Carrie is a lovely person. She's very helpful and accommodating, but her listing fell far short of our expectations. These expectations were based on the description of the property, as well as my own romanticized notions of staying in my childhood neighborhood.
Those notions came crashing into the reality of a dilapidated bathroom that was too small by half, with a floor that sloped at a 10-15 degree angle and shabby plumbing that left you standing in 3 to 6 inches of water after every shower.
There was also the lack of an air conditioner in the second room, which was missing because installing one would pose a security risk - what with the bedroom window leading to a fire escape. Carrie offered to install the A/C unit after 9:30 pm, when she got off work but also when we, being the exhausted travelers we were, planned to be asleep.
This leads me to the biggest discrepancy between the listing's description and reality; flexible check in times. I had mentioned early on to Carrie that we would be arriving on Saturday morning, but I imagine that I never made it clear that we would need the place early. Nonetheless, my repeated attempts to nail down an arrival procedure from her went unanswered until 2 days before our landing at JFK airport. I tried to be understanding and work around her need for time to prepare the apartment, but ultimately I couldn't bear to watch my family struggle to stay awake while sitting on park benches across the street.
One last complaint is the utter lack of privacy the flimsy window coverings offered. No shades or blinds were installed anywhere in the apartment, and only wispy veils covered the bedroom windows.
To Carrie's credit, she did allow us to stow our luggage in the living room (1 1/2 hours after our arrival) and, after some pleading, she let us rest in said living room while she finished her cleaning. She also helped my son and I by carrying a suitcase upstairs for us.
As I said, Carrie is a very kind and helpful person. I only wish that her listing was more accurate. This property can in no way accommodate more than 2 to 3 people, and is almost unbearably hot, with a rear window that faces onto a steaming pile of trash, and an ancient and poorly maintained bathroom.
Had I been aware of these features, I would have overcome my nostalgia and realized that this was no place to bring a family for a vacation.
Air BnB did what they could to make things right, but a more transparent and honest accounting of the property's shortcomings would have saved everyone a lot of time, money and agitation.