I DEFINITELY DO NOT RECOMMEND to book Alec`s place; as the host caused a big headache for the most important stay of our life. I will write a full story below, but as a summary the host MISINFORMED us intentionally to make us book his place! When we checked in, we understood that he didn't give the right information, we objected to him but he refused to refund. We were CHARGED FOR 30 DAYS in an apartment we didn’t stay a SINGLE day! He even rented the place to someone else a few days later and made DOUBLE money by misleading us. The case is still open with Airbnb.
So if you don't want to face potential problems, I would recommend STAYING AWAY from this place and host; since he easily misinforms to make money off you.
For anyone curious on the issues we faced, here is the story:
1- Guests are unable to set the heater from inside
We booked Alec’s place for a long term stay (80 days), where we were planning to stay with my 8 months pregnant wife waiting for the baby. Before booking we checked all the listings in very detail, especially heater; since heater adjustment is very critical for a newborn baby, that may cause sudden infant death. (If you are interested, here is an article for Ambient Heat and Sudden Infant Death: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4492261/)
Heater is not listed in the amenities of the apartment. Then in reviews, I saw a guest’s review stating that “Thermostat is located downstairs and you have no access”. Seeing this, I was hesitant to book the place. But then I saw host`s reply to this review as: “I will definitely work on a solution to the thermostat accessible to the guest”. You can also see this review and host`s reply on this page.
Reading the host's reply, I reached out to the host before booking. My exact question in the message was: “...I have seen a comment on not being able to set the heater by guests, is this issue resolved? As we’ll have a baby, this would be important for us as well”. Host’s reply: “...the issue was resolved.” Trusting the host's word, I booked the place.
When we entered the place, we realized that this is not the case! There is no heater adjustment accessible by the guest! We were openly misinformed! When we said this to host: He said that 'the heater is not in the listing, so the heater is not accessible by the guest' and then we asked why he MISINFORMED us in his messages, he said whenever we ask him he can adjust the heater on behalf of us. But this was not the question that we asked clearly! I am curious how he will immediately set the heater when we are dealing with a newborn baby in the middle of the night!!!
This issue was already a deal breaker since we cannot put baby`s health at risk for that. Also there was another problem as well:
2- Very unsafe stairs leading to the apartment
Listing includes that the place is accessible through stairs. We were perfectly fine with having stairs, since the place is only the 1st floor and it's healthy to use stairs. But not THESE DANGEROUS STAIRS we saw when we checked in! Too narrow and too steep, no handrail on 1 side, very dangerous for my 8 months pregnant wife and the baby. But there was no picture of the stairs of the place. The host probably did not put the picture of the stairs on purpose since guests may change their idea to book the place if they see them.
My wife almost tripped over when she visited the place to see after booking. I’m attaching the picture of the stairs as a warning for everyone who intends to book the place.
By the way, the inside of the place was nice and that was the reason why we booked the place. But safety was over everything, we had no choice but to cancel our stay because of both heater and stair issues.
Host only cared about his FINANCIALS despite our goodwill, clearly mislead us. Our suffering was considered as an easy MONEY MAKING OPPORTUNITY. Stay away from the place and look for other options where you’ll be able to trust the host and receive the value for your money.