Staying in John's 'Stunning Shoreditch 2-bedroom Flat' was an interesting one to say the least. The stay was a mixed bag of both positives and negative experiences. Let me take you through it.

Upon arriving in London, I contacted John reminding him of our stay. John had mentioned that he was not working today, however a member of his team would help me with getting set up in the apartment. Once I had reached the address I looked around in bewilderment as there were surrounded by less than desirable 'council' flats. A far cry from the 'stunning', 'cool' and 'trendy' Shoreditch apartment we had in mind. Unsure this was the right address, I asked around the local neighbours who were very reluctant, and quite frankly seemed kinda scared, to help.

Confused, I called the number provided by John and got through his team member. He informed me that no one will be meeting me upon arrival to show me the apartment and to follow the instructions to get in.

WHAT INSTRUCTIONS?

It had seemed John had never sent me the integral pdf. file to get into the apartment. Granted, I understand not all hosts can meet you (although all previous 6 hosts that I have experienced walked me through the apartment and were immensely helpful, shout out to those guys!!!), but what followed was a lengthy and very irritating back and forth with his team member trying to figure out how to get in.

It seemed like somewhat of a treasure hunt for his keys, which to be fair is not that complicated to find, but describing through broken up text messages consisting of instructions of 'fences', '45 degree angles' and 'codes', was a mess! Eventually after spending a number of minutes on the phone we worked it out.

John seems to have not included a picture of this apartment from the outside, granted it's not like you are staying outside, however it is clear this apartment is situated in a less than desirable block of flats. Which given the price of staying in this apartment is unjustifiable. Additionally, having looked up Bethnal Green online and talked to friends living in London, it is universally seen as 'not the best or safest of areas'. I obviously should have done this research prior to making the booking.

However, once in the actual apartment, it is beautiful, just like the photos! It is also very, very clean (although it would want to be, there is a €78 cleaning fee). How close it is located to Shoreditch is also handy, you can easily work in and around the area.

To summarize, the stay was a real mixed bag, best described by another guest who had wrote about their experience in the guestbook John has provided in the sitting room.

Helpfully potential guests will find this review useful.