Karen's place is in a great convenient neighborhood near some really good restaurants, a Whole Foods, Russ & Daughters and SoHo. There's a great laundromat down the street also that does laundry within a day. I wouldn't call this neighborhood SoHo, but the Lower East Side (LES). The apt was in good condition. The former tenants took the hair dryer, so I was without one for about 2.5 weeks during my 4 week stay, but Karen ordered me a new one via Amazon. My main issues were an enormous cockroach I saw 3 weeks into my stay that was looking over my shoulder reading my book with me as I sat in bed, but it's NYC and these things happen, and some construction going on right next door. Construction is also not new to NYC and out of Karen's hands. If you wake up and are out of the apt from 7am, to 5pm, are a tourist that is never home during the weekday, and/or not working from home, then you could easily avoid the construction that was like a drill hammer the size of the entire wall of the apt that shook the entire apt non-stop, including the beds, from 7am to 5pm. Weekends and nights were silent. It died down a bit to some sporadic bangs throughout the day that also shook the whole apt, by the end of my stay. Karen tried her best to work with me and Airbnb to give me a refund, but Airbnb offered me no other affordable options in NYC and no discounted rates at other available Airbnbs, so I was stuck largely due to Airbnb's policies. I was in NYC working from this apt and the noise was so loud that I couldn't hear my meetings and people could not hear me, even with headphones. I'm giving Karen 3 stars for the giant roach and having no means of spraying it to death and because, if I'd known about the construction before booking and having to deal with a month of absolute hell, then I would've booked somewhere else and I really would've liked that option. Otherwise, even with the giant roach, I would've given her 5 stars. I took out the garbage upon leaving as instructed, even though there is a cleaning fee, and ensured my food was out of the fridge (no freezer), but left some dishes. I just have to point these things out, as I rarely leave a not-so-stellar review.