Holiday apartment problem

[Dampbedding]

We're renting a 'luxury' apartment in a hot and (currently) humid European country.

We crashed to sleep on night 1 as we'd only had a little sleep because of an early flight but did think the bedding smelled a bit 'off'.

By last night it was evident the beds had been made up with bedding which was musty, and bizarrely, some of it smelling fishy.

The apartment manager is arguing it's because we had the Aircon too cold, which clearly doesn't account for musty and fishy smelling sheets and pillowcases.

I've stripped the beds and have asked him to come over and give them a sniff.

I'm concerned he might try to withhold some of our cash damage deposit because I found cleaner bedding in a cupboard and dried it for the beds - he's being very defensive.

It was booked via Booking.com.

Any advice?

Booking.com act as agents. That means you don't have a contract with them. Your contract is with the apartment owner and is likely to be governed by the law of the country where you are staying.

Having said that, I don't see that your actions give any justification for withholding some of the damage deposit. If there is a problem, booking.com may be able to help. Also, if you paid by credit card, your credit card provider is jointly liable with the apartment owner so, if the owner does withhold some of your deposit, you should be able to get it back from your credit card provider.

Thanks @prh47bridge , that's very useful to know.
The manager has now admitted in writing the bedding may have been damp so I don't think there'll be a problem with the deposit.