I want to be fair about this review: there are some really good things about this apartment, especially the view over the viaduct and the America’s Cup yachts, and the central location, right downtown. The apartment has been designed to look lovely.
However, there are some really significant issues with the apartment and hosts, and in particular the apartment is incredibly hot. We were there in summer, but I notice that at least one review has said similar things about other times of year. When we arrived the window blinds had been left open and the temperature must have been 40C. Basically the apartment heats up like a greenhouse. Worse still, none of the windows open so it is impossible to cool the place down again. We had a VERY uncomfortable first evening and a worse night. The doors that open on to the patio help a bit but don't allow any airflow to the rest of the apartment.
As regards the apartment, there were quite a few smaller annoying issues that really detracted for us:
•	The carpets have lots of marks / stains
•	There was a broken and dangerous chair
•	The mirrors over the sinks are positioned so you can't actually wash your face in the sinks
•	No tea towels
•	One key didn't work which was quite annoying as we had 4 people needing to use 1 key
•	A pair of underpants left by previous occupants behind one bedroom door and not found by cleaners.
Now, as regards the hosts/property managers: they are very responsive, and do indeed respond in under an hour, which is obviously very helpful. However:
•	the photos on airbnb are clearly taken with a VERY wide angle lens - even expecting that to some degree (lets face it, a lot of hosts do this), we were disappointed at how small the apartment was and how much effort had been taken to take the photos. If you look carefully at the photos you can see the beds in both bedrooms were moved for different photos to make the rooms look bigger. For me the size of the apartment is pretty marginal for 4 people.
•	It was a little irritating to get contradictory instructions for where to leave the keys on checkout.
•	I did not appreciate getting messages from the hosts everyday, especially a message offering a “special rate” to the airport of $85. I am not sure I have ever paid that in a real taxi - Auckland discount taxis do this trip for jaround $50, as do uber normally.
•	Finally, and the main reason that I decided to write this long review: I especially did not appreciate receiving the message below bargaining for a 5 star review. I think this is not ethical or reasonable. I don't think I have ever left a negative review on airbnb before, but the more I thought about the high rating for both the apartment and the message below, the more surprised I was that there seem to be so few previous guests who have pointed out the limitations of the apartment. Having spent a weekend in the apartment, I am very surprised that there are only two previous negative reviews.
Hi Simon,
It was a real pleasure having you stay with us - we hope you had an excellent stay!
We love sharing our place with great people such as yourself and will be sure to leave you a glowing 5-star review :-)
Sadly Airbnb actually penalises host if any part of the review is lower than 5-stars so an all category 5-star review really goes a long way and we’d be extremely grateful as this will help our little Airbnb business a lot.
Thanks again Simon - we really enjoyed hosting you and hope you'll come again.
Best Regards from your hosts,
Eric & Jason