The bad:
Wi-Fi is shared between everyone in the building. This worked out okay for me, but I think it should have been explicitly stated. It is very misleading to say that there is WiFi and not say that it's public. I decided to use my phone's hotspot for banking and things like that, but it still concerned me a bit to not have privacy for everything else. I imagine for many people, this would not be acceptable for working remotely. I was lucky in that it was okay.
Kitchen items were a really random assortment. I get the feeling they're just things that people who have stayed here have bought over time. No big knife, no cutting board. Fortunately, I was able to borrow some from a friend.
You can't control the heat in your room, and the only way to adjust it is to get a maintenance guy to come in and make a guess with adjusting the heater with a wrench. So, practically, I kept the window open throughout most of March.
Adding pigeon spikes to the top of the window ACs would be an enormous quality of life improvement. I was literally woken up to pigeons divebombing my AC like 10 ton kamikaze fighter jets almost every day. And then they'd sit there yelling endlessly. So it would be good to add them to the cubbies outside the bathroom window too.
The natural light is virtually nonexistent, at least on the side of the building I was on. Even at 2pm with the window open, I needed my room lights on, and I think it really affected my mental health, being that I was working remotely. My morning walk was essential for sanity.
The beds are very uncomfortable. And I'm not some princess and the pea person.
The good:
Check-in was very easy. Communication was good. The apartment was clean - a lot of others reported issues with this, but I had no complaints.
The host is a company, so you don't have to deal with crazy landlords or anything. It's all very reasonable and ordered.
When I had a leaking problem on the first night, they couldn't get maintenance people there because it was the weekend, and so they offered to switch me to a different room instantly. One of the advantages of being in a multi-apartment listing. It ended up subsiding and I preferred my current room, though, so I ended up sticking to the one I had.
At least compared to other AirBnBs, it's a great deal for the location. I'm not sure how it compares to ordinary apartments,
but I was very happy! NYC, Manhattan, in particular, is an expensive place, and you can experience it at a pretty
reasonable price here.
When booking, I asked if I could have a higher floor, and they obliged, which was nice. I knew it wasn't guaranteed to get any preferences, as they stated, but it's appreciated that they try!
The location is obviously awesome. Two full groceries just 2-3 blocks away. Fruit stand around the corner.
Super close to Koreatown and reasonable (~45 min) walking distance to most places in Manhattan south of Central Park.
"Curry Hill" (a Little India / South Asia area) is literally right around the corner on Lexington. Some great groceries
around there.
And check out Kip's Bay Deli nearby for a great bodega, and get a chopped cheese with lettuce, tomato, grilled onion, ketchup and mayo (and jalapenos if you're feeling nontraditional) for a great New York experience.
2nd Avenue Deli is also very close by for that Jewish Deli experience.
The apartment is definitely tiny, but it is genuinely functional, and I found its size to be much less of an issue
than I anticipated. So if you're worried about it and have never experienced something like it, I say go for it!