I had originally chosen Birgit’s listing because of the ample reviews and the description that emphasized the central location and friendliness of the hosts. I was very disappointed to find that neither of these notes were true for my stay.
You can take the bus to downtown, and the stop for it is not far, but the area immediately surrounding the house is not very walkable. It’s close to highways, there aren’t any parks nearby that are good for exercise, and “the drive” nearby is not an aesthetically pleasing area.
I only heard from Birgit for the bare minimum (literally: WiFi details only), and she didn’t know how the TV worked in the apartment when I asked, and didn’t follow up or introduce herself in any way.
Used eggs, used milk, and used butter were left in the fridge and the coffeemaker was still full of old liquid from presumably the last houseguest.
There were spiderwebs all over the walkway to the property which — make no mistake — is in the basement of Birgit’s house. (That’s why you don’t see pictures of the exterior in the listing; the windows are all shoulder-height with the exception of the basement entryway.)
There was ample space inside, and a good number of kitchen utensils and cookware, so that was a bonus. Good washer and dryer too. There were just odd things missing that suggested the owners didn’t really care about the guests’ experiences — like no pepper, a broken light in the bathroom, and two TV remotes left out, neither of which was usable. The concrete floors were also thoroughly stained, and so not very chic. There are also loud dogs next door that bark through the night.
Overall, disappointing.