OK. So. I want to write this review with 100% honesty so you can plan your trip according to your personal levels of comfort. I'll start with the good... but, be sure to read this review to the END:
GOOD:
Communication with Leo was a breeze. He sent all of the check in information in advance, which included personal pass codes to all the doors. Entrance and exit was smooth. The apartment is really nice, as is the entire building. I enjoyed the balcony with the overlook of the bay and industrial area / shipping yard. The furnishing were modern and the place was extremely clean. You couldn't ask for a better AirBNB from that standpoint. The neighborhood is hip too, with several local breweries nearby--one of which was very good! It was also walking distance to Gastown and areas a little further east with good varieties of ethnic food. However...
BAD:
(note: these things have nothing to do with anything the owner of this AirBNB can control... and, potentially may not be things that you will be able to avoid in other areas of the city, either.).
I saw some of the reviews about this place being in a bad neighborhood. But, I figured, "are we talking about a bad neighborhood in Vancouver", or are we talking about a bad neighborhood in New York City, Washington, D.C., or Detroit? How bad can it be, right? Well...
We arrived at 1:00 am... and the following morning at 8:30 am, we saw a guy overdose on heroin 300 meters from the front door of the building. He was essentially at the bus stop you would use to get to the downtown part of the city. Luckily, paramedics arrived and gave the guy NARCAN and revived him. Two minutes later, we got on the bus...
The bus route from the AirBNB to downtown takes you DEAD-SMACK--intentional use of both words--through the strip of all strips: a 1-mile section of drug activity, prostitution, and homelessness unmatched by anything I have ever seen or anywhere I have been. The characters that get on and off the bus during that mile-long stretch will make you uncomfortable... itchy, scratchy, dirty--not the people: me! The scenes you will see out the window will scar your view of Vancouver. It's highly unfortunate... but it is educational and eye opening!
However, even after seeing all that, we walked back to the AirBNB that afternoon from Gastown--albeit a few blocks over. We walked right along a homeless camp in a park, and saw more evidence of drug use and prostitution... we even saw zombie prostitutes. It was daytime... we couldn't walk fast enough. I wouldn't do it at night.
With all that said, no one tried to do anything to us... or even talk to us. We mostly took cabs and/or the bus to and from the AirBNB from then on.
IN THE END:
We saved hundreds of dollars over what we would have paid to stay in a hotel. We stayed in a part of the city we would not have otherwise stayed in, or seen. We receive an education. AND, we would probably stay there again.