The short- I would not recommend this apartment to anyone. For what it offers, it's significantly over priced.

The long- This was my first time trying AirBnB and I feel terrible to have dragged my family along for the experience. The front entrance smelled of piss and the hallway inside wasn't any better. At the base of the steps inside is where the building's trash is thrown, it seems, but rather than cans of trash, it was a pile of garbage overflowing into the hallway. Then came trouble with the apartment door/lock. My family tried at it for 10-15 minutes before we decided to call Mayra because it was definitely a problem with the door, not us. Luckily, Mayra was readily accessible by phone, but even her detailed directions couldn't help us in. She offered to come by to open the apartment door, which was nice, but now we were left waiting in the dirty narrow halls for 40 minutes. It was about 8:30pm when we called by the way... everything thus far was very disheartening, especially after a long and tiring day of exploring New York. During our 40 minute wait, we found that we were in the company of 4 rats scurrying back and forth through the pile of trash. When Mayra arrived, she too admitted it was normally difficult to open the door.. It just so happened that the door was being extra difficult with us. Hopefully, this is not a problem with future AirBnBers. Once inside, we did not feel anymore comfortable- it was not what the pictures showed at all! I've stayed in many hostels over the years and I would equate the state of this apartment to the most decrepit, poorly kept hostel I've ever stayed in. We avoided using anything in the house as none of it felt clean, i.e. the kitchen, the bathroom, and shower especially. And although the beds were made, the sheets didn't feel clean either. To end our night, we took the recommendation of leaving the windows open for a nice breeze, but instead we were swarmed by mosquitoes throughout the night. We were so thankful we only booked for one night! Couldn't have gotten out any faster the next morning.

I realize the state of the building and some other factors are out of Mayra's control, but these are things I wish I knew before we stayed.

The price we paid was $250/night. For anyone looking to stay in New York, I would like to say that you can find much better. Our 3 days prior, in a very nice hotel, and 4 days after, in another apartment through AirBnB, were both were amazing and cheaper!

For more about the apartment, I recommend reviews left by Kellea (same apt, other listing) and Jeff & Faith. Their reviews were very accurate regarding my experience.

Lastly, this review is is no way speaking of Mayra. She was an extremely nice host, unfortunately, her apartment happened to be the complete opposite.