Stayed in one of the kitchenette apartments for a 4-day break with the hubby, away from our 2 year old girl for the first time. Funky place with well thought out details (luggage storage, communal laundry and well stocked shared kitchen) and bonus extras like the sweets, Polaroid camera and refillable bottles & tote bag. The bed was also really comfortable. While this was great we couldn’t get over how much noise was coming from the street down below at all hours of the night so it was definitely not a restful break. There were rubbish trucks, emergency vehicles with their sirens on, groups of drunk people shouting to name a few. And this was mid-week. The first night we woke up more tired than when we went to sleep. I always read the reviews before booking accommodation and I was disappointed that on this particular listing no one really mentioned how bad the noise is at night. (For other apartments people do mention it). That said, when I raised it with management in the morning they promptly delivered some ear plugs that I asked for and offered to move us to another apartment facing the other way. Since it wouldn’t have a kitchenette, they offered to give us complimentary breakfast at their partner restaurant nearby to compensate. I really respect the handling of my complaint though we didn’t take them up on the offer as we were already settled and needed the kitchenette for making Chinese herbal medicine each day. We had another issue with the hot water in the shower which again was looked into promptly but couldn’t be resolved.
On the plus side the location was great and walking distance to most places and the surrounding areas had a lot of atmosphere. We did a walking tour of all the Christmas lights one evening which was fun.
Communication with Bob W’s management is excellent and easy. I also believe they are aware of the noise issue and are looking at ways they can contain it from the fourth floor as a whole.