Overall this is a huge amount of space for a 1 bedroom apartment in a very central location. It won't be ideal for everyone but good for one person or a couple who enjoy nightlife and going out.
Brief pros & cons:
PROS
- Lots of space
- New, good quality appliances
- King sized comfortable bed
- Good amount of clothes storage
- Well located for restaurants, clubs, transport
- Great communication
- Very warm in winter: well heated
CONS
- Very noisy from street and neighbours
- Completely open plan so no bedroom door or separation between rooms
- Kitchen needs updating
- Overall finish is worn out
- No elevator and low-rise bed mean not suitable for people with certain access needs
- No privacy
We stayed in this flat for 4 months from Dec - April. Overall it was a great experience and we enjoyed our time there. The flat is pretty well equipped with amenities with a very large living/dining/home-working space and large master bedroom. The bathroom is small but perfectly servicable. There is a tiny utility room with a washing machine. The furniture is all designer and an eclectic mix of modern and "vintage" styles. It would benefit from updating as some is a bit broken and worse for wear. Despite the size, I wouldn't recommend this apartment for more than 1 people due to the open plan layout and street noise.
Other reviewers commented that the kitchen lacked utensils. This is accurate. If you don't plan to cook you will be fine. If you do, there is one very old frying pan, one casserole dish and a ridiculously large stock pot as well as a mix of random lids and unitentifiable equipment. I have donated two useful pans to improve this situation!
The biggest pro is the amount of space and how centrally located you are. You can see into Gloria from the living room windows. You can walk to Old St or Liverpool St stations in ~5 mins or to Columbia Rd/Spitalfields/Brick Lane in ~10 mins. There are lots of cafes, bars and restaurants as well as supermarkets and some shops in close proximity.
However, the biggest downside to this location is the noise. The windows are single glazed and street noise is constant and very loud. Because there is no bedroom door you can't block out the sound. If you are a light sleeper you may need a white noise machine, we used one every night and it was effective for the most part. The upstairs neighbours were often very loud, shreiking and playing loud music in the middle of the night. Bring earplugs!
We found the apartment to be very well heated and comfortable over the winter. However you cannot open the windows, which means in the summer it might be very hot as there is no ventilation.
GuestReady were great and very helpful, someone always replied at almost any hour of the day. Though we never met, the owner was also helpful and assisted when we asked to upgrade the wifi.