The good:
Centrally located in Los Angeles so isn't too far from most of the things you would want to go and see while you are in town. The hosts were responsive when we needed assistance. The apartment was clean. Great view of the Hollywood sign from the balcony. The building seemed very well insulated so it was easy to sleep. No real noise from neighbors or from the outside. The parking space in the garage was a nice bonus.
The not so good:
- We found the rules to be excessive. No loud noise after 9:30. No loud talking ever on the rooftop. I get that it's a building and that there are certain rules to be had, but it really just seemed oppressive. Probably wouldn't have stayed here had a known that.
- One set of keys for the entire unit. This is a personal pet peeve of mine. The unit was clearly set up to house up to 6 people at once which means that everyone needs to leave together or else coordinate in advance. I get that a key pad entry is not always possible in a condo building, but there should at least be an extra set of keys ($100 fine if you lose the keys, btw)
- extreme rationing of products meant that we needed to go out and purchase a bunch of things. Look, I get that theft of some of these products can be an issue, but if you are going to ration things, at least maybe give a bit more than you think someone might need, not give the absolute bare minimum. Examples: exactly one roll of paper towels for 3 people for one week, 6 rolls of toilet paper, 3 dishwasher detergent pods, and 3 trash bags. Certain things were also completely missing all together. Think: absolutely no surface cleaner for the counter tops, a broom with no dustbin (we needed to rip out of a page of magazine to use as a sub when a glass straw broke) and an oven with no oven mitts (we needed to use a moist bathroom towel to get things out of the oven)
- Lack of furniture: This is another pet peeve of mine. I am not expecting a spread from Dwell or Architectural Digest, but I do expect there to be adequate things like counter space. Coffee table in the living room could have been a lot bigger and sectional couch would have been more inviting and comfortable. In the master bedroom there were two double beds and exactly one dinky nightstand. We needed to flip a box from Costco over to give us more counter space. There was no dresser, no nothing. The furniture on the patio was cheap and falling apart. Likewise, some more artwork would be nice to warm the place up. The existing artwork was small and there were huge expanses of blank wall in all of the rooms. It all just felt very stark and devoid of any personality.
- Permanent homeless encampment across the street. I didn't really factor this too much into my review as I come from SF and we are pretty used to this and it not under the control of home owners. That said, I was hoping to escape this for a bit and it was the first thing you see when you come and go and it does factor into the overall value of our experience.
Conclusion:
If you are just looking for a clean place to crash in a central location, then this place should be fine. If you are wanting a place with some personality, I would look elsewhere. Personally, I feel that for over $300 a night, I would have preferred a hotel. At least in a hotel you get things like service and each person gets their own key.