The location is great. It’s central to walking within Georgetown, and easy with Uber/Lyft/Bikes/Scooters to get to major sites. We were drawn in by the super host rating, but didn’t realise it applied to all of their properties and not this one alone.
If this property were for sale, I’d need up $150K to bring it up to date. The pictures were more forgiving than our experience. From broken locks on the front door to missing knobs on a dresser to rust in the medicine cabinet, we weren’t impressed.
At $500 per night, we expected a bit more. Nora responded quickly to the flooded toilet concern on a Sunday morning, and even managed to get a plumber out quickly. Unfortunately, my wife had bowel cancer 4 years ago and a working toilet nearby is important. She offered her daughters downstairs which alleviated an immediate concern, but was challenging to meet the needs and comfort for a family of 5.
Nora responded to all of our challenges we ran across, and she was out of town for most of our trip. Missing knobs on a dresser, rust in the medicine cabinet, a chipped glass, scissors with a broken handle, an old and smelly sponge, gunk under the kitchen sink - in and of themselves individually weren’t challenging. Collectively, they point to a lack of an attention to detail that such a price point should demand.
The front door had 2 locks from the outside. As I learned, Nora never uses the lower lock. As it turns out, it wasn’t connected from the outside. It was falling out and she asked me to put it inside. It was never repaired during our time there. Some may wish to consider whether one bolt lock on the front door gives them a sense of comfort and security. Nora and I had a difference of opinion over a series of online exchanges. Potential clients should consider if this is sufficient for them.
I haven’t mentioned the dead fire alarm that was beeping on arrival, as it is a minor point; but, it was also a small issue we had to reach out to Nora for resolution.
If a little more work was put into the place, it might be worth the price point. That said, many in real estate believe that location trumps all of these issues. As a short term user of many AirBnBs since near the beginning of the company’s existence, we’d disagree.