Firstly I don’t enjoy giving negative reviews unless it involves rude people. As a landlord myself I understand the importance of being attentive to my tenants in order to assure them that I value who they are and appreciate their business. In all fairness, I will say that Daphne was fantastic when it came to response time and when possible I sincerely believe she did her best to remedy some but not all the issues which caused us to cut our stay short from 8 nights to only 2.
First of all the photos of the place show a basics IKEA-ish remodeled, one-bedroom rental in an Art Deco style building, which was pretty true to what it was.
When my partner and I travel we almost always need a kitchen as he prefers to cook most of his meals in-house, whereas I prefer to eat out. That said when we arrived we had to ask for pots and pans, a blender, a cutting board, and a large knife. as the kitchen was not well provided. Very quickly Daphne instructed the in-house staff to deliver these items so that was very good. Only the cutting board was totally gross and should have been tossed years before, needless to say, we did not use it and cut on a plate. This was something that might cost all of $3 USD and would have been helpful to prepare food. These small things make the difference in my opinion, and some hosts get this and some do not. If there is a kitchen -why not stock it?
That said, the staff was all gracious and super friendly no matter what.
Besides the lack of a stocked kitchen, there were several things that we found really annoying and as mentioned left after two nights. I am going to list the things as I hope the host will remedy these things before allowing other guests to stay there as a vacation should be fun, and certainly not an ongoing back and forth about "home issues" with the host-after all, that is why we take vacations!
So here were the problems: The bathroom window is designed to only open about 8-9 inches, only it does not lock and frankly, that is just weird to me, I felt like I wanted to move my toiletries bag before going out. They brought us a tool to jam into it so it would lock! But the worst part was that if you wanted to shower or use the toilet and wanted some fresh air- as there is no fan, you cannot open the window or you are in clear view of everyone at the reception desk and all that enter the foyer! Maybe a LARGE plant would help?
The toilet seat, a cheap lightweight plastic thing, would not stay o, eventually, a man came and took it and did not return it all day our last day there.
This is Mexico and one may or may not know it is best not to put the paper in the toilet but in the trash basket. I know this but some might not. There should be a small but obvious sign "please, place toilet paper in the trash basket, only" or "por favor, coloque papel higiénico en el cesto de basura, solamente". Yes, this would be a great addition!
The toilet clogged up (not with paper!) twice in two days, and we had to ask them to come with a plunger! Not fun- once I was already in bed and my partner had to call them.
The pull-down sheer shades do not offer any privacy at night! From outside and we had the light on inside one can see everything in the living room and the bedroom! The apartment is on ground level and so the staff and other tenants can see everything- I had to turn off lights before getting undressed and into the bed. Maybe a set of curtains to pull in front of shades for nighttime?
I know, this is a long review and it is not meant to stop people from booking with this host- but please ask if these things have been addressed.
On a positive note, the bed is VERY comfortable, and Daphne agreed to refund 6 of our 8 nights, allowing me a late afternoon check out in order to find another rental. Unfortunately, we were charged cleaning and Airbnb fees- so it was expensive for two yucky and annoying rights, and missing the whole day of site seeing here in this wonderful city. Well, that's life!