I do not write this lightly, if you are a Black person or a person of color I do recommend you book this bnb. While the host was pleasant and everything was as described, his neighbors made my friends and I feel unsafe.
I asked Nick to host a dinner party for my sister (9 people all family or close friends) Nick agreed. The only reason there was more than 9 people at one point, was to help me set up the bnb for the occasion.
I was last to arrive, as I was cooking. All of the guests were Black or Latinx. Admittedly we were reckless transferring between our cars and the bnb as we did not wear masks. Luckily, we all live together in one way or another. Also, we were able to find parking directly in front of the building. As soon as my sister arrived, a neighbor came down and asked "Who are you?" She was the birthday girl, this event was a surprise. She told the neighbor that I had booked that bnb. Was there a problem? He said he noticed no one was wearing masks. Reader, when the neighbor approached strangers to inquire who they were, he was not wearing a mask. My sister pointed out as much and reminded him they all came from the same place and to follow social distancing rules. He said he would "check inside to make sure everything was ok."
This interaction, from the start made my sister and her friends uncomfortable. When I arrived, I too, noticed the unwarranted stares from neighbors without masks. Because we are P.O.C. in this mostly white neighborhood and were already being antagonized we kept the music low and when it got late, turned off the music altogether. Most guests left after eating, leaving 5 of us remaining.
We were using the backyard to smoke, we were told by the neighbor who approached us about the masks the yard was not part of the bnb. So we came back upstairs. No music on, 5 of proceeded to converse quietly among ourselves as this is now the second time we've been chastised. Reader, I live in an apartment complex similar to the one we rented. My neighbors make all types of noise at all hours of the day, this is to be expected. We live in a compact city. 5 people in a large apartment, 2 having an intimate conversation and the other 3 casually conversing with music off should not be much of a disturbance no matter the time. Especially considering this was a week of civil unrest in our country. Everyone is home because of the pandemic, my friends and I had been going out to protest almost daily, we're not ready to go to sleep at 1 A.M.
Again, the same neighbor came downstairs and told us to keep it down. I pointed around and said there are only 5 people have quiet conversations, he said the window was open. Someone closed the window, he insisted we cut it out anyway.
Reader, I paid more than 300 to host my sister a dinner party where she could rest her head after her birthday. We all ended up getting in our cars and leaving. I realized that in the absence of police presence, white people try to become an enforcer of authority. It was extremely uncomfortable for us and I have never experienced anything like this.
Again,. we were cavalier about arriving in masks, even though the cars were right across the street, we should have worn them. But we were not excessively noisy. We were in fact, quiet somber. The apartment is as described, so you will definitely enjoy that.