Joivy Reviews 3,671

One of the best places we have ever been!

The rooms and houses Joivy provides are usually comfortable, clean, with necessary and new furniture; which honestly isn't something you can easily find in rental share houses in Bologna.
Moreover, the people of Joivy speak good english and they are helpful.

I have always received timely assistance whenever I had issues.

I had a specific case on my contract registration. On the customer support Venus did help me really geniunly and clear. She was really open about the process and gave high importance my case. Thanks a lot for her attention.

Very good experience at this accommodation. I really liked having a relaxation area with tea and coffee.

The apartment is very well located, close to a train station. It has all the amenities; we had the one in the basement which is probably less nice than the others.

because i have had all of the answers of my questions

We stayed at JOIVY Apartments in Edinburgh for a family trip and had a great experience. The apartment was clean, spacious, and very comfortable for all of us. It had everything we needed, especially the kitchen, which was perfect when traveling with family.
The location was excellent — close to attractions and restaurants, yet quiet at night.
We would definitely stay here again!

My experience with this room rental agency in Milan has been absolutely terrible, and I feel compelled to warn other students, especially Erasmus students, who seem to be their main target.

First of all, I was charged €225 in administrative fees for closing the contract, a cost that was not stated anywhere in the contract. Even worse, the agency only allows you to process the contract termination through their app, making it impossible to avoid this charge or discuss alternatives in person. It feels like a deliberately designed system to force tenants into paying unjustified fees.

The customer service is extremely poor. Whenever I had issues or needed clarification, assistance was slow, unhelpful, or completely nonexistent. During problems with the accommodation, the support was basically absent.

On top of that, the rent prices are completely disproportionate for what is being offered. The quality-price ratio is unacceptable, especially considering the additional hidden costs and the lack of real support.

To other Erasmus students considering this agency: be very careful. What may look convenient at first can turn into an expensive and stressful experience. My overall experience was extremely negative, and I would not recommend this agency to anyone.

The location was great and the appartment is very nice and look like the picture in booking.com
We do enjoy the stay.
We thing that in high season it can be a little bit loud.

The room seemed clean, towels where ready. And nobody came to ask me questions what I like. Coffee for free downstairs en watercooker in the room. Maybe a smal fridge would be nice for people who stay longer.

The apartment was located well, the furnishings acceptable if a little tired. Apartment was surrounded by a building site and according to the fire service the early morning call out in the cold was avoidable and not the first time, culminating in very little sleep. My biggest problem the appalling responses from customer service…..

Quick support, technologically advanced apartments, everything working, impeccable decoration of the apartments and the building.

Joivy was easy to work with on booking a flat for our trip to London. The pictures were accurate, and the flat was located in the perfect spot with easy access to shops, restaurants & the tube. Great communication, pictures were accurate, and instructions within the app and flat were very helpful. Definitely recommend!

Update to response:

1.) at no point did DV say that I could leave the keys and leave. No mention of this anywhere, so not sure what they are referring to.

2. As predicted, DV is late in returning the deposit due to "lost bank details"; even though nothing's changed for over a year.

3. As of 26.03.26, more delays! Nearly one month late in returning the deposit, due to "the flow of the transfer", whatever that means. They also claim that they still have incorrect bank details. There's incompetence and then there's just open scamming.

For context I rented with DoveVivo in Milan from February 2025 to February 2026.

1. Customer service
DoveVivo’s customer service is atrocious, even by Italian standards. Instead, all communication is done via WhatsApp. It could be one hour before they respond to you, or several weeks; the gamble is yours to take.

While I’m sure many of their agents have been well-meaning, and often they're quite pleasant to talk to (over text, mind), they tend to be quite aggressive even over text. To direct all communication into WhatsApp and then put up with passive-aggressive or just aggressive messaging is unacceptable and not what you’d expect from such high rent prices.

I and my flatmates also received emails about the cleanliness of the common spaces. In the emails, DoveVivo said they had observed untidy spaces and urged us to keep the common spaces clean, lest we get charged a 200 odd EUR cleaning fee. The only issue was that the common spaces were consistently clean. It is still unclear why DoveVivo decided to send these threatening messages, if not to attempt an easy cleaning fee win.

It is also unclear why they felt they could comment, given that no one from the company had conducted any visits (at least, they hadn’t informed us and we would not have known if they had entered).

The day of the check-out is equally telling. DoveVivo had informed me that they’d send an agent around to inspect the room and collect the key at midday.

I waited for two hours before I had to leave, risking a missed flight. I received a photo of the keys from the agent at nearly 17:00. A 5-hour delay suggests dire mismanagement, and a total lack of respect for tenants’ time and schedules.

If you rent with these people, you are not guaranteed any different form of treatment.

2. Maintenance

In late September/early October 2025, a leak was discovered in the wall connecting my bedroom and the common space kitchen. DoveVivo sent around contractors to take down the wall and fix the leak.

The tap in my room immediately stopped working. I contacted DoveVivo again. They sent round contractors several times to take down the wall and put it back up. Each time, the tap still didn’t work, and it was unclear what the contractors were really doing. Each time was an all-day job, which impacted my own schedule.

Lastly, they failed to replace the electric socket by my bed correctly, missing out several screws and leaving the electrics partially exposed. Given that this socket was not only by my bed but also near the sink, this presented an unacceptable fire hazard.

Despite my communications with DoveVivo, this was not fixed at all – the socket was still exposed on the day I moved out.

On the last occasion, I asked why the tap hadn’t been fixed. The contractor merely stated that I’d need to contact DoveVivo, because it was their responsibility to fix or replace it. This makes me wonder whether DoveVivo is capable of relaying information to their own contractors.

When I asked DV to give me advance notice, they essentially threw the book at me and said they could enter my room even if I didn’t give permission.
This seems like a violation of privacy, and a very unreasonable position to take towards tenants.

3. The deposit

The deposit at the beginning of the tenancy is very high, and when you leave a check-out fee of 225 EUR is deducted. On top of this DoveVivo offers an early check-out; the fee is equivalent to one and half months’ worth of rent.

This means that out of a deposit of nearly 1500 EUR, I’m due to receive 120 EUR.

At this point, the fees that they charge just seem arbitrary and designed to squeeze as much money out of their tenants as possible. I think that this is an unfair practice.

This comes alongside my own observation that a three month notice period is an unusually long time. Most notice periods elsewhere are considerably shorter.

This review also anticipates a late return of the deposit. I’ll edit the post later to confirm. Unfortunately, a reluctance to pay back deposits is a common reoccurrence based on the reviews.

To conlude, DV have proven time and time again that they have little regard for tenants, privacy, their money, or customer service.

BAD, BAD, BAD. The house itself is very nice and spacious, but as other reviews mention: if you book for 5 people and pay the extra person fee... you're in for a surprise. You get two double beds with full linens, but the fifth person gets a sofa bed with zero pillows and zero blankets. They didn't even provide towels for the fifth guest—only for four. I honestly don't understand why they charge for an extra person when they provide absolutely nothing for them.

The property was as described online. It was clean and in good repair for our stay. Communication was great and all questions were promptly answered. Check in and check out process was very efficient. Would definitely recommend Joivy for travel accommodations.

Our stay was hugely enjoyable, for several reasons. The pre-arrival procedure was very straightforward and helpful, enabling easy location of and entry to the accommodation.
The actual apartment was very spacious and well equipped with all necessary requirements, in a quiet residential area. Would gladly revisit this property and have no hesitation in recommending to others.

Really nice comfortable apartment in a great location. Nice kitchen and lounge and 2 nice bedrooms, one en-suite. Quiet. Nice reception staff. Very Helpfull. Good value for money and plenty of room for 4 adults