From the moment we booked, Tracie was super responsive and friendly. When I told her the reason behind our trip, she was even more enthusiastic, and we were very excited to come to NOLA. I was with 3 other friends, none of whom had been to the city before but I've been many times. I know to expect things to be old, maybe not look perfect, and am quite familiar with the "aroma" of NOLA, it's just something you expect. But when I saw Tracie's listing, 3 blocks from St. Charles, listed as 3 bedroom (2BR with 2 Full size beds each, 3rd with pull-out sofa) and 2 bathrooms, this looked perfect.
We arrived late at night, and could not find 2606 to save our lives. Come to find out, the address in the listing 2606, isn't there. The actual house number is 2608. This would have been good information to have, as I think some of the neighbors were worried we were trying to break in. But once we figured it out and got inside, we were OK. However, then we discovered that the "2 full size beds" listed in the bedrooms was not accurate. There was ONE full-size bed in each bedroom and one small futon. There is also another futon laid out flat in the center room, and a pull-out sofa bed in the living room. SO yes, there are plenty of surfaces on which to sleep, but not what we were expecting based on the listing. Still, I didn't feel it worth bothering Tracie, because, really....what is she going to do at that point? We worked out sleeping arrangements that wouldn't leave any us of with major back pain.
On our second day, we discovered that the toilet in the back bathroom wiggles...the whole thing, not just the seat. We also noted that an outlet cover was missing in the bathroom, but since both of these had been previously noted in another review we just assumed it was well known and didn't bother to saying anything. We also noticed the smoke detector was missing from the bedroom, and the one in the center room did not appear to have batteries. The listing states there is cable TV, but this is not the case, there was an antenna that was spotty at best. Also, the television in one of the bedrooms doesn't have a power cord. Tracie had also told us on Friday that she would stop by on Saturday with some baked good (which was a lovely thought), but she never showed up and we never heard from her. On Sunday I got a text with checkout instructions and reminding us that 11:00 Monday is checkout time. At 6:30 Monday morning, I got a text asking if we could leave early.
It honestly pains me to give what seems to be a negative review after Tracie was so friendly, but it felt like she stopped caring once we were there, or maybe she just got busy. The neighbors were very friendly, especially "Fred" across the street, who told us a bit of the history of the neighborhood and the importance of looking out for each other. I got a sense that there's a very strong sense of community there, and I loved it.
At this point, I just can't give the 5-star review I had hoped to give, but I do believe that with a few small modifications (actual beds, maybe put a shelf or something in the bathroom to hold toiletries). I think this place would be find for younger people just looking for a place to relax between partying. But for a group of 50-ish year old women, we can't sleep on futons with bars in our back. Had I known the bedrooms had futons instead of actual beds, I would have looked elsewhere.