Gabriella's apartment was exactly as advertised - the photos are super accurate. the location is excellent - actual street the apartment is on (Varick) is loud and very commercial (as noted) but you are literally one block from west village charm. loads of really great restaurants/bars/shops in close proximity. a subway stop - super easy to explore all of downtown new york which (in my opinion) is the most fun and vibrant area of the city. the apartment is very nice so while you're in it - it doesn't matter what it's like on the street below - and when you leave or arrive - you can be just briefly on Varick and then within 2 minutes on a nice street...
Gabriella herslf was incredibly responsive - I never waited more than 5 mintues to hear from her. We did not have any problems or questions other than check in and out details - but she was at the ready and very friendly with her answers.
The apartment gives you lots of space to spread out and it's very comfortable. I was on a work trip and not there very much other than to sleep - but my husband was not working and was happy to have a sitting room/space - and a kitchen - vs being in a hotel.
Other than the noise (which did not bother us - Gabriella provides noise machines so we slept fine but are not sensitive about noise) the only other thing that is less than great is that there is just one full bath/shower for the two bedroom place and it's upstairs within the master bedroom rather than a shared hallway. So if you are there with two couples (or like us - my husband and me in the master bedroom and a work colleague - who at least was a friend - in the room downstairs) - the person/people sleeping downstairs needs to be able to walk into the other's room to take a shower and depending on your lifestyle/schedules and closeness - this could be an issue. We had no problem working around the situation.
we would definitely stay again!