Just for context, we had a group of adults coming and going on slightly different days so we had 2 of us the first night but 5 for a couple nights. We spent 5 nights there in total.
TL;DR Clean and attractive space and friendly responsive host. Great location, though 10+ min to subway. Best for 2-3 adults or 2 couples/pairs or a family of up to 5.
HOST: Kate is an excellent host, very responsive both before and during our stay. We asked to see extra pictures since it’s hard to tell how big or small the living area is and she sent those no problem. And her feline co-host Princess is awesome, very mellow and independent but also loves getting her head and face scratched and she wanted to sleep on one of us every night.
LOCATION: The location is great for seeing Broadway shows, especially those more uptown, definitely walkable even for folks like us who don’t live places where we do so much walking. (Bring 2 pairs of comfortable shoes though!) We felt totally safe the whole time, any time of day, both in the building and walking in the area. The entrance is between 2 streets, so you can arrange rides to pickup/dropoff on either street. The only downside is the nearest subway station is a 10-12 min walk away, so it’s good for going way downtown (or uptown) but we chose to do Uber/Lyft the couple times we went places that were more than a 15- or 20-min walk away or if we were in a hurry. There's an Amazon locker hub right around the corner, or you can have packages delivered right to the apartment door.
SPACE: The apartment is very clean and decorated very attractively. There were enough towels, and Kate even offered for us to use the shower products in the bathroom and food/drinks that were in the kitchen. (We did buy more toilet paper when the 2 rolls provided was running out, as we didn’t want to bug our host for something so minor.) Both beds are comfortable and a decent size. The sofabed does take up a large portion of the living room, and if you also need the air mattress that Kate graciously provided, you basically don’t have any room left for moving around or just hanging out, so it’s best if you’re ok with converting the sofabed back into a couch each day if you want to spend time in the apartment other than sleeping. The balcony has a great night view (good during the day but there is a roof in the near view), but we didn’t get to spend time out there. Princess loves it though! There isn’t counter space in the bathroom for storing much (especially for 4-5 people) but plenty of space for products in the tub, and it was all clean and worked fine. The attractive covered litter box is in there and we didn’t even smell it until the 5th day.
ACCESS: Having only 2 sets of keys for 4-5 adults was challenging if we split into more than 2 groups for the day (which was the case most days). We also had quite a bit of trouble with the door lock especially for 1 of the 2 keys, our best advice is when you leave make sure with the door open that the key/lock works properly, then *don’t move the doorknob* after you lock the door to test it. That’s what seems to mess it up. There was also a problem with one of the 2 elevators, which of course our host can’t control. It worked fine on other floors, but almost every time we left that was the elevator that we got and we had to instead take the stairs down or at least go down 1 floor to take the elevator from there. The other residents didn’t seem to know what to do either, but on our final day one resident told us you have to push the door all the way closed manually. Not sure if it’s a long-term problem or will be fixed, so be aware.