The home is beautifully renovated. This listing looked exactly like it does in the photos. Check-in was fairly smooth, although the directions were not exactly clear, we figured out the keypad.
The look of the listing and the experience staying there were completely different. My guests and I were completely uncomfortable, as the thermostat did not work during the entire stay. The temperatures in Chicago were in the teens and low 20s all weekend, and the thermostat would not adjust to the setting to make up for the cold outside. We had to walk around the home in multiple layers of clothing throughout the entire stay. Although the thermostat would increase to the setting for an hour or so, it would drop again. This was especially an issue on the basement level, where the temperature never rose beyond 62 degrees. It was so cold, that none of our guests were able to occupy the space beyond a few minutes. This left an entire bedroom, bathroom, and 2 seating areas unusable. As a result, my guests and I (10 people total) were left to uncomfortable sleeping and living arrangements for the weekend, as we were not able to make use of the space as planned.
Also, if you have a large group and want to spend time inside the home, I wouldn't suggest this listing. Although it is spacious (so long as the basement isn't too cold to occupy), the home is extremely close to the neighboring homes. The homes and windows are so close to each other that if you're playing music or raise your voice, the neighbors could probably hear it. With that said, the host is very weary of the neighbors complaining. You would think there would be understanding on noise to some degree, since the home accommodates up to 14 guests and the homes are so close. Instead, the host has noise sensors in the home to track if the noise increases beyond a specific level (host receives a notification via phone/app). This baseline for noise is not what it should be for a listing that accommodates so many. If your group of 10+ gets excited or has a celebratory reaction after hours, for example, you're in trouble.
Again, the home is beautiful and spacious. However, the experience here was less than ideal. The host even told us "let's call it even" when we reported concerns with the thermostat, since they were "inconvenienced having to warn the group about noise levels". How bold and audacious! I would only suggest this listing if it got a new HVAC system, was not so close to neighbors, and got a new host!