Irene's apartment looks exactly how it is in the pictures. It was clean, cozy, and very comfortable (especially the bed; I slept like a baby on it)! It's located very close to Amsterdam central, but not close enough to be surrounded by tourists, which was great. We got to experience Amsterdam like locals do, and when we wanted to partake in the touristy attractions, we just took the trams. There's an AMAZING breakfast place right down the street from this apartment called "Omelegg." Best meal in Amsterdam for us!
Now for the negatives:
The bathroom floods. We had to use our towels on the last day, when we knew we didn't need them anymore, to mop up the floor. But before that last day, we couldn't sacrifice our towels because we needed them to shower. On those days, the flooded bathroom floor was pretty bad. When it's frigid outside, and you're stepping on a soaked wet floor, it's awful! But we've had this happen to us in 3 other countries. So, we don't really blame Irene for this. The design of many bathrooms abroad is just like this, it seems. We would recommend that the host probably provide some extra towels for this reason.
Now, the REAL reason we gave this only 4 stars was because we had so little direction with getting to the apartment. The instructions said to take the train to central station, and to take a tram to the apartment. That was it. Well, for people who don't know Amsterdam and are going for the first time, a little more detail is needed. We had to figure out the tram lines ourselves, in the rain, while we were freezing, in the dark, on the side of the road. It took us 2 hours to find the place after a very long airplane ride from the states, and we arrived wet, cold, and very stressed. The host said we should've called, but we did! Our phones did not have an international plan, but we stopped at a store, and the shopkeeper let us use his phone. There was no answer at the number provided! Also, we couldn't find #157 when we finally found the street. So, we started desperately ringing all the neighbors' doorbells to find the place. The host heard us speaking loudly to the neighbors, and luckily, she let us in. Turns out, the front door had just been painted, and the #157 on the front door had disappeared under the paint! Of course we couldn't find it!
In the future, the host should tell visitors specifically which tram to take to the apartment and how to get there. The number should also be on the door so that visitors know where to knock. Our first night in Amsterdam was nearly a disaster because of this issue. If this is fixed, the apartment is a great find.