Ultimately we were disappointed, it is not family safe, and we left after our 2nd night.
Pros:
-Communication from the host about check-in and parking was clear and they were responsive to questions.
-Parking spot comes with the unit
-The bathroom was clean
-The sheets were clean
-There were enough towels and extra sheets if needed.
-The apartment has a lot of character being an older building
-Proximity to the Space for Life museums is great
Cons:
-The front stairwell from the unlocked outside door, the only way to get into the apartment without someone already on the inside, was very dark with space that anyone off the street could be hiding, sleeping, sitting, etc...
-The slider door at the back of the unit did not have a working lock on the door, only the safety bar that slides down to prevent the slider from opening.
-Multiple screens were ripped in the slider and in one of the bedrooms.
-Multiple windows in the unit were unlocked we had to go around checking and locking all the windows, definitely not kid safe.
-There was cigarette ash in the ash trays on both outdoor spaces, also not kid safe.
-The outdoor furniture needed to be cleaned, we could not sit on it without cleaning it first or putting towels down to avoid our cloths getting dirty. (I have outdoor furniture at home, this was more than a week's worth of normal outside dirt)
-There was food stuck on a couple of the utensils from the previous renters who clearly didn't wash their dishes thoroughly.
-There was food on the cabinet doors which easily wiped off when I cleaned it.
*there is a cleaning fee as part of the cost to rent the apartment, the cleaning company needs to do a better job.
-The upstairs, 3rd floor apartment residents were loud from about 10pm past 4am on our first night, a Thursday, having some kind of gathering with people going up and down the back stairs all night, talking loudly outside and in. It kept my husband and I up who slept in the room next to the back stairs which are metal/fire escape type of loud stairs. In order to get to their 3rd floor they have to actually walk on the 2nd floor landing right outside the slider door(offering little privacy).
-On our 2nd day there we came back to the apartment in our car early afternoon and a car was parked in the designated spot for our rental. We reached out to the hosts who didn't reply for 45 minutes, only after I reached out again to tell them the car had moved.
*On check-in day we arrived at 7pm, it was dusk and you must park behind the building and then walk back to the front door through an alley way that was littered with garbage and a dead rat (however that's not in the host's control, just not a great first impression). The area is not well maintained. There was also garbage on the front grass and walkway. When entering the building through the front, unlocked door (which you are instructed never to lock, that it stays unlocked) it was so pitch dark that I had to use my phone flashlight to find the key box and then to walk up to the 2nd floor landing and try to find the lock on the door with my flashlight. the stairs continued up to the 3rd floor turning to the left where anyone off the street could easily be sitting or sleeping etc... I did reach out to the hosts the next day and they replied that they would fix the lighting situation. There were two light fixtures I could see, one when you first enter the unlocked front door and one on the 2nd floor outside the apartment door. I do not know if there was one on the 3rd floor, reason would suggest there is, but I was not walking up there. The hosts fixed the light on the first floor and told me the lighting situation was taken care of. But when I returned that 2nd evening with my 3 children under 10, one with Down syndrome who sometimes bolts, I found that the light right outside the 2nd floor apartment door and no lights further up to the 3rd floor stairs were on so I still had to fumble with my phone flashlight and the key, and my 3 littles to get in while my husband walked alone around back to bring the stroller to the car. When asked again about getting a lightbulb at least in the fixture right outside of the 2nd floor apartment door the hosts informed me that the fixture was broken and there was nothing they could do.
***Furthermore when I messaged the host after our 2nd night to tell them that we were booking a hotel room for the remainder of our stay as it didn't feel safe to have our family here they were kind, reassured me that it was a safe area with many families including their own with small children, but understood. They then OFFERED ME $150 TO LEAVE A 5 STAR REVIEW. I fear that is what has happened in the past and why there were many 5star reviews when I was looking for a rental in Montreal. So BEWARE.