We picked this property because of the favorable reviews in the past - but it feels like our more recent experience was very different. It's a shame because all of our issues are easily correctable as the apartment itself is nice and in a good location. I've given detailed feedback to the owner on the off chance that this is just a result of outsourcing the property management.
In short, with the $$ we spent we expected more service and consistency than we got (I see a June review from another guest that indicates some similar issues.) Here are a few examples:
1) The check-in requires you to go pick up the key .5 miles away from the property - and it's only available from 8 a.m. to midnight so if your flight is late, you're out of luck (this was the case for us, we spent our first night in London in Heathrow arrivals). Don't understand why there isn't a lockbox available at the property - even if your flight isn't late, it's very inconvenient to have to go to two separate locations. This was not clear when we initially made the reservation and we only found out about the pickup times much later when I asked about how late we could check in.
2) The supplies in the apartment were hit or miss - shampoo, soap, hair dryer, toilet paper - either hard to find (closets etc. are jumbled and disorganized) or missing entirely. We ended up going out and buying some of the basics even though the listing said they would be supplied.
3) The cleaning felt very haphazard. There were damp cloths under the kitchen sink, the closets and drawers were full of linens, towels etc. We spent our first hour re-organizing everything so we could make room for our clothes, putting pillow cases on pillows, etc.
3) Random things were harder than they needed to be and the response we usually got were things that required us to figure stuff out ourselves- had to call for the hair dryer (we couldn't find it anywhere), washer dryer was getting water logged (told to try switching it on and off again), a fan that wasn't working, (after lots of back and forth, told to go buy the fan ourselves and ask for reimbursement). Because of the unsatisfactory, time consuming responses we were getting, we stopped contacting customer service and just tried to figure out stuff on our own or do without (For example, connecting the TV & cable ourselves through trial and error or figuring out how to keep the 2nd bedroom window open )
There are other annoyances such as dim lighting in the bathrooms, inconsistent showers/faucets, a loose shower faucet, a concave/unsleepable futon) - all things that are easily fixable and on their own would have been not a big deal. but in totality + lack of customer service ended up making us unhappy with the experience.
I've provided detailed feedback to the owner in hopes this can be made right for the next visitors and make them feel more welcomed than we did. The property itself is nice and in a good location just the customer service could be improved significantly.