Christopher's apartment was hands down the worst value I have encountered in my 10 years of using Airbnb. My rate of $366cad per night was not commensurate to what this apartment offered. If I wasn't so tired after my check-in, I would have definitely left this apartment immediately. We booked Christopher's place primarily with his listing stating that you "can access a lake by a path or dock " This would suggest the apartment is very close to a lake, which is simply not true. This is not known at the time of booking as Airbnb doesn't provide the exact address until your booking is confirmed...and in this case, even after the booking was confirmed it was stated we would not see the exact address until a few days before arrival. In fact Christopher's place is actually 1.4 km to the lake. Furthmore a path or dock to the lake doesn't exist. I am not sure if this feature was selected accidentally or was intentional; but either way it's deceitful. This property is located on Dundas Street,which is a very busy throughway. The noise from this street makes opening the windows for fresh air or using the terrace very unpleasant. In fact it's only with the air conditioning on, that the noise from the street is masked. Which brings me to the next problem, the air conditioning. During our stay, Toronto had a major heatwave. ( 32C with a feelike of 40C )
This air conditioning is not the proper size for the unit, which makes it necessary to leave the A/C on, even while not occupying the apartment. The A/C is controlled with nest, in which it predicts when your desired temperature will be reached, which always stated, " 2 hours +"
something unacceptable. To make matters worse when we did leave the A/C on while we were out we would come back to the unit being turned off remotely ( presumably by the owner ), through nest wifi. So to keep the AC on everytime we exited the apartment we would have to disconnect the wifi modem to ensure we return to a space moderately cool.
Problem 2, the sheets being used are 100% polyester. ( A product of the petrochemical industry) Why do hosts use polyester? Because it is cheap, 1/4 of the cost of cotton sheets. At the rate we paid of $366cad per night, this is unacceptable. To make matters worse there were two plastic mattress covers were being used on the bed.The reason you never see a plastic mattress cover being used at Hilton or Marriott, is because it does not breath and makes for a hot and sweaty nights sleep. A mattress is designed to absorb your sweat during the night,and release it back by day. We went out the next day and purchased our own cotton sheets.
Problem 3: The bathroom towels presented to us were brand new, and I am referring to brand new off the store shelf and never washed. If you ever bought a new article of clothing/towel, you know the smell I am referring to.
Problem 4: The shower soaps presented to us was a mix of mostly emty leftover bottles of bodysoaps and shampoos. If you reserve here remember to bring your own soap and washcloths, which do not exist at all; and why would they at only $366 cad per night.
Problem 5: The location of this apartment is close to nothing. It's a 500 meter walk to everything: convenience store, trolley, bike share. It take 30 minutes to bicycle or take public transport into downtown. The bicycle ride along the Lakeshore into the downtown will take you past some of the most undesirable industrial areas of Toronto, including the garbage transfer station that stinks beyond belief. The other problem with the location is the quantity of drug addicts, which I refer to as Zombies as they definitely look the part of a Hollywood zombie movie. You can find these all over the neighborhood, especially outside every major retail shop. It appears that most are meth amphetamine users, with the signature rotten front teeth and emaciated bodies. This is a real tragedy, as with other hard drugs that users can be rehabilitated; for these meth amphetamine users data shows there is very little hope of rehabilitation. The only way out appears to be death or prison. So when you hear the fire truck go down the road, don't be alarmed; it's not a fire....it sadly another overdose.
Problem 6: The local beaches. These waters are regularly tested for fecal coliform, and many times closed for unacceptable limits. We passed a little stream flowing into Cherry beach, which I thought was unusual since the city was experiencing a dry spell. It turns out this streams headwaters were from the snow pile melt, still a mountain in size in August; that was draining directly into the lake. If you are thinking white fluffy snow, this is not that, this is black highly toxic snow that has been removed from Toronto's streets during the winter; flowing directly into the beaches we were just swimming at...really disgusting.
Problem 7: The couch. The couch is a nice long leather couch..that feels like a low rider car. Getting up/out from this couch is almost comical ( we are two young guys and very athletic)....my suggestion is you slide onto the floor first and then continue to your vertical position....this is the lowest to the ground couch that I have ever been on.
Problem 8: No storage space. Pretty much every cabinet, closet and even under the bed; is full of the owners things. We are light travelers with just 10kg of effects, but even these things had a hard time to find space.
Problem 9: The owners passive agressive notes left for your enjoyment. One of his notes states you can read any of his books but that all have been inventoried and if you steal one he will know. Really, we