This listing seemed like a diamond in the rough when I booked it. Key word “seemed”. The entrance to the unit is on a back alley behind several stores in a fairly rough neighborhood. This didn’t bother me at all; however, this would be a problem for some. The first day there the microwave started arcing and sparking upon first use. I looked around for a fire extinguisher and of course there was not one in the unit. I then called the host and they said that there is another microwave to use so it shouldn’t be an issue. The issue isn’t the microwave, it’s that there is a deranged piece of electrical equipment in the unit along with a stove and no fire extinguisher there for safety.
Wait, let me back up. As soon as I walked into the gate there was a loose power line hanging at neck level for several days until I informed the host. The house keeper who stays next door apparently did not think that power line was an issue.
The dishwasher was out of service as well as indicated by the piece of loose leaf paper taped to the handle. When I went to take a shower the hot water handle decided to continue to spin freely when I was finished washing. There was an issue with the Allen screw on the inside. I then informed the host and they sent someone to the unit several hours later. This person had no tools at all and provided zero maintenance support. After several more hours of the hot water running in the shower a repair man showed up and took apart the entire shower fixture to repair the entire shower. He showed me that all the handles were worn out and needed to be fixed so that’s what he did. Salute to him.
The next issue was the heater. There is a small space heater in the unit that does an inadequate job of heating the actual unit. It gets to be 32-45 degrees at night. When I informed the host their recommendation was to open the door or the window to the basement unit to allow the ambient outside air to warm up the unit. This is a basement level unit so to do so would mean that you are inviting one of the many rats that congregate in the back alley and sometimes in the yard of the unit when you enter at night. Smh.
The last issue was there were some folks that went in the upstairs unit while I was there and they allowed their dog to shit in the back yard which happens to be your entrance to the unit. I don’t fault the hosts for that though. With all of that being said, if you are looking for a budget friendly stay in a potentially up and coming neighborhood in DC this is a good value.