Erika is a great host, the room itself is spacious, and this place could be a good deal for NYC, but the building is REALLY old and the apartment is not homely as the photos and listing title suggest. The listing said it was “cozy” and made it come off as a regular room in a “3 BR apartment”, but the place was more of a dingy SRO basement unit. If you book this, don’t expect anything too comfortable especially outside the room itself. It’s not terrible as long as you’re willing to rough it out a bit.
Pros: Safe neighborhood, great location a block away from the subway, cheap restaurants nearby. Room itself is spacious, bed is comfy, very nice chair/desk, and A/C. Apartment inside was quiet. Room is close to entrance which makes it feel private. Elizabeth always responded to messages. She wasn’t there but her boyfriend was and he was a very nice man.
Cons:
Very old building, apartment resembles an old tenement unit. The bathroom is cramped and crowded with a tiny toilet. The kitchen fridge was crowded and storing food was tight. The rest of the unit is mainly a long dark corridor like hallway with no windows, with the lights usually off. It’s a basement unit and in the room you can barely open the curtains, if at all. Sound insulation isn’t great so you can hear outside clearly if the a/c unit is off (cars honking and talking/shouting). And you can only lock the room itself when you’re inside of it and not when you leave.