BEWARE!!! This room is being advertised as “Best room to stay in NYC” was a complete lie. The whole experience with this host was a total nightmare. I booked a reservation for 2 guests for a private room advertised as “Best room to stay in NYC” but after I completed my booking and paid $675 through my credit card I noticed on the confirmation receipt that the number of guest is for 1 person only. I caught the error right away in a couple of minutes or less after and I received my confirmation and I informed the host. I tried to correct it by altering my booking but i was being asked to pay $225. I requested a cancellation but the host said cancellation policy applies and I can no longer get less than 50% of what I paid. This took place minutes after I completed my booking. I called their customer service and complained that there was a system glitch and that if it cannot be corrected to two guests I want to cancel my booking. They replied that they reached out to the host but he would not agree to refund my money. Later I was told that they were able to remedy the situation and the host agreed that I just pay $10 but when I checked the alteration request sent by the host, it showed an amount of $118.38 which I declined to pay. Then the host said I can just pay additional $90 cash to his staff upon our arrival for which I have agreed to because I don’t have other choice.
When we arrived at the train station and asked around for direction to the place, we were warned by local residents to just take a cab or an Uber as it is not a safe neighbourhood. The house can only be accessed through a narrow alley. The Uber driver who said he lives in the area found it hard to locate the place.
The room is in the basement. We slept and woke up feeling suffocated only to find out there was no air coming in the room. It has a small window that does not fully open up and outside that small window is a storage room which also has a small window that was closed. There was a door to the storage room which can be accessed from an adjacent room or from the outside. So if you keep the window open and hope to get some air from the storage room, you will have a privacy concern as you do not know who can get in or out of the storage room to try to peep in the window. We took pictures and video of it and can show to anyone that needs to see it. I do not believe anybody can survive in this living condition.
I called Airbnb to report and was told nobody is holding us to leave the place if we want to. We gathered our belongings and checked in a hotel. We have lost a day of our vacation, have to pay a higher hotel rate, incurred transfer fees and have been subjected to so much stress because of what happened.