Overall, this apartment is gorgeous. The appliances are all updated and stainless steel, the countertops are beautiful in the kitchen and bathroom, the bed was comfortable and the comforter was to die for. There were tons of amazing restaurants and quick bites to eat around every corner (we highly recommend Phebe's (the mozz sticks and marinara were amazing), 99 Cents Fresh Pizza, and the sticky rice and mango from Thai Lemongrass!). The subway is about a 10 minute walk away, which was convenient enough for us.
Some things to be aware of:
When we were arriving, I clicked "check in," assuming it would say the keys are with a neighbor or he would come outside and let us in, as has been my experience with other Airbnbs. Instead, it instructed me to walk two blocks to a restaurant to retrieve the key from a "key cafe." I thought okay, maybe he works there or knows someone there that has the keys. Kind of annoying to walk with our luggage to hunt down the keys, but whatever. Upon arrival, there was a lockbox directly inside the restaurant doorway that required a code to open. After several phone calls, I finally reached the host, who seemed surprised that we had not previously communicated about check in. Maybe my experience was not the norm? Anyways, he asked for my email address to send me a verification code. After 10 minutes and no email, he sent it to my phone via text. When I tried the code in the lock box, it said I needed to download the app. When I downloaded the app, it said I needed to upload a photo ID for myself and anyone traveling with me and take a selfie of myself and anyone else with me in front of the restaurant that housed the keys. It was so over the top and annoying. It took five minutes for each photo to be verified. All said and done, we stood outside the restaurant for about 45 minutes with our luggage just trying to get keys so we could get in the apartment. Incredibly frustrating for our very first experience in NYC. The saving grace was that the apartment was absolutely gorgeous and spotless once we finally got in.
This is a 4th floor walkup and the stairs are STEEP. I assumed it was up some stairs because the listing doesn't advertise otherwise, but I was not quite anticipating how steep these stairs were. We walked 12 miles one of the days and these stairs were still the most exhausting part of the day. I left my sunglasses in the apartment one day and decided to just buy new ones instead of walk back up the stairs. If you have any mobility issues whatsoever, you'll want to stay elsewhere.
The keys are confusing and annoying. You receive a building key and an apartment key (and a couple other regular keys we didn't know what for), but they are nearly indistinguishable and difficult to use. They turn towards the doorframe instead of away from it and they spin freely instead of stopping once the deadbolt is retracted. Still not totally sure how they work. Every time we entered the building was a crapshoot, but we survived.
Overall I'm happy we stayed here for our first time in the city. It was beautiful and luxurious, but we honestly didn't spend that much time in the apartment because there was so much to do and see. I think next time we come we'll opt for something cheaper and less nice and splurge on other things instead. We definitely enjoyed our time overall!