I want to paint a fair and accurate description of Earl’s AirBNB. As a superhost myself I would hope for nothing less. If we don’t share fully and fairly the review system of AirBNB is a mockery.
When you walk in the building the lobby/mailbox area was strewn with trash.
When you walk into the apartment there is a long hallway - 12-15’ long. I learned later it had a motion sensor light (about 50%) of the time. But the first time I walked the entire length looking for a switch…. No switch… no light. I pulled out my cell for the flashlight…. Then my daughter walks through and I guess the motion sensor works when the hall is illuminated????!!!!
Large. What is the definition of large. Now I understand that large is relative. I also understand the NYC Real Estate Market because I worked in it from 1984-2016. A large bedroom is not just 22” wider than a full size bed. Also the tiny living room had a bike hanging on the wall - dangerous.
I didn’t feel comfortable taking a shower… there was yellowish grey discoloration and I wasn’t going to risk athlete’s foot. There was cracked tile and a hole the size of an orange (blocked unsuccessfully by a drain hair catcher) in the wall??? There were hairs on the sink… There were no plastic toggles on a number of the light switches - just the metal part…
We arrived into the city later than we had wanted and decided to just deal with it… but then at midnight the smoke detector started to emit chirps every 45 seconds waking us from our sleep. We found a step ladder - and I was able to stretch and reach the smoke detector (high ceiling) - and pulled out the 9 volt battery… (in doing so I pulled a muscle in my leg). No 9-volts were to be found so we had to figure out what to do at that late hour with nowhere else to stay… and going out into the streets of NY at that hour with my 12 year old didn’t sound like a viable option. I reached out to AirBNB and the host. Airbnb didn’t respond with alternatives until almost 2 am and the host was snippy and wrote “what is going there I’m not gonna lie I’m getting slightly worried about your behavior ., why is the smoke alarm going off ??” - My response to the host was - "We were both fast asleep. And it wasn’t going off for smoke it was going off for low batteries."
As a superhost myself I have a few suggestions
-If you are going to be out of the country - enlist a co-host. When I was at your AirBNB my co-host was there to handle any issues that might have come up.
-Use your dry erase board to leave a welcome letter including the information that guests need so it is handy to them (like WiFi info that didn't come through).
-Use the cleaning fee to find someone to actually clean the apartment.
I would suggest you don’t leave food as you did in the fridge and freezer.
We returned the key Monday morning. And found other accommodations for our second night.
In our communications Earl wrote “Listen I hope the apartment is up to your Stanterd but if it’s not i totally understand“. I seriously question if this listing would meet AirBnb’s standards.
I await a full refund.