Jonathan was a fabulous host of 23 Grove Street. We were already in town, and Jonathan called to schedule a check-in time. We were able to check in a little early which was helpful and appreciated.
The apartment is a very short walk from the downtown breweries and restaurants. It’s even close enough to enjoy a longer walk or super-short car ride to the River Arts district. There are many outdoor activities to do within 30-45 minutes of this downtown Asheville location. I appreciated the dog-friendly nature of the apartment and building with dog poop bags out front. The apartment was clean and accurately represented in the listing photographs.
The listing stated it included an iron and a hair dryer, but I couldn’t find either. I didn’t want to bother Jonathan so I didn’t say anything, as these are two very minor details. Coffee was provided, but not breakfast (as the listing states). Again, this was fine; we wanted breakfast out in town anyway. Just note this before your stay. You may also want to bring ice cube molds as the fridge is not hooked up to a water line. All of these were minor issues, and I bet that had I told Jonathan about them, he would have been happy to accommodate. (I didn’t want to bother him with minor stuff.)
Unfortunately, my main issue with the apartment was completely out of Jonathan’s control. The apartment is located on the first floor on the street side of the building. We used white noise apps on our phones to drown out street noise, so that didn’t both us. However, on the second night of our stay, we woke up to a sharp metallic smell coming from the window AC unit. Some miscreant had walked up onto the building’s stoop and was smoking meth underneath our window AC unit. Again, this completely out of Jonathan’s control, but the accessibility of the windows from the street made our stay feel unsafe. I did not contact the host because there was nothing he could have done about it and we were checking out that morning anyway.
In the future, I would consider staying at Jonathan’s place again. However, I wish that local law enforcement could clean up the street at night and deter addicts from smoking meth under window units. This may have been the first time ever that serious drug use occurred outside on premises, but I worried about the possible ill effects of inhaling second-hand meth smoke through an AC unit.
Again, Jonathan was fantastic, and for the price and location, this listing can't be beat! Check this out for your next trip to Asheville.