I rented this apartment for 3+ weeks to be in Astoria for the birth of my grandchild. I wanted to stay at an Airbnb for many reasons to be walking distance from my kids, to have a kitchen, to be more covid safe and to be in a neighborhood where I could go to a market or shop for things we might need when the baby arrived.
I so wanted to love this place and I tried, but the experience was terribly disappointing. Let’s start with the positives – the apartment is in a lovely neighborhood, walking distance to restaurants, markets and shops. The unit was clean and the bed was fine.
This is a long review, so I’ll summarize the key complaints and you can read the details if you’re interested. There were few amenities in the unit, but the ones that were there were broken. I had to leave early (with no refund) because I had no heat, it was freezing and the owner did not return my calls that final day. I took photos of the issues, but so far I do not see where I can post them.
Upon arrival, you walk down a very narrow walkway to the apartment in the back. I am a size 10 and had to walk sideways down the path as there are sharp things (like bent siding, nails, etc.) that come out at you. At night it completely dark; I had to use a flashlight and my coat got snagged several times. When I settled in the first night, I found that the microwave did not work, the electrical outlet in the bathroom didn’t work and the heat was not working properly. I called and the owner responded promptly, replaced the microwave the following night and fixed the electrical outlet. The heating unit is a portable heat/ac unit that vents out the window. There was no welcome book with instructions, so I downloaded the user manual and found that although I was operating it correctly, the heat was not consistent. The owner told me there were no issues with the heat. I was also concerned with the safety of the unit, as it was not on a dedicated circuit (the TV is connected with a long extension cord from that same outlet) and the smoke detector was not attached and was laying on top of the refrigerator. I told the owner (and manager who acted as the translator) that the heat was not working consistently. They told me it was completely safe and fine. I was told by her manager that if I wanted everything perfect, I should go to a hotel. As I had no time to find other accommodations before the baby was coming, I agreed to stay but cut the stay a week short when my husband was arriving. First, for him I was concerned about his safety on that narrow walkway. Second, the bed is across the room behind the door. There are 4 small windows in the door with no shades and the window beside the door has sheer curtains with 2 large tubes from the ac/heat unit going through that window. When morning comes, the sun shines right into the bed and wakes you. Also, there is only 1 night table and we each have sleep devices that require somewhere to put them.
I was coming and going, helping my kids. I ran home about a week into my stay to take a quick shower and found the heat was no longer working. There was an error message on the unit. I called the manager and she called to owner to get instructions. They told me to go outside and pull on the wires. I dressed and went outside, but there was nothing I could do. Then they told me to unplug it and re-plug it in, but there was a heavy dresser in front of the outlet. I showered in the cold apartment and they sent someone in later that evening to fix it. The next day it was still not keeping the apartment at a consistent temperature, so I left and stayed with family. Saturday night I came back and woke up Sunday morning freezing cold. The heat had completely gone off with the same error message as before. In addition, there is a gap in the door frame so you can see to the outside. The cold air coming in coupled with the cold tile floor (with only a thin, small runner by the side of the bed) made it as cold inside the apartment as outside. I do not live in a cold climate, so I was completely frozen. I called and left a message in the morning. No one got back to me. I messaged through the Airbnb app and no one responded. The news said the temperature was going to drop significantly (it was 40 the night I had no heat), so I packed up my stuff, went to my kids and called around until I found a hotel. At 1:00 I started calling Airbnb. I asked for my money back. I was leaving 4 days early due to no heat. They said they would contact the owner and get back to me. The owner claimed that she fixed everything. She didn’t even have the courtesy to respond to me when I called and was freezing. Airbnb said they couldn’t do anything to get me a refund.
My husband and I owned a vacation rental for many years, so I always try to look at the rental from the owners perspective. From the minute I walked in, I realized this unit was solely to make money – there was no interest in making sure the guest had a wonderful experience. There was no welcome book (with instructions on appliance use, local markets, etc.), no basic amenities (bath soap, shampoo), very limited kitchen items (not even a sheet pan for the oven, no toaster, no spatula, no foil/wrap