Quick review: The space was nice, clean, and everything as promised. Host was not around so we were greeted by her roommate, who was very kind. Only wish we got the heads up about the loud subway that regularly passes by. The host, on the other hand, was a nightmare. Kate was initially very straight forward and quick to respond but she turned out to be very difficult, threatening, and unreasonable when we came across problems towards the end of our stay. I would NOT recommend this listing solely based on our interactions with Kate.
Explanation: We were accused of clogging the toilet and Kate demanded $100 to cover the cost of a plumber. Take my word for it (or don't) but it was likely a progressive obstruction that happened to stop up during our stay. There were 3 guests before us and the flush was weak when we got there. We initially thought that's how her toilet worked but retrospectively realized that it was probably starting to back up before we got there. Anyway, when we refused to pay, she had her roommate lock up our bags while we were away and told her roommate not to release our things until we paid the $100 upfront. It had escalated to this point after a complete miscommunication of check out times (both parties to blame for this, I guess) and a complicated communication tree between us, her roommate, and her (in another country). After exchanging a few words with Kate directly, it was clear that we wouldn't be able to have a civil conversation and that she wasn't going to give me a chance to resolve the problem. Her accusatory and threatening approach along with her condescending tone made it impossible. (e.g "You should be ashamed of yourself.") Since there was already a $500 security deposit on the reservation and talking with Kate was obviously going nowhere, I opted to have this taken up by Airbnb instead. Unfortunately, I probably won't be using Airbnb again (although their customer service department has been great thus far), but I thought it'd be important to give fair warning about this host.