Pros: location, price and spacious apartment
Cons: Mold, smell, 5 flight walk up, noisy at night, needs a deep clean, host communication poor when there are issues
Jose's place was sort of clean but there was a lot of dust and a smell that didn't go away unless all of the windows/doors were open. Communication with Jose was fine when I didn't have a problem, but we waited 8 hours to hear back from Jose about the smell and then contacted AirCover/Airbnb. Only then did Jose contact us. By then we had found mold growing behind the sofa and on the sofa slipcover. There was also mold in the bathroom.
Jose said he didn't have mold so we took pictures and sent them. Then he did come a day later to spray the mold with vinegar but it had grown back by the time we left 3 days later. He said he couldn't smell the smell. He said the moisture/water drainage was a multi-year whole building issue but that doesn't matter when you're the one paying to stay there. He did offer to refund our last days if we wanted to move after seeing the mold, but we asked for the cleaning deposit back instead as he did spray the mold, we could leave the windows open to mitigate the smell, and we were out most of the time sight-seeing. He agreed but only refunded the cleaning fee after I formally requested it through Airbnb.
Jose did not meet us with a key. We had to walk in one direction from the metro and contact someone who had the key when their store was closed. Then another 10 minute walk to get to the apartment. Then up 5 flights. Not as described.
Originally I had asked Jose to change my dates by one day but he refused saying it was his right as a host to deny my request as he wouldn't be able to rent just one night with his 3 night minimum. (I rented 6 nights but wanted to change to 5.) Perhaps he needs to take break from constant renting to tackle some bigger issues.