While Jim is a friendly host, there were a lot of major problems with this listing. First, the photos used to advertise the listing were not of the actual unit. They showed a beautiful renovated kitchen, living room, and bathroom. However, the actual unit is an outdated kitchen and living space that was not even remotely similar to the photos. The listing only allows long term stays and many of the guests are temporary healthcare workers at MGH like travel nurses from out of town who cannot visit the unit in advance and arrive to find a misrepresented listing but don’t have time to find an alternate housing accommodation which is highly unethical of the host. After I arrived, the host switched the photos on the listing to photos of the actual apartment.
Second, the host comes into and out of the unit whenever he pleases. He lives in the apartment next door with his family but works out of a utility closet in the rental which was not communicated to me in advance. I work night shifts sometimes and knowing that the host would be working out of the unit would have changed my decision to stay there (in addition to the reality of the apartment being much less nice than the advertised photos). Moreover, especially during COVID it is a little unsettling to have people including the host’s family and extended family in and out of the unit at their convenience.
Lastly, the apartment was never professionally cleaned in the month+ I was there and I did not have the time or energy to find a different long term furnished apartment for the duration of my stay. The bathroom and communal living spaces were dirty and the kitchen freezer was entirely full of the host’s food (leaving no space for the 3 guests). While the location was very good for its proximity to the hospital, the listing misrepresents the reality of the apartment and should have included all of these details to let guests make an informed decision about whether to rent or not.