PROS:
- Great location. Very close to bus stops and rail/underground stations.
- Instructions were clear which made self check-in quite smooth.
- There are supermarkets nearby so you can stock up some food in the fridge.
- Common area (kitchen and two bathrooms) was nice and clean.
- Free milk, cereal, muesli, tea, and coffee.
- Free laundry (except during quiet hours).
- Bed was comfortable. Room was warm with heater on.
- Co-host Ella was responsive.
CONS: It was one big problem, but I want to stress that it is NOW FIXED! Here's what happened.
- There was not enough hot water for shower. The three of us stayed for a total of 8 nights. For 6 nights we were unable to properly take a shower. Hot shower would last for only 10 minutes and then turn cold. We had to wait for 30 minutes for another round of 10 minutes. This was for the entire building (kitchen and two shared bathrooms) so if someone else was taking a shower at the same time, it would be like 5 minutes of hot shower only. It was time-consuming and tiring to wait. (Don't want to wait? Take a cold shower in November, or stay smelly!) After a day out sightseeing we just wanted to take a shower and rest. For morning shower folks, it was the same. The only way to avoid this issue was to use the shower when no one used it before you in the past half hour, but then you would still get only 10 minutes.
- Co-host was responsive but did not communicate well with the handyman and continually denied the problem. We pinpointed the aforementioned issue to the co-host multiple times (the 10 minutes and 30 minutes thing) and she was able to get the handyman to take a look the next day. However, the co-host, who was not on property, refused to acknowledge the hot shower issue even when more than one guest (in different rooms in the same building) had made their complaint. Co-host insisted that there had always been hot water. Well, when the handyman or cleaning team turned on the faucet and felt the water for some seconds or a couple of minutes during the day, of course there was hot water. The real problem was: not having enough hot water for shower for the entire building, which we already pointed out clearly. My guess is that the she did not communicate well enough with the handyman, so the handyman was not able to fix it sooner.
- On the 6th night of our stay, power went out in the building. Only lights were working. We could not charge our phones, use wi-fi, or use any kitchen appliance. Heater and hot water were also out. On the 7th day of our stay, power came back. A certain part of the boiler was replaced by the handyman and we were finally able to take a nice hot shower without setting up a timer. We very much enjoyed the last 2 nights out of 8.
CONCLUSION: Everything was nice during our stay except for the hot shower issue, which was a major problem. I am glad that it has been fixed at last. However, based on our experience, unfortunately I had to give a less than satisfactory review.