Tl;dr We booked our stay from 2/28 - 3/5 (5 days) but checked out early on 3/1, anticipating no refund (and we didn’t get any). We ultimately felt uncomfortable staying here during Covid, for reasons mostly out of the owners’ control, but we weren’t particularly enthused that the description of the building (now amended) didn’t mention narrow hallways, small old-fashioned elevator that made it hard to avoid people passing. We wouldn’t have booked this otherwise. Customer service from owners was wanting, but our check-in POC (Naj) was friendly and welcoming. We let them know we left the next day (a/c turned off, lights turned off, any dishes in dishwasher).
For context, we rented this Airbnb with the hope to WFH, walk around in between meetings / weekends, and work on some creative pursuits off hours. We brought a lot of things (we were coming from another Airbnb) to extend our stay in San Diego.
Pros:
(+) The apartment seemed newly renovated. Bathroom is nice and there is a washer/dryer combo if you need.
(+) Check-in POC Naj, who helps manage the property, was friendly and personable.
(+) During the day, lighting in this apartment was lovely and bright.
(+) Keycode entry to the buildling and to the apartment.
Cons:
(-) The biggest con for us, which we could have dealt with in non-Covid times, was a narrow stairways and the very old fashioned gate, where there was a door to open + a manual gate to pull. This elevator recommends only up to 3 people at a time. Description on the website was NOT FORTHCOMING, but has now been amended to moderately address this, after feedback to the owners. We would NOT have booked this Airbnb otherwise. This was not my assumption necessarily for a ‘historic’ building.
(-) Checkin-in experience was stressful: We checked in around 4pm on a Sunday evening. We had to park FOUR blocks away all our items in the car (lot of homeless folks around). We had to schedule a time ahead to check-in and it had to be confirmed by owners/Naj. Afterwards, we had to drive our car back with emergency lights on, prop up the door, and either keep touching the old elevator with its tiny door / extra gate or opt to go up FIVE FLIGHTS OF STAIRS. Recommend: Don’t come here with tons of things.
(-) Parking seemed worse here in the Gaslamp than in Little Italy, but many spots freed up around midnight. Didn’t feel particular safe with homeless folks around as I moved my car.
(-) Air quality wasn’t great in the apartment. I’m not sure if this was because there was a tiny fire in the building earlier, but we were left pretty unhappy for the evening, especially after the ‘moving in’ shuffle.
(+/-) Floors were slanted and very uneven. There was also a vent door outside the bedroom that was just not screwed in? Only top two screws but open at the bottom. I'm sure owners/Naj would have been happy to address vents issue.
(+/-) Bed in the bedroom wasn’t particularly comfortable but bed in the living room area was much better.
(-) While I was working the next day, a neighbor was just HAMMERING a wall or something for a whole hour. This felt frustrating as I was trying to work.
(+/-) Recommended to the owners to fix lighting - overhead lights are VERY dim and lamps all have bright whites, which feels unrelaxing next to the beds, and makes me feel like I’m in a cheap motel. I’m sure Naj/owners would have been amenable to helping with this if we asked.
(-) When we surfaced all this to the owners and let them know we left, I got a very brief, “just know we have a cancellation policy” - Read: Sorry, no money back without saying it. We expected this, but honestly no apologies for anything (I get it, many of these item are not in their control, but the customer service wasn’t a great experience). When we checked the description for the 3rd time, we realized they retroactively added blurb about the building outside the apartment.
We left promptly the next evening (3/1) around 6PM, lugging our things back down to our car. We just knew we couldn’t be happy here and booked an Airbnb in Pacific Beach instead. This is the FIRST time in the many years using Airbnb, that we have ever left early and accepted we’d have to eat the cost. Again, were it not for Covid, we honestly would have put up with it. I’m sure someone could enjoy this set-up even with Covid, but that just wasn’t us.