We booked a five night stay and left after one night. That is pretty much all you need to know about this place. The pictures way oversell the brightness and cleanliness of the tiny room. It is pretty dingy and beat up. The description says "tastefully decorated" and while I know that not everyone has the same taste, I can't imagine anyone describing this flat as "tasteful". Plain is a much more accurate word.
It is also quite small, which is understandable given the location, however the bathroom is almost non-navigatible because of the size. Hold out your hand and extend your thumb and pinky finger out in opposite directions. That is how much space there is between the sink and wall for you to slide through to reach the toilet.
I must also mention that while there was a small TV hanging crookedly on the wall, there didn't seem to be any cable or antenna, and when we hooked up a streaming device we discovered the TV had no sound. So, mostly just a decorative contemporary art piece.
We are pretty much glass-half-full sort of people and try to find silver linings everywhere. We have used Airbnb quite extensively over the last six months in particular as we have been traveling through Mexico and Europe during that time. In all cases except this one we typically find the accommodations to at least match the pictures and description, and several times have been delighted when the room is even better in real life that it seemed online.
Even though we were fairly dismayed when we saw the room, initially we thought we would just grin and bear it. It was when I used the shower the next morning that something just clicked and I started looking for a new place to stay. The shower head looked like it was 20 years old and water only came out of about 40% of the openings. I mean come on, a new and functioning shower head must cost what? £15? That just seemed to show how much this host really cares about the guests.
Strangely the property offered a 50% refund of remaining nights which I guess is nice, but also makes me wonder why? Is this something that happens often? I suspect it does.
The one final negative vibe we got from the host was how he reacted when we cancelled the remainder of our stay. I cancelled right at check out time for day 2, which was too late to get a refund for that day. We acknowledged that we would be refunded for night 3, 4 and 5, meaning technically we had until the following morning at checkout time to utilize the room.
As soon as I cancelled I received a message from the host asking us to please check out and leave the key in the room. Then (and I am not exaggerating one bit) 20 minutes later the cleaning person was at our door asking us to leave so they could clean! Wow! Seriously?
Fortunately another kind and wonderful Airbnb host allowed us to check into their super nice and amazing space right away. That host will soon receiving the same glowing review that I have left for the last 17 properties we have stayed in over the previous 6 months.
To be fair, there are some reasonably decent things about Hussein's place:
The bed, although small, is comfortable. The bedding seemed clean. The internet worked well. There is a fan in the unit which was a nice touch during the hot weather. There is hot water (something we have learned not to take for granted). And check in was smooth. Like I said, we try to look for positive. I am not at all used to giving negative reviews.
In summation, if you need a basic small hotel-like room to crash in for a night or two and the price seems right to you (it's still expensive because of the location, but cheaper than most around), then this could be the right place for you. I wouldn't recommend an extended stay past, say, two nights though. And don't expect it to look as nice as the pictures and description suggest.