I stayed at Alex's place for one night for a work trip. The apartment is a shared apartment. It has two bedrooms, but there were 3 or 4 other girls also living in the apartment (two in the bedroom next door, and there were two beds in the living room). All my previous experiences of AirBnb stays had been where I was the guest staying with the host, so I did not expect that this was a fully packed share house (much like a hostel) - this aspect is not well advertised.
The bad parts of the stay were:
1. The room is very noisy. This is because the room faces Lonsdale St, and is on street level so you hear all the street noise. In addition, the door of the room faces the kitchen and is also right next to the shared bathroom. When the other flatmates used the kitchen and bathroom late at night (past midnight), I could hear everything; the bathroom taps were particularly loud. Similarly, I could clearly hear other flatmates using the bathroom and kitchen early in the morning (before 7am). This resulted in interrupted and little sleep.
2. As it is a shared apartment, I was using the bathroom in the morning when another flatmate knocked on the door and asked to use the bathroom first as she was in a rush. This aspect, and the noise of the apartment, is not a criticism of the flatmates (who seemed nice) but is consequence of living in a shared space with 3-4 others.
3. Communication for check in could have been better. The day before my arrival, I smsed Alex with my estimated arrival time, but reveived a message from Alex via AirBnb later that night asking for my arrival details. I asked Alex whether his contact number listed in Airbnb was correct. Alex did not answer this question, but said I could let him know when I arrived. I then clarified whether I should contact him on his mobile, and only then did he give me a contact number for his flatmate who he said could let me in. It was only after the flatmate let me in that I found out Alex was overseas - this was not an issue of itself, but Alex could have told me not to contact him on his mobile as he was overseas. Had I not clarified the point of contact beforehand, it would have been natural for me to call Alex once I arrived and finding that I could not call through.
4. The place is 3/5 clean - i.e. pretty clean for a shared apartment, but I did find someone else's hair in my bedsheets. The shower drain was also blocked so the water covered your feet as you showered.
Although the noisy room meant I did not get much rest (which was not ideal for a work trip), if you don't mind living in a shared apartment, the place is decent value for location.