Pros:
- clean apartment
- trendy neighborhood
- well furnished
- good value
Cons:
- check in is a hassle. You have to send a lot of information via a web site which can be challenging if you’re traveling when you book, and only have a mobile device like me.
For each guest you need: a photo of your passport/ID front, photo of your passport/ID back, a photo of the individual holding the ID, name, ID number, date of birth, date of ID expiry, date of ID issuance. If any of these items are incorrect, they reject it and you have to fill the whole thing out again for that guest. They could just as easily correct it for you based off the photograph but instead they reject.
Also, you have to complete this process between M-F 9-5 before your visit, otherwise they “won’t approve your stay” (although they approve it on AirBNB, so I’m assuming in that case you lose your money)
- The locks are completely digital and rather insecure. You will need a phone with internet every time you want to access the apartment and lock up on your way out. Also, anyone with your confirmation number or email can technically access to your locks. No authentication or even last name on reservation required to access the site. I have 2-factor to access Instagram, but 0-factor to access the room I’m sleeping in.
- It’s pretty loud. We arrived on a Saturday night and there were about 80 people on the block outside drinking until 4 AM. On weeks days the sound of children waking up to go to school woke us up. And their erecting a new building on the block, which meant jackhammers and equipment noise at about 7 AM.
- You can’t get support on weekends. Our safe was locked up when we got there, but the host said to call the office at 9 AM Monday. Not ideal when you’re there for the weekend
- There’s a shared window that allows you to look into the unit next door. Not a huge deal because there’s a blackout curtain, but overall the thought of looking into someone else’s unit, or seeing someone look into ours was creepy. Those windows should be frosted in my opinion.