First the positives:
The apartment was spacious and well laid out. The bed was comfortable and kitchen well appointed. The location was in proximity to three restaurants which we enjoyed very much (Kissa Tanto, Cuchillo and the Diamond), all three were recommended by our host.
Now the negatives:
The area is sadly inundated with drug addicts and homeless people. Not just a few people homeless scattered around. People shooting up both in front of the building, side of alley and in the rear alley where you need to access the parking garage. I know the social issues of the area are not the responsibility of the host however I find it hard to believe the no other guests have pointed this out. Other reviews did state a lot of homeless and that they didn't feel safe at times however not to this extent. The four to six block radius of this AirBnB, specially two blocks down, were full of people passed out, actively shooting up or arguing between themselves. Not just a few "homeless".
The parking space we were provided had broken window glass, obviously recent, littered across the space, which we cleaned up and disposed of.
When I noted my disappointment with the trio shooting up in the alley the hosts response was "Oh no!!! Police regularly patrol the alleys in the downtown/Gastown area. I will call that in to them. Try not to be too discouraged, the area still has some of the best restaurants and cocktail lounges in the city. The homeless won’t harm you just destitute. We have a lot of professionals that live in the bldg and work in the area. It’s hard to get away from some of the social issues out city is plagued with. Unfortunately"
I did take in stride as this was right after we arrived, noting we had recently spent time in Vietnam and Thailand. We never felt anywhere near as uncomfortable in either country as we did in the area around this apartment.
When we checked in to the apartment it was hot and stuffy. The description said it had air conditioning. When I asked about I was informed the "Portable Unit" was in a locked cabinet however I was provided the key. This unit was partly partially defective, requiring duct-tape to keep it mounted to the window. It did help to keep the apartment cool however we had to have this plus a portable fan unit on the entire time we were sleeping. Mind you the temps outside were in the fifties at night. I would have gladly opened a window however the multiple ambulance sirens each and every night at all hours made this impossible.
On our day of checkout the elevator was out of service and we had to shuttle our luggage down multiple flights to the parking garage and to the first floor. We did try to reach Lynne via multiple Txt and voicemail message only to hear from her over an hour later (we had a ferry to catch and were already gone ). We did have mix-up on our part about the key which should get us back into our floor and perhaps we should have loaded our car the previous evening when the elevator was working however thought better given the security uncertainty of the garage.
We have stayed in establishments around the world and never felt so uncomfortable or had a host with a more defensive attitude.
If you have a high tolerance a nice apartment in a neighborhood with break-ins, active drug addicts, high police and ambulance activity then this place is for you.
We will not be returning nor recommending this to anyone.