Pros: the building/location, quick responses from the host, resolution attempt from the host
Cons: unclear communication with the host, the readiness of the room, overall experience with this booking, navigating the building/parking
Good news first!
Location- This building is in a great spot. Very walkable to many Nashville attractions. The apartment itself is bright and modern and comfortable. The pool is on the smaller side, but nice, and the lobby and common areas are very unique and trendy. It feels like walking into a boutique hotel.
Host communication pros- Katherine was quick to respond upon booking and when I needed to contact her during our stay. She sent lots of information about the unit and about Nashville recommendations right away. We had some issues with the room being ready and Katherine was responsive and ended up refunding a portion of the cost.
Communication cons- While her communication was quick, things didn’t always add up. Some of the info Katherine provided was conflicting- the listing said checkin started at 5, but her welcome message said checkin started at 4. The listing says to contact for a lesser cleaning fee for one-night stays, which she honored. I paid a deposit via AirBnB, then she offered for me to pay the balance via AirBnB invoice, PayPal, or Venmo. I said I’d prefer an Airbnb invoice, but then she later said Venmo was easiest. I nervously paid her via Venmo the morning of our booking and she immediately gave me access via the app to the building locks system. I told her we would be driving into town earlier in the day, so we would love to stop in earlier if the apartment happened to be ready (which was also suggested in her welcome message). She responded saying that the previous renter had checked out but needed to leave their baggage and somehow it was getting moved to another room, so that would be the only thing we were waiting on. Around 4pm, she said the luggage had been moved and the room was ready. She gave me lock access to the apartment. We were nearby, so I stopped by within 15 minutes to get the parking remote. It was clear the room had not been cleaned. I notified Katherine and she got in touch with the cleaning people. She said there was some confusion related to the luggage being moved and told me that all of the cleaning crew were coming to the room so it would be cleaned very quickly. We were traveling with kids who were very tired of being in the car, so we decided just to kill time at the building until the room was ready. We explored the open area in the center of the building. The pool was rowdy and the crowd was mostly partying adults. It wasn’t a problem, but worth noting that it is not the most family-friendly environment for those traveling with kids. We sat in the green space for about an hour waiting for an update on the room. I ended up walking back by just to see if it was ready because we were all getting antsy. It was clear someone had started cleaning- the sheets were pulled, laundry was running, the broom was out, and some trash had been piled up. But no one was in the apartment and it was a far cry from “the whole cleaning crew coming to clean the room quickly.” I checked in with Katherine to see how much longer we should expect to have to wait. At this point it was past the 5:00 checkin time on the Airbnb listing. She repeatedly apologized for “their error” and said the cleaning crew would refund their fee for this. She asked what time we were needing to leave and suggested having the cleaning people come back after we left for the evening. This was extremely sketchy to me. I don’t know the host. I don’t know the cleaning people. I did not want to leave my personal belongings in the room for people to have access to while they know we aren’t going to be there. I insisted I would rather just have the cleaning people finish the room by 6:00 so that I could unload my things before we needed to leave. From the time they said they were all going to clean, this was nearly 2 hours for them to toss the minimal trash, replace sheets and towels, and wipe things down. It should have been 30 min- to an hour max. When I raised concern about leaving my personal belongings all I got back was “I understand.” I ended up getting myself and my kids ready for the event in the main lobby of the building. We stopped back by the apartment at 6:00 to find no sheets on the bed. It was clear they were not done cleaning, so we had to take our belongings back to the car with us. We didn’t leave until 6:30 and we still never saw the “whole crew of cleaning people.” I never received notification that the room was ready, and upon leaving our event after midnight we weren’t even sure what to expect of the status of the room. Thankfully they had come and finished the job while we were out.
Navigation- It is slightly hard to navigate which elevator/floor to access what you need to get to. For example, parking is listed as the “Mezzanine” level, but the “Mezzanine” level is not labeled on the elevator signage in some of the elevators. Is it U1? Is it level 1? After using the elevator about 4 times in our one-night stay, I’m still not certain. Some of the elevators didn’t even seem to go to that level of the parking garage? Getting from the parking garage to the level of the apartment was pretty clear, but getting back to our car was a maze.
Upon checking out, I received a scripted message from Katherine about leaving