My boyfriend and I really loved staying in Xiren's pad. Xiren was great to communicate with and was always extremely friendly and helpful. Picking up/dropping off the keys were simple. Yes there are five flights of stairs but Xiren is perfectly honest about them and a little bit of exercise never hurt anyone! The apartment is quaint and characterful with all the basics you will require. Yes it has its quirks such as the small kitchen and bathroom but we didn't mind this at all, in fact it added to the 'feel' of the apartment. The apartment doesn't have TV but does have Xbox and a DVD player. But we didn't need use this once as we were too busy enjoying NYC! If we did need to catch up on anything we hooked up the iPad to the wifi and just streamed it on there. The apartment has a number of ceiling fans which really helped us as the weather was quite warm whilst we were there. We could hear some street noise in the apartment such as car horns etc. but it nothing that we didn't expect.
The area itself is full of life and cool bars. We particularly liked the Horseshoe Bar around the corner, Tompkins Bagels, Two Hoots pizza and there were two delis on the street below if we needed a late night snack! We would really recommend the Whole Foods supermarket about a 10/15 minute walk away from the flat. It was great for picking up groceries and we even saw Jennifer Lawrence shopping in there, so it can't be that bad can it! The apartment was within 10/15 minute walking distance to the subway, which we could hop on to get to our desired destination.
I would highly recommend this apartment to any single travellers or couples looking to visit New York. There was a really cool vibe in the Lower East Side area with plenty of areas to explore but you are also within reasonable distance of all the tourist attractions. The apartment was a real treat and some evenings we were perfectly happy just staying in and chilling with a drink, it really did feel like a home away from home. Thank-you Xiren!