I usually giggle at the long, disgruntled, guest reviews on Airbnb... And now I'm posting one...
We stayed in Neh's place for a family weekend (my sister, my 70yr old mom and her partner). The location is fantastic--close to lots of great stuff and lots of life on the street. And the actual space is huge and beautiful with lots of potential. Unfortunately it was. Extremely disappointing...
The entire apartment seemed like it had never been cleaned. On the day if check-in (weeks after booking) it was finally disclosed to me that this is typically not a home but an office/work space. Neh called me and asked me that we tell anyone that asks that we are "with the company" and not mention Airbnb. Which isn't the strangest thing but it really made my elderly mother uncomfortable; like we were doing something illegal...
As the space is not used as a home, it was in the condition of a space that isn't loved by anyone. Nothing was really clean except the brand new towels and sheets. We didn't have enough towels (the left us 2 sets and we booked for 4 people) and only fitted sheets were on the bed so we had to use the comforter directly... Which isn't the cleanest situation...no one washes comforters after every use...
Some of the windows had curtains but many did not, so privacy was a bit of a concern. The curtains that were there were filthy and the actual window sills were also filthy and rotting away from years of leaks. Any repairs done to them were quick and incomplete. Some of the windows didn't open and others didn't close; none of them had screens so the ones that were open when we got there stayed open and invited any bugs or critters that could scale the wall it fly in.
The bathroom was very dirty. Empty bottles of Drano and soap pumps and a toilet brush, someone else's toiletries. Used toothpaste tube, and an empty flower pot were all strewn across the large window sill and made me feel like I was in a public bathroom. The shower was dirty and there was what looked like a rabbit poop (so probably rat poop) on the shower floor. The window curtain used to be white but is now grey, and the shower curtain was clean but other people's loofas were left in there.
The description didn't mention anything about being on top of the bar, which is a huge oversight (probably intentional) because the music is pumping there until 4am. In fact, Neh asked us to make sure we keep the noise down after 9:30... Which is ridiculous--the bar was much louder than any noise we could make. The main bedroom is directly above that bar and it was impossible to sleep. The bedroom with bunk beds on the upper floor was better for the noise but I can't ask my 70yr old mom and her heavier-set partner to use the bunk beds.
On the first night, when we got in from our day in the city just before midnight, we had no hot water. They refused to do anything about it the same night, stating they wouldn't be able to find someone to come in at that time, and said they will send someone over the next day. I'm a landlord in Montreal.. I know I can get someone to come in any day at any time if I need to so I thought this was a really poor response and terrible customer service.
Neh told us someone would be in he next day, and when I mentioned that we planned to get an early start to the day, so we need showers early, she suggested we don't have to wait because they have a key to get in... But that wasn't our concern; we needed showers. We spent a hot day in a dirty city and skipping that shower would mean 48 hours if city grime... So we took cold showers... Including my tiny 70yr old mother...
They found out the next day that the hot water tank is shared with the bar downstairs so when they do their dishes (basically all night long) it empties the rank and never really has time to fill and warm up until the next morning. This is pretty unacceptable. Hot showers are the bare minimum when you're hosting guests... This makes me think we were their fita guests and their guinea pigs....
Overall I was very disappointed. I would never use this Airbnb again, stay at any of the hosts properties in the future, or recommend them to anyone. I think that a different crowd (maybe younger, maybe 30 is too old to tolerate these conditions) would be fine here, but it really needs to be advertised with more honesty, disclosing that it isn't a home and it is over a loud bar.
The positives: huge space, great location close to lots of life and public transportation, amazing vegan resto close by, free street parking (and safe--didnt even think of my car during those 3 days and 2 nights).