Our stay started off dreadfully. Because they have keyless entry, we were texted a code for the front door. Unfortunately, nowhere (at the time, it has since been changed) in the endless and repetitive "House Manual" did it say that there were in fact two different apartments in the same building, each with a different code. So, driving in from Philadelphia, expecting to be able to drop off our stuff and our dog and head into Manhattan on the subway for a memorial service, we were unable to access the apartment, and had to drive in on Super Bowl weekend. We were still dressed in street clothes, with the dog, and the traffic was so bad that we missed the service. But how did we make such a mistake with the door? It's actually pretty easy when the building number is on one door, along with a keycode entry, and the other, in the basement, is not marked. Here are some pictures I took of each entrance: http://bit.ly/1boOWTP http://bit.ly/1dZh0tB

When we couldn't in, I texted the host's parents (who were supposed to be our direct contact and live in the other apartment) and after having to leave for Manhattan, called Carla, who seemed very surprised that I was unaware of two separate apartments. Fine, this was a grievous misunderstanding. When we finally came back to the basement apartment 5 hours later, we discovered some minor problems and some major ones. The Kinect XBOX remote that is used for the TV didn't work, there were no batteries in there, but then it didn't work after being given batteries either. There were no facecloths in the bathroom or closet. And the "snack" promised in the directions was non-existent, unless the frozen melon balls, or whatever they were, were the snack. More importantly, there was no temperature control, and so on a cold day outside, it was also cold inside. The next day, it was too hot, but again, we had no control. The same was true of the truly erratic water in the shower. I have no idea where the smoke smell from above us was, but my asthmatic girlfriend was not happy about it.

The pet situation is also vague, AIRBNB knew I was bringing our dog (I called them in advance), but our hosts didn't. Did the booking price change by $50 because I specified that we needed a pet-friendly residence? And so we got a passive aggressive text at 3:30 in the morning on the day of our stressful drive, "reminding us" of the pet policy and then a request via AIRBNB to change our agreement to charge more for an extra guest. That guest? Our dog. Were we supposed to pay the $50 fee in advance to the hosts' parents, who we happen to have run into once? Who knows, but don't pretend I'm trying to sneak one past you.

On the plus side, the apartment is cozy and mostly clean and the surrounding area is quiet.