Host: Lali was nice and accomodating host. We had to move from our reserved AirBnb and she gladly accepted us last-minute. She was responsive. We went on a multi-city tour and left the key at the hotel there. She was able to arrange a key for us when we returned until the hotel shipped the keys to us. Location: It's great! It's a 7min (slight uphill) walk to Taksim Square.
Apartment: Short -- Spend a little more and get a better place. Long -- It is a below-average (broken and tight) place for those on a tight budget. We stayed for a month but I think it's suitable for maybe 1 week max, not for long stays. First, the apartment is on the 4th floor with no elevator. It is a building rooftop converted into a living space. The roof is a metal sheet with cardboard-type tiles to make it look decent but there's no insulation from heat or cold. There is a window but nothing to view at all. Bird, rain, and wind sounds are VERY loud as if they are in the apartment itself. You can hear the loud music being played from street behind the building. There was a dead cockroach near the washer. The drying rack is broken, one of the trash bin is broken, the sofa-bed is also broken from the side. the shower holder is close to the roof so tough to place it in. Probably not suited for tall people (over 5ft 7in). The washroom quickly starts to smell like the gutter due to poor piping. The AC does not cool the bedroom (and the owner refuse to provide fan) so we slept on the sofa-bed in the living room -- so space was even less. The table had a lot of dents and does not stand properly. The TV worked but was off-color and not really watchable. We had to ask her for new bedsheets -- when she came to give, the wanted the old bedsheets back immediately even after I told her my wife was sleeping. She still insisted on taking them back, so I had to wake up my wife to take them off of the sofa-bed. Our initial flight at 17:00 was cancelled and new one was scheduled for 04:00. I told Lila that she can come around 00:00 (midnight) to get the keys. She came a bit early and we were still packing and wrapping up (we did a lot of shopping, so there were a lot of bags and boxes). Since it was very late, I thought she would get the key, lock the apartment and go. However, as soon as we opened the door, she came in started cleaning WHILE we were still finishing up!! She called her husband and he barged in without knocking while my wife was not wearing a head scarf! We took our bags downstairs and when I came up for my jacket and neck pillows, I could not find them. I asked Lali and she said she did not know. I insisted they were on the sofa and then finally her husband said wait a minute. He then went to the storage room (outside the apartment) and brought my jacket and neck pillows. I was shocked that they hid our things at the first chance they got instead of telling us that we left them. In the hassle of wrapping up and Lali cleaning SIMULTANEOUSLY, I am not even sure if I got everything or a thing or two were thrown away by her. Stay alert!