Just a few notes about our experience at Alva’s. First, note that this is a “professionally” managed property, which is to say that everything seems to be run on the cheap and there is no “Alva” here. You deal with a management company, not the owner. In our case, we only dealt with “Doris” and by text message only.
It’s hard for us to judge if this is a good value Airbnb since it is the only one we have rented in Auckland, but we have rented many Airbnbs over the years and feel we have a good sense of expectations.
In our opinion, this is just an average Airbnb rental. However, it is designated as a “Superhost” property. Having rented dozens of Airbnb properties all over the world, we have come to expect a higher standard from properties that have a “Superhost” but this place fell very short of a “Superhost” experience.
Pros:
Comfortable bed; reasonable location approx.20-30 minute walk to CBD/docks; modern apartment; good washer/dryer; good shower, indoor lap pool in the building; the management company (“Doris”) was responsive to text messages.
Cons:
Not sure why Airbnb lists this as a Superhost property. Everything was handled by text message. There is no manual for the place, so no information about how to use the espresso maker or washing machine (which had issues), no suggestions for good local restaurants or bars or neighborhood shops, no info about supermarkets in the area, no nothing! When we asked (by text only) for personal recommendations on our stay in Auckland, we were simply referred to the internet (duh). The apartment is quite small and in mid-February was quite hot. Note that the window in the bedroom nook does not open. There was one small fan that was completely inadequate for cooling off the bedroom area. This apartment needs air conditioning or, at least, 2 to 3 powerful fans! In terms of cleanliness, when we self-checked in, the floor in the kitchen area was sticky and the rug had some potato chip crumbs and some hairs on it (yuck). The lint trap in the dryer had not been cleaned out, and some of the drawers in the refrigerator needed a wipe down. While it does have a kitchen, utensils and cooking equipment are minimal. For example, there are no serving bowls for making a salad or pasta (just 3 tiny cereal bowls), no corkscrew if you want to open a corked bottle of wine, no vegetable peeler, not even a small roll of paper towels if you want to clean up, etc. Access to the lap pool is nice, however you are given only two small bath towels and two hand towels so this becomes complicated. Since the indoor lap pool is advertised, wouldn’t you expect “Superhost Alva” to provide a few towels to use for the pool and sauna?? And, for a 3 night stay, 2 small bath towels and 2 small hand towels is inadequate for two people, especially if one of those two people is actually a female who has long hair, not to mention no towels to use for the lap pool and sauna.
We don’t mean to rag excessively on the management of this apartment, but the owner should have provided much more in the way of amenities if Airbnb gives it “Superhost” status. We are currently staying at an Airbnb in Rotorua that has Superhost status and actually deserves that designation because the hosts truly exemplify what it means to provide a great experience for their guests UNLIKE at Alva’s place. Would we stay at Alva’s apartment again? Unlikely, but if so, we would be better aware of what to expect.