Terrible experience. From lack of cleanliness to horrible building to theft and rudeness from Matt who, by the way, is a property manager not owner as he implies.
We checked in and were quarantining, which Matt knew when we first booked. The apartment was not properly cleaned. Bathroom was filthy (hairs on the walls and toothpaste stains on a hanging picture frame and mirror). The carpet had not been vacuumed, floors had dust bunnies and bedding absolutely stunk! Matt was responsive and said he would send a cleaning lady but since we were quarantined we had to wait 2 weeks (naturally, we ended up cleaning most of the stuff).
The apartment is not equipped for long term stays (we rented out 80 days). It’s good enough if you are staying a week or two but more than that is not practical unless u plan on getting your own things. No bath matts, kettle works but is broken (on/off switch is broken we had to use a fork to switch it and did not even open to fill with water and we had to do it closed). There is only one fitted sheet so u have to make sure u wash and dry during day to be able to use by nighttime. These are just a few examples of what we dealt with.
The couch was super uncomfortable, you can feel the springs and sitting on it for an hour would hurt our backs, no way you can sleep on it and wake up comfortably. The bed (not the one pictured) is not a bed, it is two mattresses on top of each other with a frame around them to fool you into thinking it’s a bed.
On average, once a week there is a maintenance issue in the building. We would spend a full night without any electricity. We got locked out once because elevators were out when we were told one would be working. The apartment is on the 24th floor. You take an elevator to the 9th (one was working and second broken during most of our stay) and then there are 3 other elevators that take you up to approximately 50 floors. The cherry on top was when we were told there would be work on the balcony for 3 weeks to change the glass rails and we just had to accept it, bring anything on the balcony into the apartment and close our blinds for privacy and that they would “try to keep noise to a minimum”.
With regards to the theft, we had Airpods, an Apple Watch and a JBL speaker on the desk next to the door. We locked our doors anytime we left the apartment. All three items were stolen and after some investigations, it is apparent such theft happened while we were sleeping inside. When we spoke to building management they said it is common that people walk into random apartments and the police confirmed that this building is one of the 4 most unsafe buildings in Toronto as many Airbnb’s are there so people know and target them.
Our experience with Matt in the beginning was smooth. Anything we told him about he fixed, whether it was send a cleaning lady or a plumber due to old piping. When we discussed the theft with him he was initially cooperative and asked us not to report it to Airbnb. When we explained we already had, he changed 180 degrees. It took us 2 weeks with Airbnb and the police to be able to leave this hellhole and get a refund for the remainder of our stay.
Honestly I cannot express how bad our experience was, how much money we lost and how much this listing is a bust. Don’t waste your time or risk your money.