First off, I would like to say that the space itself has potential, but many things were wrong with my stay. When first reserving the apartment, it was advertised as an in-unit washer/dryer. This is not true; the laundry room is in the basement. I used the laundry room twice, and I do not recommend it; many machines either don’t work or are highly unsanitary. There’s also no cell phone service in the basement and as a woman I was concerned for my safety. There are many people that live in that apartment building and they have guests of their own. So you never really know who can walk down there while you’re alone and have no way to contact anyone on the outside. The gym in the building also doesn’t have cell service, so be mindful of that. The building is located in a central area of downtown Brooklyn, but there is also a homeless shelter nearby (less than a block away). With that being said, stay safe; I’ve witnessed many mental health episodes that included screaming/cursing/ violent behavior.
The unit itself had a broken dishwasher, the oven was so dirty that it was burning old crust of food when turned on. The air vent in the bathroom was exposed for the entire six weeks of my stay. It was dusty and dirty, and dust would fall often. I asked the super of the building and the caretaker of the unit, and it was never fixed. Upon arrival, the unit seemed clean, but upon further inspection, it was filthy. I cleaned it myself and bought cleaning products, a trash can (because they had a mini trash can for the entire unit), and more towels. Upon arrival, I was told by the caretaker that if a guest is staying for an extended period of time, it is mandatory for them to clean the unit weekly. This happened once of the six weeks I stayed at the unit.
The caretaker and I would schedule a time for her to come, and she would cancel, reschedule or not show up. I can’t tell you how many times this would happen; she was even unresponsive or unreachable for days at one point. After some time, I told her not to come over and clean and that I will just take care of it. Then on my four weeks, the caretaker asks me if I have left yet, and I said no, that I have two weeks left, then said that she has to clean the unit. Again more trouble with communicating and commit to actually coming to the unit. Once she finally did arrive at the unit. I walk into my apartment, and she is eating my fruit without permission. Then she says, “sorry, I was feeling dizzy, and asked if it was okay.” Keep in mind she lives in the building and could have called me and asked or just went to her apartment to eat. Then takes 6 hours to “clean” the apartment; she came to clean it at 7 pm and was there till midnight. Also, last-minute, she tells me that she is removing the couch, takes the sofa out, leaves it in the hallway in front of the door for a week. I was without a couch for a whole week and couldn’t use the living space much. I asked her repeatedly about getting the other couch and again more canceling, rescheduling, or not showing up. Three days before leaving, I finally got a couch in the unit. The whole thing wasted a lot of my time and gave me so much anxiety. I did express frustration and asked for things that I needed but I didn’t want express frustration or the fact that I was expressly unhappy because I didn’t feel comfortable to do so, they live in the building and had a master key to the apartment. I just didn’t feel safe or comfortable. I don’t recommend staying here.