First let me say this — I was pretty overwhelmed when booking the trip, and during the trip. It was my first time out among people since the pandemic started, and I was there for an event for work — way outside of my comfort zone and unable to really communicate much at the event — on my second stay in NY, and the first stay by myself. The review I’m going to leave will be based on the location and my interaction with the host(s), not the listing itself, and should be taken with these contexts.
I made some pretty amateur moves when booking my first trip. A big one was not really considering the implications of what it means for ‘pet friendly’ spaces. I’ve had pets. But I’ve never had the experience of having a dog that barks constantly. This, apparently, was the variety of dog that was with the other guests that were staying in the space in this listing. I have an impression that the dog was large, as well.
The hosts do a pretty good job of communicating. They have a requirement that they talk to you on the phone to review the house rules prior to checking in. This was a bit difficult in my case, because I was at a large scale event. There were almost no spaces that weren’t filled with networking or shop chatter. The assistant worked with me around my event schedule, and when we finally connected at the end of the day, she asked if I was okay with changing locations because of the dog in question. I was told that the other guests weren’t breaking any rules but that the dog was perhaps “a bit much”. It felt a little weird, having a last minute change like this, but I put my trust in the fact that I was dealing with “Super hosts”, and went along with it.
As I approached the building, I heard a loud booming bark. I wondered if that was the dog that I had been told about, as this location and the place I actually ended up staying were in the same building, which is why I’m including information about the location in this review. I had some difficulties getting into the space, but I was given a phone number of someone to talk to, and though my experience with the keys didn’t seem to match his expectations, we were able to get me into the space in fairly short order.
The location is great. There were a number of gluten-free restaurants within a few blocks, and even a small grocery store. There wasn’t much I could get there, but I did manage to get something dairy-free for breakfast the next morning.
But the hosts were extremely accommodating. They were even able to save me from myself, in such a way that I was still able to have a place to stay the night without needing to make different last-minute reservations. It wouldn’t have gone well if I had needed to stay in a place where a loud dog couldn’t be quieted down. I couldn’t hear any barking in the room where I ended up. I’m grateful to the hosts.