This was not a good Airbnb experience for us. The owners were willing to communicate and responded quickly, but did not help us properly. The person who checked us in was prompt and kind. We quit asking for help when the help was not as we needed. This is a lengthy, honest review. I wish I had known these things before we booked it. I am finding the Airbnb experience to be going way downhill, which is a significant disappointment. The only way to fix it is to provide brutally honest reviews.
The apartment smelled freshly cleaned when we arrived, but after being there for a little bit, it was obvious that some chemicals may have been used, but true cleaning had not been done.
The sleeping arrangements were terrible. The beds are cheap and extremely uncomfortable. My body was aching by the end of the trip. The couch is not appropriate for sleeping. Do not rely on the couch for a human to sleep. You can barely sit on it. It has hard metal surrounding the cushions and is not soft. My son was miserable. This should not be advertised as a sleeping opportunity and should be replaced for general sitting.
The apartment is small, so just know there is not dining space for 6 people. One person, maybe two people, can sit at the table provided. No big deal but may be worth noting for some.
When we arrived, none of the beds had top sheets. Each bed had a bottom sheet and a comforter with a duvet. We asked the host for top sheets, and while they responded quickly and sent someone quickly to resolve the problem, the person who came left us ONE additional fitted sheet (there were 3 beds with top sheets missing), and it smelled like someone’s cologne and like it had been slept on already. It was disgusting that we had to put blankets that other people have used on our bodies without sheets. One of the blankets smelled strongly of cigarette smoke.
We were not provided with wash cloths for the shower.
The place was not clean. There was food and debris near the walls on the floor. The oven needs cleaning. When we put it on, there was food stuck to it that stunk up the apartment and set off the smoke alarm.
The bathroom needs to be scrubbed badly. Bottom line is that the bathroom was gross. The tub needed scrubbing. The grime on it is not a stain, it’s grime. The floor near the walls was not clean. The tub backs up with the water a lot when you shower...gross. The drain needs to be unclogged. The toilet looked very dirty. Like the upper portion near the seat is never cleaned. And if it’s stained then they need a new toilet. The bath mat was soaked when we arrived, and it’s not a mat that can be washed, dried, and put back out so that means other people step on it and use it and it doesn’t get cleaned. Disgusting.
There were empty body wash and shampoo bottles, and to me, it’s very off putting to use the same toiletries as other people. Although each item in their own bottles, it just feels yucky. In my opinion, if an Airbnb is going to provide toiletries, they should provide small, personal sized toiletries. And clean up the empty toiletries. Who wants to reach for a mostly empty squeezed out bottle of body wash?
There were keurig cups for coffee but no keurig machine to make the coffee. The oven was dirty and set off the smoke alarm and made the apartment smell like burnt toast.
Most of the light bulbs are burnt out. I notified the host in my post stay comments, but there were so many burnt out that it’s obviously not addressed ongoing.
And it was extremely loud all night. And I mean all night. I understand it is New York, but those windows are single pane and let in all the noise as if you are standing on the street. It was miserable. You couldn’t hear a thing in the other bedroom or the main space in the apartment, but the one bedroom on the street side was awful. We were not informed in advance that there is construction, which is also extremely loud and early and caused a lot of extra traffic noise like jack hammers, yelling, and constant cars honking their horns in frustration.
As of October 2022, renter beware there is construction on the street with no end in sight. The host should update their listing to show there is road construction and when it will be complete. I read the reviews that it is loud and understood New York is loud and that I couldn’t avoid it. But loud, and feeling like you are basically sitting on the curb and not in the house it’s so loud, are different to me.
9th Ave, in general, was not great for me. We were within walking distance of Times Square and Rockefeller Center, which was nice, but I felt like 9th Ave was not as clean and nice as other areas. And honestly felt like within block, I walked from a safer area to a less safe area, but I found that to be the case on many areas of New York. My husband and son liked the location because we had pizza, ice cream, and a bar right below us on the street. So, it depends on what you like. 51st and 52nd were better roads to take from 9th to Times Square. 53rd was dark and less populated with storefronts, and we didn’t like walking that at night.
I wish it were one or two small things that typically need to be addressed and could be handled with the host directly and privately, but in this case, there was too much, which lead to an overall poor experience. One light bulb out, no