Bill’s home is nice but not quite as advertised. He has VERY strict rules and likes to constantly monitor you. I asked because of previous reviews if there was an issue with noise because some previous reviews noted that Bill’s neighbors make noise complaints for even small kids running on the floor; he promised me this was not an issue and his neighbor was just sensitive sometimes. We used a small Bluetooth speaker that was not very loud at all, but Bill texted numerous times throughout the evening that it was too loud.
Bill also has a very nice sound system in his living room, but it’s a bit of false advertising. One of the many reasons we booked Bill’s flat was based on pictures of his wonderful sound system, which when we arrived were labeled “DO NOT TOUCH.” On top of that, Bill left them all sitting out in the living room taking up literally half of the living room area. My position is that if you don’t want your speakers/sound system being touched when you rent a place out, you put them away or at least tuck them away in the little nook area so that people don’t spill on them, trip over them, etc. It was very inconsiderate to just leave them in the way and then asking people not to touch them at all. Additionally, we were hoping to use the jacuzzi/tub, but again, this was false advertising as no notice was made to the fact that this too did not work. Additionally, the apartment does NOT have panoramic views as stated in the listing. There are 2 decks with nice views of Alcatraz but otherwise you don’t have much of a view from the other windows.
The most frustrating part of my stay was Bill’s constant checking-in on me before, during, and after my stay. As I promised Bill, only 7 people stayed at his flat. We had some people visit us at various points in time throughout the night as I told him it was my 30th birthday and I had friends and family coming from all over to visit/see me.
Bill asked us to “leave the kitchen as we found it” which seemed a bit aggressive considering we were paying a $200 cleaning fee. I NEVER leave a place trashed ever (even in hotels) and always clean up after myself, but expecting me and my friends to do a deep scrub was a bit much to ask and I found a bit rude. We cleaned up everything, even did the dishes and took out the trash and recycling and really only left maybe a little bit to be vacuumed but otherwise the place was as spotless as when we entered.
Apparently Bill had an issue with 7 people using 10 or 12 towels or something. I’ve never had an Airbnb host get touchy over towel usage.
Bill’s floors are also very slippery and a bit dangerous. I had friends walking at normal pace nearly eat it on the 2 stairs to the living room because it’s so slippery.
Overall, I would not recommend Bill’s place to anyone unless you plan to essentially not speak at all and just plan to drop your stuff off and not use the flat for any purpose other than sleep because his neighbors are over sensitive to any noise whatsoever, and dealing with Bill makes you feel like you’re in high school being watched over constantly.