The photos are accurate. The place is really charming and the host seemed like a wonderful, attentive person at first meeting. I was excited to stay there with my baby who was turning two that week, and her two grandmothers. My mum is blind so we planned to leave her in the Airbnb during the day (with accessible food) while the three of us explored the city/celebrated the baby’s birthday.
On our second night, the electricity went out and I contacted our host and asked he come help the next day. Of note, he offered to come right away but I declined as it was bedtime and I didn’t expect us to need lights or electricity while we were sleeping. At check in he had warned us not to use a certain switch in the bathroom as it may trip the fuse. We didn’t, but I suspect that using the two provided space heaters tripped the fuse. Nevertheless he came first thing the next morning and fixed it for us. Really excellent service I would say and I did feel bad for having to call him the evening before. While he was there I mentioned it was v cold in all the rooms and we discovered that one bedroom had the window open a crack. He helped us close that. Unfortunately it didn’t warm up after he left and we discovered that it was just REALLY cold. The lights went out a couple more times that day and he stuck around to help reset the fuse (which was outside of the apt and not accessible to us). At that point, we realized that there was no heat. He immediately got on the phone w the building super and the management’s lawyer and requested that it be fixed. Unfortunately it took a while and we spent my daughter’s birthday bundled up in the couch as I didn’t want to leave my mom home alone in the cold. It got so terrible that I started looking for other places for us to go that evening and I contacted the host and told him we would have to leave and go to a hotel etc if it wasn’t fixed shortly as it was unbearably cold (as in feels like 7 degrees cold). It did get fixed after 7pm so we were without heat on a v cold day for a full 24 hrs plus. Of note, we broke the soap dispenser as the first time the lights went out, one grandmother was in the shower and was startled and slipped and fell and in her panic grabbed the dispenser to break her fall. I offered to pay for a replacement and repair and our host declined.
The next couple of days of our 5 night stay were uneventful. The area is my fave in NYC and it was amazing being steps away from Tomino which has been my fave restaurant since it’s inception. The heat and electricity stayed intact for the remainder of our stay and we have a good time. I do think it is a great place and it feels like real NYC. I can’t blame our host for the issues that were beyond his control and I think it was just bad luck. That being said, I did request a refund for that day and he said we would go through Airbnb for that so we will see.
The host offered us two nights free at the end of our trip. I could not take it as I had to return to go to a funeral of a friend who died unexpectedly during our stay. I also wanted to go home at that point as my baby didn’t like the cold much. I do think he is a great host and I appreciated the offer. While the place won’t be for everyone as it is small I think it’s a good deal given the location. I appreciated that he provided new toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, linen, towels, and even gave me extra garbage bags per my request (to take out the trash everyday). There is Netflix and Disney plus and a microwave for people who need to warm up food. I would recommend this place for future stays, though if I had to go back to nyc with my family, I would likely opt for a larger place with an elevator. The location and the responsiveness of the host can’t be beat though.