Maria's home is exactly as it appears. It is a nice open space that is not at all what you would expect for New York! The surroundings are updated and comfortable and Maria is a wonderful host! There are a few items that need to be pointed out for future guests, just to be sure there are no surprises. I take reviews seriously as I lean heavily on them for my decisions. Most importantly, this is not a reflection at all on the host as I have no complaints there at all!
Items to note:
As clearly shown in the photos, there is no living room. There is a lovely eat in kitchen with table and bench with a great view of the garden/patio, which was lovely! But it would have been nice to actually have a living room to sit in to comfortably watch some TV during those rare down times we had.
There is also no TV. There is a ROKU projector system downstairs in the bedroom nightstand drawer, but not having a ROKU myself, it took quite some time to figure out how to get it to work. To keep anyone in the future from having the same issues, you need to hold the power button down for a few seconds to power on, set the ROKU projector on the bed on a book or two to get it to show in the right location on the wall over the console, and turn the lights off in the room to properly see it. The volume is also very low, so if you have hearing problems, you may struggle. You also need to hold the remote no more than about 3 inches from the unit to get it to work.
There is a half bath downstairs very convenient to the bedroom area, as well as a great dressing/desk area. No closet space or dresser to put clothes in, though. We used the desk downstairs to keep our folded clothes on. We were there for a week and I hate living out of a suitcase.
Only 3 towels to use for the week. I don't mind reusing towels, but we did have to wash them while there. With all of the events we had going that week (son's wedding) we took a lot of showers and the towels were in need! If you like to use fresh towels regularly, bring some of your own, along with washcloths.
The shower was great! Water pressure was good! If you have mobility issues, or you are really short like I am (5' ish) you will struggle to get out of the shower. It is over a jet tub, which I am sure is lovely, but really deep. The top of the tub hit at about mid thigh on me. Getting in wasn't so bad because the bottom of the tub is higher than the floor, but stepping down to the lower floor from the inside of the tub was a real challenge!!
The stairs leading to the basement bedroom are really steep. Again, not a problem if you don't have mobility issues, but something to keep in mind.
And the last item to note is the lack of sound proofing between floors. Neighbors are not at all obnoxious, so that is not what I am saying, but you can hear every single step they take. The stairs must be right next to each other so whenever the neighbors ran up or down their stairs, you could swear someone was running up or down yours! Use the white noise machine that Maria provides if you are a light sleeper, or come from a place where it is ultra quiet!
Again, this is not a reflection on the host, or the property itself. If given a chance, I would definitely stay again! It's just about being prepared and making informed decisions.