The following is a review from a 45 and 50 year old who have been traveling full time for a few years and have some specific desires and needs that may be unique to us.
We ended up leaving and finding a new Airbnb after 2 weeks because we felt a super uncomfortable in the area of town and in the apartment itself. We honored and cared well for their place while we had it, and made sure to leave everything super clean as we exited.
1. LOCATION: we came to buenos aries not being familiar with the various barrios. We started in Colegiales for two weeks, and decided to give Syd’s place a try when the prices more than doubled in Belgrano, Recoleta, Palermo, and Colegiales during our first two weeks here. However, upon driving through the city to get to the airbnb we got really nervous as, we found it, super dirty -crowded, and depressing. And that didn’t change the longer we stayed. It’s close to bus stops but about 15-20 min away from the Sube (subway) . If you are young and want to be in a super affordable area and architecture and aesthetics aren’t that important to you, you might enjoy this airbnb. But for us- it just felt too mis-aligned with our desire for peace, ease, and beauty.
2. THE INTERIOR of the APARTMENT: i would describe the apartment itself as a cute bo-ho bungalow with old world charm. The ceilings are nice and tall, the doors are big, heavy and beautiful , the floors are charming and the chandeliers are swoony. - the kitchen is equipped (although not with some of the cute appliances pictured (which may have already been updated) - you have to use a lighter to light the gas burner and the stove never did work.
Syd told us he and his partner had recently renovated. The new furnishing were layered with multiple neutral and natural textures, colors, pillows and the main bedroom had a huge king size bed, a big window and lovely little furnishings
However, the bed was hard… like REALLY hard. It gave both my friend and I trouble sleeping . The two couches that doubled as beds were comfortable to sit on, but when it came to sleeping, compressed at the edges causing a different back issues. (Again, if you are younger this may not impact you the same way, just FYI)
Some of the sheets were SUPER soft, and others were scratchy.
I got a rash on my neck from using the new pillows in the main room. Once i covered them with some of the softer pillow cases the rash went away.
ART WORK: Syd and his partner are published authors and artists. Their artwork hangs throughout the apartment. Art, by nature, is subjective. There are a lot of sexually-politically charged pieces everywhere. This is not a criticism. Just an FYI. If it’s your thing,you might feel like you are in a curated gallery. But if it’s not, you may feel overwhelmed by the energy of it all.
COMMUNICATION:
It all started off really well. Syd was really engaged, informative, and gave us lots of suggestions for museums and other sites we could go and see. (The way he described it, We got super excited to explain new part of town based on his recommendations.
The checkin was relatively smooth. We were met by two kind gentlemen who showed us how to use the burners (weren’t able to light the stove) or hook up the Apple TV (not a huge issues, but it would have been nice to have).
Things were uncomfortable, but okay until we had a few issues. The tone and graciousness of our communications with Syd soured when we reached out to tell him we were having trouble with mosquitos and another ‘unidentified bug’ for which we both had experienced multiple bites. He tried to explain it by suggesting it was ‘unseasonably warm’ for a few days, but when the weather changed it would no longer be a problem.
I had a problem with this as, the Airbnb has a heater but no air conditioning. As such ‘unseasonably warm’ meant we needed to open the windows. Opening the windows brought in the mosquitos. Add to that, that when i suggested that the other bites (I had 18 in total over the course of 3 days and my friend had many as well (for which she had pictures) - MAY have come in dormant in the new ‘natural pillows, bedding or animal skins’ -but came alive during the warm weather, Syd said ‘That’s impossible’. Without getting deeper into the details- he essentially said, he had been there a few weeks before and had no problems, and felt like he implied we brought them with us. (Which was SUPER insulting). But that aside, while he called a fumigator, his communication felt incredibly dismissive and accusatory, instead of apologetic and compassionate.
He did call for a fumigator, who sprayed for Mosquitos-and general other critters. However, he too suggested there were no other insects present.
I, and my friend lived in florida for over 40 years. We both know insects, and their various bites well. WE KNOW the difference between a mosquito bite and ant, flea, chigger bites. And in mass quantities, they look and few different and cause extreme discomfort.
There is more that compounded the frustration and discomfort of our stay, I feel this is enough to offer ‘our experience’ staying with Syd.
Hope this helps you make the decision that’s right for you.