There were several positive aspects of our two week stay, such as; off street parking, quick communication with the hosts, the location is close to parks and sky train, the suite is spacious, and it’s pet friendly.
However, we were disappointed with a few key issues, especially after reading previous reviews.
Upon arrival, we found a drying rack full of dishes on the counter which needed to be rewashed, as they weren’t cleaned very well. We had to clean these dishes without any provided dish cloths, only a few-well loved and stinky sponges. They was no dishwasher detergent either. Someone else’s old food scrapes were left in a bin in the freezer. The microwave and fridge had clearly not been cleaned in sometime. In the bathroom, dust cobwebs were around the entire ceiling perimeter and there was a noticeable amount of blond hair on the couch and carpet. Our expectation of a $75 cleaning fee is that we would show up to a place that has had a basic amount of cleaning, especially during a pandemic. We are by no means “clean freaks,” but this was disappointing.
The heat in this unit is finicky. We stayed in January so it was an issue for us. The baseboard heating is either on or off. The rooms are either really cold or really hot.
Communications was quick but a bit of an issue as there are two hosts responding. One is very courteous and kind the other is less welcoming and made us feel like an inconvenience. For example, we were traveling with our toddler and a few days into our stay we requested a two hour window in the afternoon for quiet time for a nap. I assumed both hosts were onboard, as it was in our group message, but the next day there was excessive noise and stomping to the point of shaking pictures on the wall during the agreed upon quiet window. When I tried to message a reminder of the quiet time, one of the hosts responded back with a very unfriendly response. The host had told me that it is the home owner’s right to be practicing MMA (not a joke) above us.
This is an older home and the suite is in the basement so sound does travel easily. The host is a musician and you can hear the music through the day on the weekend, but luckily it was enjoyable. You can hear voices, tv and footsteps too. This is especially noticeable in the main bedroom and until 11 - 12 at night, so if you are a light sleeper and like to get to bed early, this would be an issue.