I’m unable to provide a review for this apartment, as we were not actually in this apartment. I can, however, review the host based on my experience.
I booked this apartment for a stay in Toronto for a wedding. My husband, myself, our 2 year old and 5 month old planned to stay in the two bedroom basement apartment. I confirmed with the host that it was in fact two bedrooms before booking.
I asked the host if we could have early check in as we were travelling with two children and I was hoping to work around nap schedules and a long drive. I was advised that I could check in at 2:15. I asked about parking and did not receive a response, and asked about checking in and was told I would be contacted with the information.
I arrived at the apartment with my two children and found street parking (you need to purchase a city of Toronto temporary permit for the street for this property). I still hadn’t heard from the host, so tried emailing. Then I tried contacting her on the app, and eventually tried calling her. After number listed attempts to reach her for check in information, we finally connected closer to 3:30. At that time I was advised that we had been upgraded. I was frustrated about the check in, but accepted the upgrade. Our “upgrade” was a third floor walk-up with one bedroom. The apartment was lovely, but would not work for our family’s stay. (I have asked the host 3x if she can add that apartment to my itinerary so I can leave a review but she has not responded).
Once again it was difficult to reach the host but eventually I did, and she advised me that she had double booked the apartment I originally booked, and felt that we would be fine in a one bedroom apartment; the other party had checked in at 6:00am. Our booking states “3 people + infant” which the host interpreted as 2 adults and an infant. Therefore, she said we would be fine in a one bedroom apartment.
I expressed frustration and was offered an opportunity to stay in the one bedroom for one night and move to a different location for the second night - also not ideal. I was frustrated and tired, so agreed to simply make the one bedroom apartment work.
It did not work. I booked a two bedroom for a reason, and it was unacceptable that the host made the decision to move us into a one bedroom on her own presumptions. If she knew ahead of time that the apartment had been double booked, she should have notified us and given us an opportunity to figure something else out. Instead, she was presumptive and completely insensitive to the stress that it caused me, arriving for our early check in with two small children, and not being able to get into the apartment until 2.5 hours later. And the wrong apartment to boot.
Upon review, I realize this host has 16 other listings on airbnb, and the apartment that we ultimately stayed in isn’t even listed among those. Moving forward I will be more cognizant of how many properties a host is renting out, as it was extremely frustrating dealing with a host or management company that has so many listings.
I’m still extremely disappointed and frustrated at this whole experience.
On an aside, the one bedroom that we did stay in was well appointed, clean, and had a beautiful west facing deck. The building however was quite noisy, including at night.