Apollo was nice and friendly - we met briefly for keys in the hallway as he was on his way out, our flight to JFK was delayed so we arrive later than previously planned. Upon meeting him, we found out the apt was on the fifth floor(!!!more like 5.5th floor given the structure of the building) and no elevator in the building. It was a slight issue since our luggage were heavy and the staircase were quite steep and narrow. The whole apt/bedroom was smallish, but it is understandable as its NYC !!! AND its with walking distance to shops/restaurants SOHO, so no complaints.

Couple of observations on the apt upon check-in, 1: whole apt was warm and comfy since it was freezing outside this time of year; 2: no curtain in the bedroom (ok because my gf&I are good sleepers) - Apollo did say he could install something the same day when we brought it up (we only staying for a night so we said no need for the trouble); 3: every few minutes, there would be very loud noise coming from exterior of the building (sounded like steel cables from lightning rod hitting the fire escape due to strong wind that day). But we didnt think too much about it.

A few hours after check-in, Appollo demanded a pic of my govt issued ID to be sent to his mobile, which I found odd.. as none previous AirBnb hosts requested such things, none even required to see it tbh since we are very good in the initial conversations with hosts, prior to booking, introducing who we are and where we coming from (additionally I experienced identity theft in the past so I wasnt feeling as comfortable - I would be ok showing the ID in person but he demanded sending it to his phone). My girlfriend and I hestitated for a couple hours and Apollo texted saying if I didnt send the ID within an hour then we should leave. We thought about moving but it was below freezing outside in NYC that weekend and we already had dinner plans with friends - so we gave in and sent the ID over.

At night, we went back and the loud noise was still there! After a few minutes, we discovered that it actually came from the big waterpipes running up/down the building, one pipe outside the bedroom and one in bathroom (possibly radiators or carrying sewage water). The noise was extremely loud and consistent, so needless to say - it destroyed our sleep, despite wearing the ear plugs the host provided (I have never wore earplugs in my life). So I would not recommend this place to any light sleepers out there.

Overall experiences - I think it is fair to say "not great", therefore the 2 stars due to the lack of sleep; but not terrible (1 star) either with aforementioned points. Hope the review help others.