I had an extremely stressful check-in. The description was saying to check in by 9 pm. Darcey asked us when we were arriving, and I responded around 6.30 pm. London's airports have ground crew strikes, and flights were getting delayed. My flight was 1 hour delayed and I arrived at the apartment at 7.50 pm. I did not think is a problem as the instructions said check in by 9 pm, but after 9pm additional fee. There was no one to check us in. I had no message from Darcey. We were sitting in front with our luggage. This is a residential area with no restaurants you can walk in with your suitcases. We took an uber to find dinner. Darcey took 30 minutes to respond that someone would be there in 40 min. After 2.30h, an agent for Darcey left the key under the apartment door mat, failing to tell us that there was a building entrance code. That night the building was open, and we did not think that code was required. Certainly, there was nowhere mentioned an entrance code in the instructions. We got locked out of the building on the second night, texted Darcey, and called the number provided. Someone hung up repeatedly the phone. The apartment instructions were - do not disturb the neighbors and don't mention Airbnb. It was close to midnight, and no neighbors to ask for help. Drunks were drinking on the bench across the street. My kids and I hide in the building garden waiting for the host to respond. After sitting for over an hour and hoping the host would respond, we rang a random apartment from the building explaining the situation and asking to unlock the door. I was going to check in at a hotel but had to work that night, and my laptop was left in the apartment. Not a pleasant experience for a property marketed as a luxury! Darcey responded on the following day at 10 am that there was a code in the house manual. In fact, there was not.
The apartment was clean and had everything you would expect from an Airbnb. However, there is a street next to the apartment, and the whole building shakes every time a doubledecker or truck passes by. London's bus system is 24 hours, so there was no break from the traffic. The location did not feel safe past 9 pm, especially if you got off the public transportation in the Kilburn area. The best way to go back to the apartment at night will be a car/cab. This is a considerable expense adding to the experience.