The host was friendly and communicative, but there were a couple of things that would have impacted my decision to book this apartment if I had considered them ahead of time.
1- This Airbnb is someone’s actual home that is just vacated whenever an Airbnb guest uses it. While this works for many people, I find these rentals to be tricky because you want to use the space/amenities you paid for, but you also don’t want to disrupt anything.
2- The check in instructions are clear, but in an unfamiliar neighborhood, the process is stressful. The key box is hidden between a sign and a brick wall, and it’s hard to reach. I struggled with it for about 5 minutes, getting dirt from the sign all over my hands and clothes, and feeling embarrassed while a neighbor on a balcony nearby shouted obscenities into the street. When we finally got the key, we were followed by a man trying to deliver a package to our unit. Since he couldn’t get in without a key, and we struggled to get through the locks even with a key, we all spent some time awkwardly staring at each other and not sure what to do. It was just stressful.
All in all, the place is beautiful and comfortable once you are inside, but the experience was slightly less relaxing than some of the other AirBnb’s I’ve stayed in.