There were both good and bad aspects of this AirBNB.
The good bits - the location was fantastic. It had a great view and was very central to most of the tourist stuff we wanted to see such as the CN Tower, SkyDome and Aquarium. It was on a subway line so we could easily get to things a bit further afield. The grocery store, LCBO and bank were in the same complex albeit from a different entrance which was very convenient. It had great Wifi.
The apartment itself was clean and the beds were comfortable. Even the sofa bed was comfortable which was confirmed by both children who each took a turn sleeping on it. The bathrooms were clean and it was really great that they provided shampoo, conditioner and bodywash plus dishwasher detergent and laundry detergent. Those things – especially laundry and dishwasher soap are not normally provided and it saved some money. The bedding left a bit to be desired. One of the covers was basically a blanket inside a duvet cover. That said, the kids didn’t complain about it and the temperature in the apartment was fine.
The bad bits – the parking. The listing states that you can either pay £20/day on a pay as you go basis or you can request a transponder from the owner with a £100 deposit and it would cost £15/day. I requested the transponder a week before I arrived as I wanted to use it but was told that it got lost and wasn’t available. I asked if they could get another one as I had a week until I was arriving which they pointedly did not respond to. So we accepted that we would need to pay the going rate for parking. I then asked them to at least find out if I could come and go for the £20/day that the listing said that it cost and they ignored that question as well. It says in the listing that the building has underground parking available for $20/day which is true but the listing left out the fact that there is also a nightly overnight charge as well of £10/night! So we ended up paying £30 per night for parking which is twice what I had hoped to pay for it. I have receipts to back this up.
Then the kitchen. It had a microwave and stove and no instructions anywhere. Plus – there were no clearly marked microwavable bowls at all. There was literally nothing suitable to heat anything up in like a ready-meal or pizza. I think they should get some pyrex (glass) dishes with lids which would allow people to reheat food plus put the instructions for the stove and microwave in a binder. I was quite prepared to get some saran wrap to use overtop but I wasn’t about to purchase microwave safe bowls. I don’t think this would be a huge expense and not everyone wants to eat out every meal. There were ample cups, glasses, plates and bowls to eat with. I also appreciated the tea and coffee that was left to use.
Then there was the pool. During our visit, the indoor pool was being cleaned and maintained which couldn’t be helped and was mentioned by the lady who let us in. However, when we pointed out that there was another pool – an outdoor pool which WASN’T being serviced, she just told us that there wasn’t another pool. It is pictured on the listing and we asked others if they knew how to get to it and they said you could get to it from another floor. We went to the other floor and found the entrance to the outdoor pool and our key fob didn’t open it which was disappointing for our kids.
Overall – apart from the parking, the pool and the lack of some kitchen gear. This was a fantastic apartment with spectacular views and we all enjoyed staying there.