My boyfriend and I visited NYC for a week vacation after moving to Canada last year and Ran's place was right in our old neighborhood so was just what we needed for home base. Safe, cute restaurants and shops, and easy commute by bus or metro to Manhattan, other areas of BK, etc. Ran was out of the country during our stay at her place but she still remained communicative so we could coordinate key pick up and drop off or deal with any issues that arose like spotty internet or missing remote (needed to fast forward/rewind DVDs), etc. Everything went well, so don't look at the 3 as not up to par. I just have different standards for my stays. I would provide a 5 if not for a few small things like not having full access to the apartment (bedroom was locked so we were in the living room surrounded by luggage on a futon), spotty internet, bathroom/living area not as new/nice as would have liked, etc. But hey it's NYC and overall, Ran was a good host.