Pros: This is a great unit in a great location. Although it's a small studio, it's large enough for two people and ideal for a brief stay. The bed is comfortable. The unit was clean when I arrived, though the soap dispensers in the bathroom were all empty.
Cons: My check-in process was frustrating, disorganized, and extremely stressful. After I made the booking, Sophie told me that I would have to pick up the keys to the unit at a convenience store 1 km away (about a 15 min. walk). The afternoon of my arrival, I went from the airport straight to the convenience store, only to find that the keys were not available there. I messaged Sophie, who told me that because of a last-minute change of plans, she had left the keys in the unit instead. She assured me that building security would help me get up to the unit.
I walked over to the building. When I arrived, the building's security officer at the front desk refused to help me. According to the building's rules, no one can use the elevators without a key fob, and security has no responsibility for helping Airbnb guests check in. He told me that Sophie was fully aware of these rules, and he forbade me from trying to use the elevators without a key. Now I was stuck in the building lobby with no way to get up to the unit.
I messaged Sophie via Airbnb. She said that she didn't know that security would refuse to let me into the unit and suggested that I "follow someone into the elevator" instead. Needless to say, I didn't take her advice since the security officer could easily have tossed me out of the building (or had me arrested for trespassing) if I tried to sneak in against the rules. Besides, even if I had followed someone into the elevator, there was no guarantee that person would go to the floor that I needed, and you can only get to a specific floor if you have a key fob coded for that floor.
Sophie assured me that she would find help, but said that she was in another city (130 km away) and could not come in person. I tried calling her using the "Call Host" option on the Airbnb listing, but that number was disconnected and didn't work. I messaged Sophie, and asked her to call me. When she did a few minutes later, she asked me to pass my phone to the security guard, who explained to her that he had no responsibility for helping Airbnb guests, that the building rules prohibited him from letting me into the elevator, and that, as an owner, she was fully aware of these rules.
Several minutes later, Sophie messaged me to say that I should go to the building management office and present my ID. The manager would then let me into the elevator. I went down to the basement, and found the management office locked. No one answered when I knocked on the door. I went back upstairs and asked security for help, but he was—as before—extremely unfriendly, so I resigned myself to keep waiting in the lobby. Meanwhile, I tried several times to call Sophie, but she wouldn't pick up, and was slow responding to my Airbnb messages. Finally, she wrote, "Sorry, I am in my class now"—suggesting that she would no longer be able to respond to my messages or calls.
Eventually, the security officer received a call from the building manager. He asked for my ID and took a photograph of it with a cell phone. (Does the building have any privacy protections in place to prevent these copies of personal IDs from being misused?) He let me into the elevator and sent me up to the correct floor. The door to the unit was unlocked, and the keys were on the counter. By this point, 45 minutes had passed since I arrived at the building, and more than an hour since I tried to pick up the keys at the convenience store. The delay caused me to miss an important appointment, and nearly made me late for another.