The good:
The place is very pretty and clean. It has many amenities including dish washer, washer/dryer, hot water, strong wifi, and is close to several corner stores where you can get anything you need. The apartment is safe--a private building and on top of that, two locks on the door. The neighborhood feels very safe during the daytime. Santa Maria is a family-friendly and culturally rich neighborhood. I felt very safe and comfortable in the apartment over the 3 weeks I lived there.
The bad:
For me, the metro was too far away--a 15 minute walk, which during the nights I did not feel comfortable making that walk alone as a woman.
You may find this anywhere in Mexico , but the neighbors could be surprisingly noisy, there were two nights I had to put a sound machine on at nights due to noise from neighbors playing banda or doing Karaoke until 4 AM. But this was only a few times--and again, probably common in Mexico.
Above all, I was disappointed by the host’s rigidity, and I felt she treated me with suspicion which has never happened to me in my years of renting with Airbnb. I read her to be suspicious of me when my ID verification originally didn't go through, even though it was a small technical error that I was in the works of resolving. It was obvious that she was new to Airbnb, which led to a few downsides. Since she was not familiar with the system of Airbnb, that she was unaware how to offer a discount for my 3 week stay which consequently cost more than her monthly rate. Having thoroughly explained my interest to stay for the month due to my position moving jobs, I was disappointed when she did not notify me that the apartment became available for the whole month of September. I was also disappointed by her unwillingness to consider my request to for asking if we could work out a way for me to stay that last week due to an extenuating circumstance with the total being comparable to the original weekly price. Above all, I found it frustrating that she treated me with suspicion throughout our communication, since was not even present at the check in (she sent someone she said was her brother) nor at check out.
In general, the place is very pretty and spacious, but I think the host handled certain things poorly, and I do feel it was quite pricey for a neighborhood that’s not extremely accessible.