I spent the last three months in this apartment, and wanted to share a detailed breakdown of my experience.
Pros:
- It’s near the tram (T1), which makes access into the city easy
- Şehrimini is a great area - lots of families and small businesses
- There are a number of places within walking distance to get groceries - I usually went to BIM and A101
- The host was helpful in coming with me to the hospital when I got food poisoning my second or third week
- She also showed me some food places nearby that she recommended
Cons:
- It’s an older, garden-level apartment. Throughout my stay, there was always something that was being fixed/repaired - the toilet, the dishwasher, the area above the shower, the balcony, etc
- There isn't a dedicated shower area - the toilet and shower share the same tiling. I'd recommend asking for more photos to get a better picture. There isn’t a lot of room to shower, and you have to squeegee the area down after. There was also mildew on the roof.
- The apartment was messy when I arrived, and the balcony had lots of trash and junk. It stayed that way for most of my stay until the host cleaned it the last week of March
- There were cockroaches everywhere when I arrived, which made the kitchen unusable, and made it hard to sleep. One day, I was boiling water in the kitchen, and a cockroach started crawling on my leg… another time, I was sitting in my room doing homework, and saw one crawling on me. I reported this to AirBnB and the host, and it was finally resolved after a few weeks
- The Wi-Fi would sometimes cut out while I was working. This was a big deal for me because I work virtually, and would have Zoom calls drop. The host did her best to work with the internet provider when this happened
- Some of the amenities in the listing weren’t offered to me - e.g. shampoo, conditioner, body soap/shower gel, so make sure to bring or buy your own. I'd also recommend bringing a towel and slippers for the shower/walking around the apartment
- I tried using air fresheners that I bought in Istanbul in my room and the bathroom, but I was told once to stop using them because the host was sensitive to their smell. I communicated that I was only using them because there was an odd smell that sometimes lingered in the apartment
- The kitchen became a hassle to use for the last month or so. I don’t really cook, and if I eat something, I clean my plate, meaning, I eat everything off of it, even the crumbs. I explained this, but was told to put the dishes in the dishwasher, so I did. I ended up getting a message anyway telling me to stop leaving litter in the sink, and when I asked for clarification, I was told that I supposedly left a tomato piece in the sink? At that point, I just started getting anxiety going to the kitchen because I was afraid of getting in trouble. This is also aside from the fact that I often found the kitchen messy, and countertop space unusable because it was full of stuff
- The host was pretty cold during my last month. I assumed she was dealing with a personal matter, but when I asked her what was wrong, she mentioned she was upset with me about the air fresheners and kitchen. I gave the same explanations I noted above, and asked her to communicate clearly with me if she’s upset about something. The distance between us remained, so I didn’t really feel comfortable approaching her thereafter