Renting a flat in Craiova

A 1980s block in Craiova with glazed-in balconies, air-conditioning units on the walls and shop units at street level

Most rentals sit in blocks built between the 1960s and the 1980s, like the one above — brick and render, balconies glazed in by the tenants, air-conditioning units bolted to the walls, shops along the bottom. There are a great many of them and plenty are perfectly good inside. These are the things to ask about first.

The other end of the market — a newer tower, lifts and full-height glazing, far fewer of these and they let for more

What a newer block looks like at the door: glass balconies, a lit lobby, the address in brass over the entrance and a psychologist’s practice on the first floor — flats in these are the ones that come with a lift and a working intercom

A long bloc on a main boulevard — shops along the ground floor, trees and a bus line at the door

Insist on air conditioning: Summers run into the high thirties and plenty of flats still have none. If the photos don't show a unit on the wall, assume there isn't one — it is not something you can add later as a tenant.
Most kitchens run on gas: Gas hob and gas oven is the norm, often with no electric ignition, so bring a lighter. Ask whether hot water and heating come from a boiler inside the flat or from the city system, and check the boiler looks serviced.
The building is older than the flat: A freshly renovated interior tells you nothing about the pipes, the wiring or the roof. Ask what year the block went up and whether the risers have been replaced.
Ask the floor and the lift: A top floor in an unrenovated block bakes in August, and some four-storey blocks have no lift at all.
See it before you pay: A video call walking through every room is the minimum. Deposits are usually one month plus the first month, paid on signature.
Check the washing machine's drain filter: Washing machines in rented flats are often old and heavily used. If you stay longer, check the drain filter (bottom front, behind the strip) before the first wash, while the drum is empty. A blocked filter leaves you with a locked door and a drum full of water.
The blockage: lint and tissue with a stick through it, 01:49
How it went at the flat we rent ↓

Before you run the washing machine

Many rented flats in Craiova come with an older, heavily used washing machine. If you stay longer than a few days, check its drain filter before the first wash. A blocked filter stops the machine mid-cycle with water in the drum, and the door stays locked until the water is out. At the flat we rent that happened on the night of 29 September 2026: clearing it took from 00:56 to 01:51.

The warning sign. The machine stops and shows a drain error (F05 on Indesit). The pump runs but the water level does not drop. Do not force the door.
F05 on the display: the drain error, 00:56
00:58: the display still shows time left and the lock symbol, laundry in the drum, door shut
Find the filter. Switch off and unplug. The filter sits behind the strip at the bottom front of the machine. Pry the strip off from the side.
Strip off: the round filter cap at the bottom front, 01:14
The same moment from further back: the filter cap bottom right, the strip on the floor to the left
Where everything is: lock, strip, pry point, filter, towels and tray
Drain it slowly. Lay towels down and put a flat tray under the filter. Turn the filter anticlockwise a little at a time. With a full drum, the water comes out onto the floor. Here it was about three buckets, taken up with a mop and bucket that happened to be in the flat. Keep one ready.
The next morning: door open, floor mopped, mop and bucket still out
What was in it. A wad of lint and paper tissue with a small stick through it.
The blockage: lint and tissue with a stick through it, 01:49
Clean and refit. Rinse the filter. Check that the pump wheel behind it turns freely. Screw the filter back firmly, clip the strip back on, plug in and run Drain/Spin with a towel under the filter to check for drips.
Pump housing clean, the wheel turns freely, 01:50

Tip. Do the check when you move in, while the drum is empty: ten minutes and one towel, instead of a night with a locked door.

Tip. Use detergent made for automatic machines. Hand-wash powder foams too much in a front-loader and makes the pump work harder.

Reading the washing machine panel

If you have never used a washing machine like this, the panel is less complicated than it looks. The one in the flat we rent is an Indesit washer-dryer: it washes up to 9 kg and dries up to 6 kg. The list below follows the maker's quick guide for this model; other brands work the same way with different names.

An Indesit washer-dryer control panel with the programme list, the round selector knob, the Start/Pause button and a dark display — The panel: programme list on the left, the round selector knob, START/PAUSE, and the display on the right

Switch on. Press ON/OFF. The START/PAUSE light blinks green.
Load and add soap. Put the laundry in and close the door. Pull out the drawer top left: detergent goes in compartment 2, fabric softener in compartment 3. Leave compartment 1 empty.
Pick a programme. Turn the knob to a number from the list below. The display shows how long it will take.
Start. Press START/PAUSE. The door locks; the lock symbol on the display lights up.
Wait for END. When the display shows END and the lock symbol has gone out, open the door. Do not force it while the lock is lit.

Quickest. Load, add soap, then hold the blue PUSH & GO button for 2 seconds. It washes at 30 °C and dries, for up to 3 kg of cotton or synthetics.

No.	Programme	Temp.
1	Cottontowels, bed linen, underwear	40–60 °C
2	Syntheticspolyester and other synthetic clothes	40–60 °C
3	Mixedcotton and synthetics together	40 °C
4	Eco 40-60everyday cotton; slowest but uses the least power	40 °C
5	Whiteheavily soiled white cotton and linen	60–90 °C
6	Delicatesfine fabrics; turn them inside out	30 °C
7	Colourscoloured clothes, lightly soiled	40 °C
8	Darkdark clothes, keeps the colour	30 °C
9	Antiodourclothes that smell of smoke, sweat or cooking	40 °C
10	20°Clightly soiled cotton, cold wash	20 °C
11	Woolhand-washable wool	40 °C
12	Rapid 30’a small, lightly soiled load in 30 minutes	30 °C
13	Wash & Dry 45’washes and dries up to 1 kg in 45 minutes	30 °C
14	AirFreshfreshens clothes without washing	–
15	Rinse + Spinrinse and spin only	–
16	Spin + Drainspin and pump the water out	–

Drying: the buttons on the right of the display add a drying phase to a wash, or dry only. Wool and delicates are better dried on a line.

Known issues at the flat we rent

Washing machine. The drain filter was blocked and was cleared on 29.09.2026. After clearing, the door opened and the laundry could be taken out. A full test wash has not been run yet. (cleared, not yet re-tested)

Shower drain. The shower drains slowly. The owner had a drain service clear it and it worked again, but a few days later it slowed down again, and this repeats. My guess is that the cause is not in the shower itself but behind the building: too little fall towards a tank, or a vent that is not working. Not confirmed. (recurring, cause not confirmed)

If it is a souterrain — what a half-basement flat is actually like

Plenty of the cheap long lets here are half underground: the floor sits below the pavement and the windows start at head height. They are cooler in August and cheaper by the month, and there are three things nobody mentions at the viewing.

Dust. Your windows are at the level of the street. On a windy day whatever is lying on the pavement — dust, grit, pollen, dry summer soil — gets blown straight in through them. You will be wiping surfaces more often than you would two floors up, and it is worse in the dry months.

Ventilation is not optional. You exhale carbon dioxide all night, and a low room with small windows and no through draught holds it. Air it properly every day, and if the only window is the one at pavement level, work out before you sign how you are going to get air moving through the flat rather than into one corner of it.

Drains can be slow. The shower tray in the lowest flat in the building is the lowest thing on the drain run, with the least fall to work with. Showers and floor gullies empty more slowly here than upstairs, and they are the first to back up when something further down the line is blocked. Run the shower at the viewing and watch the tray, not the taps.

A souterrain kitchen: the windows start at head height because the pavement is at head height

The window itself — daylight comes in, but it is ground level outside and whatever is on the ground comes in with it

The shower tray: the lowest point of the lowest flat, which is where drainage gets slow

One thing to ask about if you are staying a while

There is a lignite power station 10 km north-west of the city at Işalnița. On a westerly the plume runs east-south-east across the eastern side of Craiova, and downwind you can smell it — it has been noticed out east of the city and at the railway station. For a few nights it is a curiosity. For a month in a flat it is worth asking the landlord, and worth knowing which way you are from the stacks before you sign.

Where the smell comes from, with the map

Short lets and hotels are on their own pages if you need somewhere while you look.