Positives:
It was mostly clean visibly (more on this later). It was breezy at times but I guess that's the weather. Gabby was communicative.
Negatives:
There is no AC. Yes that is (now) clear to me in the listing but I didn't think to check for that as a feature. I take responsibility for not noticing that, but during my stay it was over 90°F with a heat advisory and there was no inside air flow. Gabby did mention in her welcome message that they were "expecting a fan, which might arrive while you are in the apartment... feel free to open it and use it if you want to." I didn't think anything of it at the time, but after being in the apartment for about an hour, it started to get quite warm so I messaged Gabby to inquire about the fan and she said they tried to rush it, but it should arrive my second day.
The apartment is in a not great area and the building itself is very old and smells pretty bad - hallways and elevators also not air conditioned. I've lived in NYC, I know that's not everything.
I went to sleep, but that was also not great given the temperature and the really, really uncomfortable bed and super thin pillows, like comically thin (plus a couple decorative ones).
I woke up the next day and honestly left as early as I could so I wouldn't be hot and uncomfortable. I went to a nearby coffeeshop to work for a few hours but needed to come back to take a couple calls which is when I explored the "dedicated workspace". This consisted of a thin piece of wood screwed into the wall and held up in the middle by a sad wooden rod - don't lean on either side! The desk chairs were visibly dirty with hair, crumbs, stains, etc. and the makeshift desk is too high to use comfortably, so I had to sit on the bed. I started to sweat so I opened the windows some more which is when I noticed the bird feces on the inner window sill which really grossed me out (sure a small amount but does it matter?). I stepped outside where a large portion of the balcony is covered in pigeon feces (they are everywhere, I'm sure it's difficult to maintain). I tried to avoid opening all the windows/doors because I don't love flying insects while I'm working but of course in they came. But it was definitely cooler that way given the fan had not arrived until later in the afternoon. I had to prop the door open with one of the provided barbells that wasn't being used as a stand for the router, because it kept blowing closed.
The fan finally arrived and I had to unbox and set it up myself which was a fun thing to have to do before my next meeting.
I only had the reservation for two days so I decided to rough it out but I was not comfortable for any of the time I was in this unit. I contacted Airbnb support, but of course they don't really care and have little incentive to actually reimburse anyone or enforce any sort of quality control.
I'm sure Gabby's response is going to be that I didn't mention any of this to her (what could she have done that wouldn't have further inconvenienced me as well?) and that there's nothing technically inaccurate about the listing (minus maybe some fishy reviews if, I was a betting man). Yes, it is technically what's shown in the pictures. At the time of booking and writing this there was no written description from the host other than the sales pitch headline and featured amenities so I can't say any part of the process was dishonest. The listing did have AC crossed out as an amenity. I rushed the booking and just picked something cheap. But this is not a comfortable place to stay and really put a bad taste in my mouth about Airbnb as a service.
There was also no ice in the freezer. Not sure if that was listed as an amenity or not