The space is clean/looks like photos. Bed is v comfortable. 1 pot and 2 pans in the kitchen, 1 roll of toilet paper and 1 roll of paper towels for month long stays. Appliances are clean and new. Host is nice but very involved.
To get in to the apartment there’s a vestibule w/2 doors, 1 to the unit and 1 to the basement used by hosts & sometimes their guests which the host will notify you about. Host was informed I would arrive 1 day late, but after I arrived asked to come take photos of damage from a previous stay despite having around 24 hours between when their previous renters left and before my late arrival. Furthermore, she complained about how dirty the guest was and how long it took her to clean after they left. It was more information than I needed.
At the beginning of my second week I got sick and didn’t leave for a couple days causing her to text me telling me about the nice weather and why I hadn't gone out. I suspect that besides being useful for safety the cameras + alarm alert her of movement in or out of the place and she's taking note. When she text she also mentioned the temp inside of the apartment viewed on nest. It just oddly felt like I was being monitored. I shared that I was feeling sick, and she kindly gave me a covid test which ended up being positive. Though she was nice throughout she emphasized her husband would suffer significant financial harm if he got sick multiple times after I tested positive. This struck me as weird since it's probably not smart to host strangers who are probably going to nyc to be out and about during COVID if you could lose a lot of money if you get sick.
When I left the apartment because I was losing my mind isolating she would text for updates and mentioned that her husband was no longer going to the basement so as not to get sick. Though none of it was said rudely, I really felt like I was being monitored and it just added more pressure when i'm already far from home and alone while really sick. Out of respect, I isolated, wore a mask in the shared space, and wiped anything I touched. I would have done that anyway, but all the contact just made me feel worse about being sick.
I didn’t want to get sick, I'm 3x vaccinated, and getting sick ruined my time in NYC altogether which is no one's fault, but being uncomfortable in the place I had to stay made a bad situation worse. As soon as I felt well enough and tested negative I chose to leave their place a week early. I would have left sooner had I tested negative sooner. I sent a text informing her I had left and why, then blocked her number because I had already had entirely too much communication with her. She chose to refund me for the week I left, which I was not expecting.
Other people seemed to have a lovely time at her place, and I'm sure that's possible but I decidedly did not.