Lilian made us feel right at home in the chaos that is New York, her apartment is superb - really the pictures probably don't do it justice... all the appliances and furnishings are brand NEW, the bathroom is great, the rooftop deck is a little slice of heaven (I'm sure its great for BBQs in the summer), and the little details are great - for instance there was plenty of pens to use, tons of closet space, and she left us a nice note with all instructions including the fact she left us a few fruits and treats for our use. The apartment even had a camera to view who rang the doorbell which is awesome. There is a lot of stairs to go up, so keep this in mind in case you have some sort of impediment, but if you take it slow even I who have a knee problem was okay with it (not a bother for us at all, and Lilian was kind enough to mention this prior to the booking). More than enough space for the five of us in the Duplex, and she was kind enough to leave us four sets of keys which was great since we often split up to go do different things in the city. Our privacy was respected always, and the host was very good with communication before and after the rental (she even offered to return a forgotten plug we left behind). Its located in Harlem, which is slowly becoming more & more gentrified - its a close walk to Columbia U. I do recommend if you're girls that you go walking in groups at night, just as a precaution. Although its located Uptown, its literally a 4 min walk to metro lines 1,2,3 and about 15 min walk to metro lines 4,5,6... you'll be downtown in no-time without the need to switch lines or spend a ton of time stuck in traffic which was awesome! Close to Starbucks, the liquor store, a and a few Harlem staples like Red Rooster, and convenience stores galore.