It is very nice, spacious, well furnished and comfortable apartment and we enjoyed our stay.
There were some issues … which could have been alleviated if there had been some local host presence at arrival.
There were two BIG negatives for us which would prevent us from returning … viz. the steep high stairs for baggage carrying and the lack of parking.
This was our first experience with an airbnb rental with a non-present host, and based on this experience we strongly prefer the personal touch provided by a local presence.
When I suggested to the management company, by phone, that a local presence would be helpful at arrival, the person who responded stated they were “running a business” and couldn’t afford to provide a local presence!
More detail is provided as follows ...
i. The apartment is on the SECOND floor (in U.S. vocabulary) not the first floor, as advertised (in Canadian parlance) …. and up a very steep and narrow staircase …. There being no help available presented a significant challenge for we four, relatively fit and mobile, septuagenarian guests, in getting our luggage up (and down, upon departure).
Only one of us (me!) was strong enough to handle our 4 large 40 lb plus bags and four trips up (and down when leaving) was somewhat exhausting.
Without available host provided help, I would caution anyone who is not fit and strong about renting the apartment.
ii. There were several issues regarding house cleaning and preparation …. a dirty oven and cooking pot, laundry left in the dryer, a part separated from the coffee maker which prevented it functioning, several non-working lights, a loose toilet seat, no dishwashing soap. Most got fixed until the next day, but two of them not at all.
Iii. We also needed an explanation on how to close the apartment lock after leaving it, which took several hours to resolve with only a voicemail and texting access available to us after 5pm on the day of our arrival.
iv. There is no available parking in the building and there are no local parking lots … We had to park on the street and feed the parking meters every 3 hours at $3/hour from 9am to 9pm … Parkining was free overnight until 8am and then you have to remove your car from 8am until 9am. Our host David? gave us inaccurate and incomplete information on this and we incurred a $62 fine for not moving our car after our first night there. We regard the parking situation as a major inconvenience and would caution anyone coming with a car to be aware of this problem.