We enjoyed our stay at Laura's place. It was a clean and tidy hideaway that served our needs for our trip to NYC to visit our daughter. Communication was great and check-in and check-out were a breeze. Elizabeth met us upon check-in and followed up with messages as our check-out day approached. We have few complaints about the place itself, and would recommend it to anyone who is traveling on a budget and not inclined to spend $300+ per night on a boring hotel room.
However, we were disappointed with some things that are completely beyond our host's control, but that you should be aware of if you are considering staying here. Though the apartment was clean and tidy, the hallway reeked of cigarette smoke. The neighboring businesses were perpetually piled with mountains of garbage on the sidewalk that issued forth the foul smells of rotting fish, vomit and urine. One shop owner frequently burned trash at curbside in a metal barrel issuing foul black smoke that pervaded the neighborhood. Also, trash and delivery trucks came early in the morning (1 to 3 AM) nearly every night of our stay with huge beeping trucks and banging equipment. Being only one level up from the street, this meant you are practically knocked out of bed with the clamor. We were a little disappointed with how the neighbors maintained their shops. Its been a few years since we spent anytime in Chinatown, so we were really rather shocked to see how seedy and nauseating it has become. Used to be a fun place to explore and the shop owners used to take pride in running clean operations. What happened? One could argue these things can be found all over New York, but it seemed particularly concentrated and rancid at this location.
Despite all the pluses at Laura's place, the surrounding neighborhood is no longer what it once was and leaves us little hope of staying here in the future. Still, we wish to extend our appreciation to Laura and Elizabeth for hosting us and wish them well.