I gave this stay 3 stars, primarily for the lack of communication and the quality of apartment.
the check in is quite late in the day, and I had reached out to the host 3 days prior to the check in date to see about checking in early. we had planned to reach the city earlier in the day and we just wanted a place to set our luggage down rather than cart it around toronto. we were okay with just dropping it off while they cleaned it. I never received a response from the host, so the following day we tried calling. they didn't answer, so we left a message. I understood not hearing back yet, because it hadn't been 24 hours yet. the problem was, we were arriving in two days and still had no idea if we could drop our stuff off. we also reached out to air bnb to see if they could reach her. we heard back immediately from air bnb. they were really attentive. they called after the initial message and told us they would reach out to her. within an hour, they called back saying they had talked to her and she would call within 24 hours to tell us whether or not we could check in early. she never called or messaged me back. we changed our plans and got there about 30 min prior to check in and were able to get in, just barely though. as we were trying to use the lock box, it was empty. a few minutes later, someone (cleaner? with host?) came out and gave us the keys.
regarding the state of the apartment, it's okay. the towel rack is being held up with tape. almost all of the blinds have some missing which is really creepy, because people could look in if they wanted to. we didn't see any ants like other reviewers had mentioned which is basic needs being met. it is quite small so I wouldn't recommend this to more than two people who don't mind sharing a bed. it was good for what this trip entailed. we were really close to most things which was great. i wouldn't recommend for people staying longer than a few days. also, the filter in the fridge for water needed to be replaced, so we weren't able to use that water. the area around the apartment was really quiet, not much street movement. we didn't hear dogs barking, but im sure that's due to us staying during a holiday weekend.