Our stay at Elly's place was alright. There were some perks, and also some concerns.
Pros:
Check in was a breeze, Elly was communicative.
Location is great for those that want to be right in the thick of things. We had a very easy time finding things with the apartment as our home base.
The unit feels spacious and my husband and I enjoyed having lots of room to move around which isn't always true for apartments.
The communal patio is super cool and has a great view.
Cons:
The bed and sofa are both terribly uncomfortable. The bed is stiff and is on a super noisy and cheap frame that squeaks even with the slightest of movement. Our first fitted sheet didn't have the proper depth for the mattress and kept popping off our first night. I was able to find another that stayed on better.
The sofa has a terrible angle for sitting and watching TV - it felt like something out of a dorm room and was awful to sit on. The throw pillows are really beat up and could use replacement. We had to use sleeping pillows and bedding to get even partway comfortable for lounging. This was really disappointing as we came to SD for our honeymoon and were excited to enjoy downtime in the apartment. We ended up going out a lot just because there was not much comfort in the apartment.
The unit itself is noisy - with exposed pipes above, there's a lot of clanking and banging. If you're a light sleeper this paired with the bed will be an issue.
The apartment could use a deep clean - the baseboards are grimy, there are vents that need dusting badly. We tried for cooking one breakfast and found the fry pan still had grease on it from the last use. When we arrived it felt like the basics of cleaning had been done in a hurry.
The kitchen is very sparse, with very few utensils for cooking - no wine glasses, minimal cookware. We expected a more outfitted kitchen for a place that is listed as 'modern.'
We found the carbon monoxide alarm without batteries in a kitchen drawer. Hopefully there is another.
We felt let down by the view. There are big windows and some buildings to look at, but we didn't feel it was 'stunning.' Just outside there are some old abandoned and dirty looking lots (which is usual for a city, but it takes away from the view). Not much of a skyline, no ocean view.
We're not particularly picky guests, we travel a lot and use Airbnb stays frequently. This feels like a place that could be a lot better with some new furnishings and some more attention. It reminds me of a hostel stay, which is fine if that is what is advertised. We wouldn't likely stay again unless there were significant changes.