I visited Emily's place in Williamsburg for a week with my husband and 3-year-old daughter.
I think that context is important because if I was 25 years old and on a party weekend with friends and just needed a place to crash at night, my thoughts on the apartment would have likely been different.
I'll start with the good: It's in Williamsburg proper, so you're one subway stop to Manhattan on the L train. Williamsburg itself has a ton going on in the food/drink/retail departments. The apartment does have 2 true bedrooms: one with a queen (I think?) bed, the other with a single. There is also a desk and chair, if you're needing to work or sit down and write some of your novel. Then the living room also has a futon so if you're traveling with a few people, there is ample sleeping space. There is also a nice selection of books. Emily also let us check in early, since the apartment was empty, which was very nice.
Then on to some of the other stuff:
I lived in NY for 15 years and actually lived around the corner from Emily's apartment for about 4 years, so I knew that it can be a noisy neighborhood. Before booking, I asked Emily about noise levels, stating that since we're coming with a young child we were looking for somewhere quiet where we could come back for naps and quiet evenings in. Emily assured me it was quiet and, this isn't her fault, but it wasn't. There is always that one neighbor that ruins it for everyone, and in this building, the apartment below blasts music with super heavy bass (everything shuddering) between the hours of 2 pm until 9.58 pm. Nonstop. So again, if you're not trying to get a kid to go to sleep and tend to be out of the house around those times, this isn't such a big deal. Also, 'quiet' is relative, and for being in Williamsburg, it is surely not as bad as many other apartments. There's also a ton of pot being smoked in the building, but that's true in 95% of NY apartments.
Next, the apartment could use a good scrub. The cleaning service had visited the day before we arrived, and the sheets and towels were clean and the sink was free of dirty dishes, but the spaces under furniture has not been cleaned in a long time, the cleaning rags were left in piles on the edge of the kitchen sink, the air grates and windows show just how close you are to the BQE. Again, if I was just looking for a place to crash, I wouldn't have been as concerned..but overall I'd say the cleanliness was barely passing.
And lastly, just some little details that were missing. The apartment is somewhat bare bones, which is not the end of the world, but I would have liked to have been prepared. We arrived after 6 hours on a bus to find that there wasn't a roll of toilet paper. We wound up buying trash bags, coffee filters, sponges, dish soap, hand soap, and toilet paper. The kitchen is a bit oddly furnished: there is a blender, and a bunch of sieves so you can sift flour to your heart's content. There is a full fondue set. But there isn't a single pot you can boil an egg in. Or make a pot of pasta, or heat up some soup. So if you are hoping to save some cash by having a few easy meals in (like I hoped), be prepared that your easy meal needs to be fondue.