My wife and I stayed at this house in March. The location is excellent, just around the corner from Frenchman Street and within walking distance of the FQ and the clubs and restaurants on St Claude Ave. It is an old shotgun house with some real character and lots of space. The bedroom has a nice window looking out onto a courtyard garden area. However there were some issues.
It started with getting the instructions to access the house. I had not received the instructions a week before we were to arrive so I emailed Ashley, the host. She e-mailed me back saying that an e-mail with the instructions would be sent to me at 4:00PM on the day we were arriving in New Orleans (we were arriving at 4:30PM). She also said that she was leaving the next morning to a country with very limited internet connection and cell service (Cuba) and asked me to call her. I did call Ashley that evening and she said that she would e-mail me the instructions and give the name of a friend who could help out while she was away. She asked for my e-mail address which I gave her.
I thought, based on our discussion, that the e-mail would come the next morning but nothing showed up. So I assumed that it would be sent at 4:00PM on the Sunday when we were arriving, as per her earlier e-mail. However when we got to New Orleans there was no e-mail. I tried to e-mail Ashley, text her and leave a voice message but no response. We decided to take a taxi to the house, and wait for an hour to see if we got a response. Just as we had decided to leave and find a hotel room for the night, a couple walked up and asked if we were trying to get in. It turned out that they were the neighbours in the back who knew Ashley and that they had a key to the place. So they were good enough to let us in.
Ashley did e-mail me later that night and said she was very sorry to hear what happened. She said that she had sent the e-mail to the e-mail address on the form. I do not believe that is correct as there was no issue with e-mailing me through Air BnB. In any event, given that we did get in I was not too worried about it.
When we went to sleep it was apparent that the mattress was soft. I mentioned it the next day to Ashley. The next evening my wife's back gave out. The mattress is actually a piece of foam placed on top of an old mattress and sown together. The living room couch was much firmer and we saw that my wife could sleep on it by removing the back cushions. So we e-mailed Ashley and asked for some extra bed linens (which Ashley arranged to have sent over). It was better but not great.
There was also an issue with the bathroom. It needs to be updated, and re-painted. There is mould growing at the corner where the shower enclosure meets the tub and the paint is flaking away. The fixtures are old and dated and there is no proper door. The "door" is really two window shutters which have had hinges placed on them and screwed into the sides of the door frame. They are too big for the space so they do not quite close (there is an eye hook to keep them together).
The kitchen could also use some updating. I am not sure that it is accurate to say the appliances are "modern". The dishwasher has duct tape on it to stop you from using it, as does the switch for the garburator.
Notwithstanding these issues we enjoyed our time in New Orleans,. However if we do come back we will not stay in this house unless the mattress is replaced with a proper mattress.