We left this rental a day early and received a partial refund from Airbnb due to my experience.
A few things to note.
1. This rental has only spiral staircases for entry- both in the front and rear of the building which were not pictured or mentioned in the property description. We came to Montreal to get my daughter ready for camp- but there was no way to get her super large duffle bags up the stairs.
2. It comes with two free parking spaces, which is in an uncommon find.
3. While we were there there was no key to the back door, and no way to access the front door from the back of the building- except for walking around the block to the front. We always had to drop someone is front to let us in... which didn't work if you come home alone.
4. The host told me I could park on the street in front with no restrictions, but there was lots of construction during our stay- and therefore lots of parking restrictions, so that was not possible.
5. The light above the backdoor was out so it meant the spiral staircase and door wasn't lit for safe nighttime entry.
6. It has a very thin ceiling and walls so you hear a lot from people above you and on the street. When people walk up to the third floor apt it feels like they're bascially in the apt because of the windows to the staircases. It just so happened that the others staying in the building were quite loud until after 3am both on Sat and Sun nights.
7. The neighborhood is meh. I found out from my local friends that the neighborhood is in the midst of gentrification- so some blocks are safer than others. We witnessed a physical fight one block over between two people that appeared to be quite intoxicated, at 8:45p.
8. Lastly, I found the host to be quite unpleasant. He ignored my question 2min into checkin about entry to the building. He did offer to bring a rear door key, but I wanted no in-person interaction with after receiving messages like this....... "it doesn’t take a genius to figure it out" when I asked about parking and the front door. And, this comment when I expressed frustration about the spiral staircases not being disclosed, "do you think i would provide a crane to get you up There. Be realistic.. if you are not happy you can leave but I will not refund you." He had no way of knowing I had broken toes, but he also had no reason to respond so rudely. I felt very uncomfortable with his messages.
9. Once inside, the apartment is good. The washer and dryer are fast, the rooms are good sizes.
I'd recommend if you don't have much luggage, i.e. stairs don't matter to you, and if you're planning to be out late, so you won't care about possible noise from other apartments.