First, I’d like to start off by saying that Sara is a delightful woman who was easy to communicate with when I initially booked the reservation. She was very informative about the area and what it had to offer. I was excited to be visiting for an extended weekend and curious to see what this area would offer considering I’ve always stayed in the Midtown area during my NYC trips.
Unfortunately, the pleasantries ended when my husband and I actually arrived early Friday morning to check in. Upon entering the apartment, I briefly walked around to explore each room. I first inspected the bedroom, followed by the kitchen, then the living room area and finally the bathroom. Although things looked a bit dated, I was ok with the areas that I inspected. However, upon opening the bathroom door and turning on the light, I saw a bug crawling up the wall. Unsure of what type of bug it was, I got closer and observed that it was a roach. I immediately took my phone and started recording the roach crawling up
the wall. I then looked to my left to inspect the tub where there was another roach and a horribly maintained bathtub. It was evident that the tub had been glazed several times and the glaze was peeling badly. Additionally, the corner area of the tub had a large area of black mold. It was utterly DISGUSTING!!!! I knew immediately I would not be staying there and reached out to Airbnb to discuss my concerns.
Airbnb customer service agent, Scarlet, was extremely helpful in assisting with the cancellation and search for new accommodations. Unfortunately, we were unable to find another Airbnb location to transfer to with such short notice. However, we were able to get a reservation at our go to hotel in Midtown despite there being a big convention in town. We did have to pay a considerable amount more for our last minute move however, double the amount to be exact! I’m just thankful that we had the means to be able to make the move in an expeditious manner.
I am extremely disappointed that we wasted over two hours of our morning traveling from Penn Station to the Airbnb then from the Airbnb to Midtown in addition to the Uber rides that we had to pay for.
I just wanted to share my experience at this Airbnb. I don’t want to disparage Sara or her character but this place needs a major revamp in addition to some extermination. In all honesty, if the roaches had been the only thing that I saw, I may have had more understanding considering that it’s an older apartment building in NYC and sometimes you can’t help having roaches if the building is infested no matter how clean your unit may be. I still wouldn’t have stayed, but I would have understood. However, the condition of the bathroom overall with the bathtub being the major culprit was just plain UNACCEPTABLE!!!!
If you notice in the pictures of the unit, the bathroom light is off, now I see why! The picture was obviously taken to avoid seeing the true condition of the bathroom. Finally, to add insult to injury, Sara never reached out to apologize for our inconvenience which truly was a disappointment considering how her communication was in the beginning. BUYER BEWARE!!!!!