We had problems with this apartment and with the host from start to finish.
First of all I must inform everyone that his apartment has a BIG cockroach problem and the cockroaches are big enough to own the apartment. The host had set 5 traps that we could see but they were still running across the kitchen tops and across the floor, so the problem must be big one. When we told him about it he was very nonchalant in informing us that all prewar apartment buildings have cockroaches, but these facts were not included in the description which I believe it should be if it is indeed the facts.
Before even getting to New York the host sent us a message stating we were actually not allowed to be in the building. We were told by the host to lie to anyone who asked why we were there, which made rides in the elevator with residents uncomfortable, we also felt this was breach of health and safety if there had been a fire/security risk.
Upon arriving we were left waiting outside with our bags in the street for nearly 45 mins after giving us the wrong lock box details, the host told us he would ring us in 5 mins to help, 30 mins later we were still waiting for his call, we had to ring him again. When we finally got the keys from a different lock box location we went up to the apartment and we were greeted by neighbours having a domestic in the hallway, not the hosts fault but not ideal. Upon entering the apartment we were disappointed at the size as the pictures made it look a lot bigger, however it was very nicely furnished and decorated though I must say. You can hear everything that happens in the halls in this building from domestics, to slamming doors, to people walking up and down. You can also hear the neighbour upstairs stomping around at all hours, this is not a peaceful place to stay. The noise from outside was minimal it was just inside the apartment building there was a problem.
On the second day the internet went down, we reset it and did everything we could to get it back on but to no avail. So we messaged Tony who said he wouldn’t be able to fix it until he arrived back in New York the next day. When he had fixed the internet it was still terrible, cutting in and out, this was not ideal for us as we relied on the internet to contact family at home and plan our days, being from the UK we did not have great data plans for the USA as we thought we would have high quality internet at the apartment.
We found some of the host’s communications very rude, for instance messaging us late at night telling us (not asking) that an estate agent would be coming round the next morning to view the property. When asked if it could be rearranged as we only had 2 days left he was reluctant to change the appointment even though we had booked the entire place exclusively for the period of our trip and like I say we only had 2 days left. He failed to mention that the estate agent would also be bringing 2 people with her accompanied by himself to look around so you can imagine our surprise when 4 people showed up. He also failed to mention that she would be returning again with more people later in the day when we were not in the apartment. This was particularity annoying due to the fact we had paid for the exclusivity of the apartment and felt it very intrusive.
The location was good right next to central park and near subway stations, shower was nice and hot and bed was reasonably comfortable. The teas and coffee provided were terrible and some things in the cupboards were seriously out of date. All in all a VERY disappointing experience and not worth the money.