I am really dismayed to have to write a less-than stellar review.
First, the good: The space is very large. Full-sized refrigerator, great kitchen, comfortable bed, and the couches in the living room can basically double as two or three additional sleeping spaces. The wood floors are very nice, and the shared patio area is lovely.
Written communication with Sandra was good - the shower drain was clogged our first day, and when I wrote to her she responded and fixed it right away. The location is on a busy street, but the apartment is set back from the street so you can't hear any traffic. Very quiet and peaceful. The walls are not thin - there was a family with two small children next to us, and we couldn't hear them.
Transportation to and from the major sights in Vienna is pretty easy - we walked most days, but you can also take the tram, which runs right in front of the apartment. Just be sure to buy your tickets at a Tabac beforehand.
Now, the not-so-good: Most of these things I'd let slide and not mention, if they were isolated. But you know how the devil is in the details? There were so many little things that added up to create an overall negative experience.
- The listing says "Space is on the ground level so there's no stairs to walk up." This is not true at all. It's a BASEMENT apartment, so you have to walk DOWN two flights of stairs, and you have to walk back UP them every time you leave. This wasn't an issue for us, but I find the language in the listing to be so blatantly incorrect - a person with mobility issues could have a serious problem.
-Although Sandra speaks English fluently, she did not meet us for check-in. Instead, someone else, we still don't know who is was (presumably another owner of the home) met us. This person did not speak English. Now, between my husband and I, we speak 5 languages passably well. Whatever she was speaking, we couldn't understand ANY of it. The level of comprehension was literally zero. To get the Wifi password, she went into a different apartment, grabbed a laminated "tips" card (I'll get to that in a minute). I gathered that this wasn't for us to keep, so I took a picture of it. Good thing, because after that she put it back in the other apartment. This lady also seemed to be on the phone with Sandra while checking us in, because I heard her say Sandra's name. It would have gone a long way if Sandra had simply sent us a message afterward saying, "hey, I got tied up and couldn't meet you. I know she doesn't speak any English, so let me know if anything was unclear." But that gesture was not extended.
-This tips card that I had to take a picture of had one piece of useful information - the location of the grocery store. Unfortunately, the recommended store is permanently closed. So it turns out that it was not so bad that we had no welcome instructions in English, because they're apparently outdated.
- The shower is dirty. There is pink bacteria growing in the grout on the lower half of the shower wall. Not much more to say about that. Gross.
-We killed two spiders next to the bed. There were also spiderwebs in the bathroom and in the sauna.
-There was a used contact lens stuck to the bathroom wall next to the trash can. How this was missed by the cleaning person is beyond me, because I saw it right away.
-We saw two moths, pantry or clothing moths, we're not sure. In either case - if these get into your belongings and you bring them home with you, you will have a big problem (we know this because we've dealt with them before in our own home - it is not fun).
-The kitchen faucet is annoyingly corroded and very sensitive, so you have to wrestle with it to get it at the right temperature/pressure. Again, this seems nit-picky, and I wouldn't mentioned it if it weren't for all the other things we encountered.
-There are no curtains on the floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room. Only curtain is in the bedroom. So, if someone is out in the SHARED back yard (like the kids that were staying next to us), there's nothing to stop them from just standing there staring at you like a zoo animal.
-There is a significant amount of dirt/dust under the bed. I don't particularly enjoy the thought of laying in bed breathing in other people's dead skin cells and dust.
-There is a weird stairwell that leads from the kitchen up to...another apartment upstairs? There's just a curtain, no way for us to secure it. We assumed it was occupied by our hosts, but not knowing exactly was unnerving. If I was traveling alone, this would have made me uncomfortable.
-The description lists "a collection of movies" as part of amenities, but the cabinet containing these DVDs was locked. We weren't actually looking to watch movies, but if you're going to list it as an amenity, make it available. Since the alternative would have been to have another awkward and confusing interaction with the no-English lady, we just let it go.
Last thing - we did not check in early, so it's not like they didn't have a chance to clean. I just think they need to pay a little more attention toward the little details, and guests will have a much nicer experience. We would not stay here again.