I spent a month at Ara’s place in East Williamsburg and it was an absolute pleasure. I was in New York for work and I decided to find a shared apartment to get more of the local New Yorker vibe and it turned out to be amazing. Staying here was such a key part in helping me to feel like a local and like I had some community.
The area is really fun - it’s residential yet an easy walk to loads of bars and restaurants, which are open all night! There’s also a great supermarket nearby. It’s only 5mins from Grand Street on the L train, so was really easy to get into Union Square in Manhattan to walk to work.
The bedroom was spacious, light, airy and comfortable, with lots of storage space and a desk. The whole apartment is super spacious with incredibly high ceilings and Ara has a great eye for interior design, so is decorated beautifully. The kitchen and lounge are really comfortable and great for chilling out in. I had a shelf in the fridge to put my own food and we all cooked together a couple of times. An amazing thing about this apartment, which I learnt is very rare in New York, is that there is a large clothes washing machine and dryer in the bathroom! In NYC it’s the norm to have to go to a laundromat, so this was an incredible bonus and really helped make things easier for a newbie.
Ara is very lovely and easy going, she is very easy to get along with and we had some really great times; I only wish I could’ve been there longer! I would love to stay with her again next time I’m in town.