I will summarize by saying that while Jeff was a responsive host, I would not recommend this place (at this point) for a long stay or for anyone that requires to do remote work.
If it gets a few upgrades it could be a pretty fantastic place.
The good:
- Unbeatable location: place is close to a great area in Pasadena. Lots of restaurants within steps.
- Kitchen was well equipped: provided with all that's needed.
- Bathroom was well equipped
- The apartment had an overall nice appearance
The bad:
- The internet connection was really bad. Barely usable. 3MBps was the speed most times and 6MBps the top.
That is not high speed internet, impossible to do remote work. Jeff tried to accommodate by giving a hot spot, however this was not sufficient: was also exactly as slow especially because the main DSL went completely down the last couple days of the stay.
- There is construction going on downstairs. There was constant loud drilling and hammering noises happening after about 8:30am. My girlfriend found it impossible to work there during the day between the loud noise and the slow internet.
- The ad said there would be DirectTV. There was not. Between the lack of that and bad internet, entertainment was absent.
- The bed was pretty uncomfortable.
- There was almost no water pressure from the kitchen sink in the last two days there
I will point that Jeff was kind in allowing me to cut my stay short after 13 days, it was frankly impossible to remain there for the month I had originally booked. While I feel the refunded amount didn't account for all the issues incurred during my stay (a first in my years using Airbnb) I am grateful that at least I got a refund.
On the back of this, I'm likely to stick going to hotels from here on out.