At first not having a real full name of our host and getting the place information very close to arrival time was a bit unsettling, but everything went well with check in anyways. We solved the late check in issue by leaving our things in a luggage storage place around the corner.
The apartment is on the first floor after a very narrow and sometimes dirty stair. V asks guests to leave the window open when they finish their stay so when we arrived the place smelled of fried food as the window faces the block restaurant’s ventilations. This was really frustrating as the smell took a few days to leave because there is no other window to ventilate the place. There are also many things held with duct tape which gave a strange look (isolation for the window, in a door that seemed to lead to a fire exit stair, holding a brick of the wall and some things at the sink to name a few). Another con is the upstairs neighbor from whom you hear every step he/she takes as of 7, 6 or even 5 am every day… that together with the restaurants vents noise, make sure you won’t need an alarm clock.
For the pros, the place is less than 4 blocks away from Columbus Circle and really close to many subway lines and stations. There are many places to buy groceries and cooked food. Shower and bed was ok and kitchen is well equipped for 2. Would suggest improving floor cleaning as it looked dirty on corners and between furniture. Bathroom and closet were clean and spacious.
To sum up, although the building could seem a bit sketchy at first we didn’t have any problems besides smell and noise. Would recommend it just for the location.