We arrived in Chicago around 6pm with a reservation for three people and my ESA companion, Kashmir. She is a one-year old registered AKC Labrador Retriever and Official ESARA service dog in training. We were greeted by a neighbor, Amanda, who seemed familiar with our unit and reservation for Nicky’s Airbnb. Moments later, before we had even unloaded, Nicky came out and introduced herself. She was very interested in Kashmir, however Kashmir’s training does not permit her to be pet by strangers even in this scenario, again she is a young dog in training. While standing on the side walk and conversing with Nicky, she gave me the layout of the unit. We discussed the farm and animals out back. She had goats, chickens, and a 9-year-old German Shepherd that stay inside her fenced back yard. When talking about bringing Kashmir out back, she quickly shot down the idea, because her dog had been in a horrid dog fight years before, resulting in a gnarly scar that Nicky proceeded to show us. So right off the bat, my service dog could not utilize the back yard which was the entire reason we chose this Airbnb because it did have a fenced back yard. On behalf of Kashmir, I felt a bit discriminated against.

The apartment was very clean and presentable. It looks exactly as pictured. But right away we noticed we only had four towels, one hand towel and two wash cloths for three people. The area was relatively safe, but I agree with previous reviews that if you don’t know the town, you could end up in a bad area pretty quick. We went out back and saw the goats first thing, pretty cool in a metro area! There were at least five chickens, too. The back yard would have been more pleasant if it weren’t junked out with trash and old discarded items, it was also a bit smelly of trash, but it was okay. After our initial tour, we only went out back to discard trash in the three days we were there. However, I suspect this is a lovely venue for a get together in the spring or fall!

Upon waking the first morning, we were greeted with small black ants in the bathroom, no biggie, but it was a bit startling. (I guess it is a farm) We asked Nicky for some bug spray and she did provide some. The bathroom did not have a hair dryer either, but Nicky was able to provide that later as well. The neighbor’s dog downstairs (possibly Nicky’s German Shepherd) barked throughout a large majority of our trip. And Amanda who lived upstairs had a dog that we could even hear its nails all on the ceiling throughout our stay.
Because we were there during the current coronavirus pandemic, most places are closed. We decided we wanted to cook some meals during our stay. The kitchen was lacking a great deal. There are only two glasses that hold more than four ounces. Most of the glasses were small. There wasn’t a cookie sheet, only one pot and one small skillet. The refrigerator really needed to be replaced and the dishwasher wasn’t even bolted into the wall or ground. There was only one hand towel in the kitchen and no rags or pot holders anywhere. The kitchen could use some upgrades. However, there was coffee, salt, pepper and ice trays.
Overall, a pleasant stay. After we had checked out, it became apparent through correspondence with Nicky that she had failed to add the pet fee at our initial booking even though we had listed that we had a dog. She wanted me to send her the pet fees through cashapp. After referring to the Airbnb rules, I asked her to send me an invoice through Airbnb. She did and I promptly paid the fee. I would recommend Nicky as a good host and her urban farm is as advertised. Nice experience for us. Thank you Nicky!