This was by far the worst Airbnb experience we have ever had. Before I go into the details of what was rough about our stay, I'll start with some pros. :)
Pros:
We were in town for a conference and were only a 20 min walk to the convention center, so that was nice. We were also really close to a lot of restaurants and a great coffee shop (no, not the Starbucks a block away lol). There was a grocery outlet right next door which was really convenient too.
There is a cool rooftop patio with a great view and a nice gym in the building.
The unit itself was a really nice size for two people and a small dog.
Elly was really responsive when we had big issue when we arrived (more on that below) and gotten things taken care of within a few hours, though we did miss half a day of our trip waiting for that resolution.
Parking was actually not bad, though you have to keep track of the time and location due to street cleaning, meters, etc. For the most part, we were able to find parking right in front of the apartment building.
Cons:
We had some car trouble and hard to arrive the morning after we were supposed to. We let Elly know and of course had no expectation for any kind of refund since it was unexpected on our end. Despite having extra time to prepare the space, when we arrived it was very clear that the unit had not been cleaned. The floors looked like they had not ben cleaned in ages with little piles of dust and dirt throughout. All the counters were dusty and had crummies and hair on them. The bed has dirty sheets and had food in it when the top blanket was pulled away. The bathroom was also pretty gross with dirty, crusty (no joke) towels on the floor. At first I was like well it is what it is and can't really find a new place so grabbed the towels and put them in the machine, but there was no laundry detergent so that was kind of the last straw for me, so I contacted Elly. She immediately responded, which was nice. A cleaning crew showed up a few hours later, so we lost half a day waiting for that to be taken care of. The cleaners did a good job, but the unit has enough wear and tear that it still didn't really feel super clean, but I know that that is subjective and may just be a me thing.
There is some damage to the unit like broken cabinet doors and toilet paper holder. There is also quite a bit of damage to the walls like chipped paint from wall pieces that are no longer there, scuff marks, etc. Since the unit was not cleaned or inspected after the previous guest, I made sure to take videos and photos right when we arrived so we would not be blamed for the damage.
This is not a good unit for light sleepers. The toilet randomly flushes in the middle of the night and the bed is VERY squeaky. We did not sleep well while we were there and even decided to leave a night early bc we were just so tired and needed better sleep haha.
The area surrounding the building is okay. There corner store a few blocks away was robbed while we were passing one night. We didn't feel unsafe, but were careful when walking around at night.
After taxes and fees the unit costs about $249 a night and that is definitely a lot more than I feel this unit should be going for. With the low quality bedding and towels and the general damage to the unit, this may be more of a $100 - $150 a night after all fees and taxes, otherwise might as well stay at a hotel, especially since parking is not included and there was an extra dog fee.
The unit has a lot of potential though and I think it can be really nice and provide a really comfortable experience with some minor work.