This listing is a bit confusing. There is a specific unit you book which means you can be on the first, second or third floor of the building. After booking and realizing this, I contacted the listing management company, Sonder, they shared I was on a 3rd floor unit. I asked for a 1st floor unit for my elderly mother and they confirmed they were able to move my booking from the 3rd to 1st floor. This communication happened right after booking with Air Bnb and approximately 3 months prior to the dates booked.
Fast forward to the week of my trip. I receive a check in email and see I'm in a second floor unit. I contacted Sonder to ask for the 1st floor unit I was promised. They didn't have any available first floor units and took no responsibility for this significant mistake. They offered no compensation for this inconvenience. I asked for the early check in fee to be waived ($25) as a small way to compensate for the inconvenience. It wasn't until 3 hours before the check in time I requested, that I received confirmation that I could check in 2 hours early and the fee was waived.
Pros to this unit:
-It's an oversized studio apartment.
-Full kitchen with full size appliances.
-Ice maker
-Walk in closet
-Very comfortable bed with 6 pillows
-Location and proximity to Little Italy, downtown, waterfront, etc.
Cons to this unit:
-Check in is at 4pm and to request earlier check in, you agree to pay a fee and won't receive an answer yes/no to the request until less than 24 hours of check in.
-The second floor has approximately 1.5 flights of stairs. It is not a standard single flight of stairs.
-There is no elevator.
-The property isn't ADA accessible. The first floor units have a few stairs up to them and there are no grab bars in the bathroom.
-There was an unpleasant overwhelming smell in the unit (guessing from the cleaner they used) that lasted for the 4 days I was there.
-The water pressure was next to none. It was very difficult to wash my hair because of low water pressure.
-The bath linens were very limited. There were extra full size towels, but only 2 wash cloths and hand towels.
-While there is a full size kitchen, it was bare bones in terms of furnishings. Salt and pepper were the only pantry items and there weren't any paper products beyond paper towels.
-There is no central air, just a window AC unit. The air circulation went back and forth between too cold and very warm.
-Homeless people slept right outside of the building's outer gate on a consistent basis and one became irate. I would have booked elsewhere if I knew this would be common for this property.
-No parking, but this was consistently stated in the reviews so I was aware before booking.