This was a wonderful place to stay for our trip to DC -- with one caveat that turned out to be a pretty significant one, and that was the ability to communicate with the host when necessary.
First the good: We loved the space. Everything is just as pictured in the listing. It is very clean and the bed and couch were comfortable for sleeping. The bedroom can get a little chilly in freezing weather, as another reviewed mentioned, perhaps because of the door to the outside being in that room. I brought long johns and slept in those and was perfectly cozy. My daughter slept on the couch and was quite warm (this is the interior room), and while the couch is firm she said she got a wonderful night's sleep there.
The fridge and microwave made it easy for us to bring back leftovers, saving us money on meals, which was nice. There are adequate dishes and utensils for up to 3 people, and though washing dishes is a little tricky with only the bathroom sink, it is certainly workable.
All in all, for the price, the space was AMAZING -- and I have zero complaints there.
We came intending to use public transportation only, aside from Ubers to and from the airport. This worked out perfectly. It's a very walkable/public transportation-friendly area. While you could, in theory, walk to the Metro, there is no real advantage to this timewise. Especially because at the time of writing this there are significant delays on the Metro and over 60% of the trains have been decommissioned. The 90, 92, P6 & Congress Heights Circulator bus routes will be your ticket into DC proper. The stops are all within 2-3 short blocks' walk from the apartment, and buses arrive 15-30 minutes apart. The bus ride into town is about 30 minutes.
In terms of walkability, there is a 7-11 about 5 minutes walk away, and more like a 10 minute walk will get you to the Busboys and Poets on MLK Jr Ave which has great food and drinks and a really nice bookstore too. As a single woman travelling with my daughter, we felt very safe in the neighborhood.
When I first inquired about the apartment, the host was very fast to respond. When I requested to book, it took just shy of 24 hours for him to accept my booking. At the time this made me a little nervous, and I wondered if he would be reliable in terms of communication, but I dismissed that worry. He was very good about keeping in touch with us and meeting us with the keys on the day of our arrival. He was friendly and explained the issue with the gate outside the door very well and how to avoid it. On our last day, I was distracted and forgot to click the toggle switch that prevents the gate from self-locking from the inside. This left us locked out, even though we had the keys. No problem, it was 10am and it would be hours before we returned. I texted him as he had said to do if we made this error and asked him if he would go through the apartnment and release the gate for us before we returned. When we returned after 6:00, I still hadn't heard back from him. I tried calling repeatedly, contacting directly through airbnb and knocking on the front door. His car was there, but I wasn't certain he was home (he was -- we could hear the family upstairs once we finally got in -- so maybe they just didn't hear us at the door?). After about 45 minutes, we eventually used a credit card to disengaged the gate lock (note that the door was still securely locked and bolted; it is only the doorknob lock of the gate that can be opened this way) and were able to get in on our own. Before this I actually felt pretty panicked that our possessions were inside, and we were locked out with no communication in hours from the host. It was beginning to get dark, and I didn't know how or when the host would reply or let us in. The host did reply a few hours later, at 10pm -- a full 12 hours after I first reached out to him. He was very apologetic and I believe his sincerity. He was once again easy to reach the next morning when we checked out.
This would have been a PERFECT stay if not for the communication issue. I hope that the host will find a way of resolving this. Maybe a second point of contact for tenants to reach out to if the host himself is not available would be helpful? In spite of our troubles, I would recommend this location and am grateful to have places like this that are so affordable and nice which make the area an accessible place to visit for everyone.