The location was on a lovely street which was convenient to shopping, restaurants, and historical sites. The outside of the building was very attractive, however, the apartment was a terrible disappointment. It was rundown and shabby, every surface was dented, peeling, stained, and/or poorly maintained. The carpeting between the front door of the building and the apartment was so old and badly stained it really could not have been worse. The windows, which are right behind the bed have badly peeling molding and sills, and when we opened the windows we found piles of wood debris and dirt between the sill and the screen. The "loft" is a carpeted surface on a crudely constructed platform above one area of the apartment. There is no furniture in the loft and it serves no purpose. You must climb a wooden ladder to reach it.
The toilet barely worked. The flush was so weak that despite using a small amount of toilet paper we had to repeatedly flush. A few times we needed to use the plunger because the flush was so poor. Besides the toilet malfunctioning it was an absurdly small fixture. My husband and I are very thin people and we could barely turn around in the bathroom. A larger person simply could not use that bathroom. There was no shelving and nowhere to put our things except on the back of the toilet. The tub was stained as was the plastic mat that was placed on the bottom. The fan was completely ineffective and sounded like a jet engine. There were partially used bottles of icky shampoo and hand soap which were obviously left by previous guests. A small bathroom is acceptable, but ONLY if it is clean, attractive, and functional. This was anything but!
The lighting, shower curtain, and hooks were tacky and cheap. The bathroom floor linoleum was in poor condition and behind the toilet a big piece was missing. The towels and washcloths were discolored, mismatched, very cheap to begin with, and were stiff, as though there was detergent or dirt left in them. We cringed, but had no choice but to use them. What does it take to go to Costco or Target and buy a few nice towels?!!! The bedding was no better. The comforter was thin and provided no warmth, the sheets were cheap, and the pillows were lumpy.
The kitchen was dark, dank and dirty in some areas. The burner coils stick up and will not lay flat making the stove unusable. The hood was dirty, as was the floor. The microwave is missing a leg so it tips whenever the door is opened. The utensils in the drawers were a tangled mess. The refrigerator temperature is off and it froze the fruit we bought.
I want to mention that we live in a 100 year old house in Seattle so we understand the flaws and normal wear and tear that an older home can show. The patina of age often lends to the charm of a home, which is what we were assuming we would find when we booked the apartment. We expected it to have some wear and imperfections, but we were shocked by the degree of deterioration in the apartment. As guests, the absence of consideration to our comfort and sensibility was appalling. All I can say is that staying there was a profoundly unpleasant experience.
We have rented Airbnbs all over the world, including Europe where old buildings are the norm and we have never encountered a place that so offended us. It seriously colored our experience visiting Boston.
It was a holiday weekend and there were no hotel rooms available anywhere so we had no choice but to stay in the apartment. We reached out to Airbnb who tried to contact the host, but they never responded. Airbnb was absolutely no help in getting compensation for us despite the description in the listing being grossly accurate.