You get what you pay for. It is good, but it is also cheap.
Pros:
- Location is very good, close to everything, in a very safe and cozy neighborhood. You will forget you are in one of the world's largest cities.
- Hosts are very communicative and all steps were very easy, including check-in and check-out. Nothing to worry about.
Neutral:
- The apartment is garnished with a full set of basic working appliances . There are working fridge, cooker, microwave, a regular coffee machine, washing+drying machine, as well as cable TV, internet (not so fast, around 50-100MB/s). All are a bit old and weary, but all worked well as expected. There is no dishwasher, as informed.
- The apartment is well furnished and the design is nice, even though everything looks and feels cheap.
- The apartment is overall clean to a good standard and tidy, but there were some clothes in the wardrobe (probably the owner's?) and A LOT of water gallons in the kitchen that we didn't have the courage to drink . Not sure if we were supposed to.
Cons:
- Inside the apartment, there was only one drawback. As this is on the 3rd and top floor of the building, the water pressure is weak. Shower is weak but ok (people with very long hair will get annoyed). However, the pressure in the kitchen sink is very weak, which makes dishwashing annoying.
- The building is decrepit and somewhat scary. It looks like Chernobyl - last time someone did actual maintenance in the common areas was by the time of Gorbachev, and you could guess no living soul passed by after the 1980s. Wall paint is broken or missing everywhere, there is glazing missing, moldy walls and all the package.
IMPORTANT NOTE: the above is about the common areas, not the apartment. The apartment itself is well upkept an there was no mold whatsoever.
- Adding to the scary feeling, most apartments in the building have metal-bar gates outside the actual apartment doors, including this apartment. So for entering the apartment, once you're already inside the building and on the 3rd floor corridor, you first have to open the metal-bar door, which then gives you access to the actual wooden entry door of the apartment. I looks like a jailcell door and it takes at least 3 different keys to be able to actually enter the apartment. And I was told to lock everything every single time. So this was scary and annoying. When you look around while you're managing to operate the multiple locks on your door, it gets you thinking why on Earth most of the 10-ish apartments in that same floor have these jailcell doors on top of the actual door. There are also security cameras everywhere, pointed everywhere.
IMPORTANT NOTE: scary is a personal feeling. I did not ever experience anything potentially unsafe during the 10 days I stayed here. I passed by some of the neighbors in the corridor many times and they seemed regular working class people. None seemed to be a thug or whatever. Our overall conclusion based on pure observation, which we don't have any evidence to support, is that this building could probably be some kind of social/lower-class residence amid an upper-middle class neighborhood. The building itself and the residents there do stand out as compared with the neighborhood average standing.
REMINDER: the building does not have an elevator, so bear in mind you will need to carry your luggage 3 floors up. Also, the weather was hot and we suffered a bit without A/C, but we knew there was no A/C according to the ad, so this is not the host's fault.
CONCLUSION:
The stay was overall good, comfortable and hassle-free. However, the property was sub-standard as compared to my original expectation and to what I would have usually leased. The pictures of the apartment are accurate and current, but there were no pictures of the building, which is what we found most disappointing. Probably our wrong expectation that this would be a higher standard property came from the location in Condessa and high star-rating. So keep that in mind. I would still recommend this apartment to people who want to save money while staying at a premium location, but, personally, I would not stay here again.