (5) | Listing |
| Airbnb | Anywhere on Foot – FREE Parking | 4.5 (8) | Listing |
| Agoda | Anywhere On Foot - Belgrade Fortress | — | Listing |
| Bedandbreakfast.eu | Anywhere On Foot – Big Belgrade Fortress Flat | 10 (3) | Listing |
| Skyscanner | Anywhere On Foot – Big Belgrade Fortress Flat – Free Parking | — | Listing |
Why the ratings look good. Each platform shows a handful of reviews — five here, three there, eight on another. A property spread thinly across many sites never accumulates enough reviews on any one of them for a bad stay to move the number. That is what you are looking at when you see 9.8 out of 5 reviews.
Contact me
If you stayed here, if you are deciding whether to book, or if you are the host and want to reply — write to me. I answer everything.