Good location and flat, wouldn’t book again with the hosts. Overall, not worth the price we paid, as it is essentially a 1-bedroom 1-bathroom conversion with an extra bed in the open-plan living space.
Pros:
- great location if want to be near Brick Lane, generally quiet. was not expecting to be waking up to birds singing outside in this part of London, which was nice
- main bed very comfortable
- nice, modern shower
- hot water and heating worked well
- nice and functional design, cosy
- early check-in allowed with no fee, which was appreciated, and communication prior to booking was fine
- wifi worked ok
Cons:
- without going into too much detail, it was obvious from the conversation that the drying cycle in the washer did not work, yet the host would not admit knowing about it and basically would not (or could not) do anything about it
- the hosts asked if they could come by to collect items on Dec 26th which we okayed, only to turn up a day earlier with a short-notice message basically informing us that they were coming. I tried to object but they still did it as it suited them. Even though we were not having a big celebration, which they couldn’t have known, I believe that is a rather inconsiderate and intrusive thing to do on any day, let alone on Christmas Day. As if that wasn’t enough, Sam’s partner quizzed my son on ‘where he was from’ and then pointedly rebutted him with ‘British by passport’ after he’d replied and added that he was British, which is what he feels like now having grown up in London. He was lost for words, since we are surrounded by the sort of Brits who would consider such sneering as a very un-British thing to do (oddly enough, Sam didn’t sound British either, but maybe that’s not the point). The real issue here, of course, is not our non-anglosaxon heritage, the issue is the intent behind such a ‘correction’. And no, we did not misread it.
- for some reason, no welcome pack was left for our stay, as mentioned in the listing and by previous guests. not a big deal, but had we been informed, we would have included in our ocado order. the host offered to order them, but by then we’d had to go out and buy the basics ourselves, so only asked for some dishwasher tablets and spray
- the second bed is short even for an average female, so is the duvet. the flat is too small for 6 adults
- we booked the evening before check-in, and although appreciated being granted morning entry, this indicated that we just came to the flat as it was left. it was generally clean and tidy, but there were dirty items in kitchen cupboards, full laundry basket in the bedroom, and some dust
- I dropped and slightly deformed a M&S pan, and wrote to ask for a payment request. I was slightly unpleasantly surprised to receive a request for the full value stating that it was only for 50%, which I paid
All-in-all, we should have been able to leave with a good impression, but it didn’t happen for the above reasons. We mostly enjoyed our time at the flat notwithstanding, but would not book again, although others may well have a very different experience.