Lynn's apartment has the potential to be an excellent place with some cleaning and maintenance, but we wouldn't come back. Cleanliness issues were significant enough to affect our 2-mo stay in a meaningful way, and the listing misrepresented the apartment to a certain degree (see below). On the flip side, the communication with the host was excellent, and the proximity to downtown - very valuable.
Location
The location in Travis Heights is fantastic featuring a 8-10 minute drive, or a 15-20 minute bike ride to everything Austin center has to offer. The downside is that the apartment is next to a busy six lange highway. If you plan on "enjoying your morning" coffee on the back deck as the listing suggests, please know you will be doing so to the sights and sounds of a busy highway.
Complex
A gated apartment complex with two well-maintained pools and and plenty of areas for walking dogs. Overall, a very pleasant place to be minus the constant buzz of the highway mentioned above. The entry gate stayed open due to the gate's malfunction at least 70% of the time, but the surrounding area is nice and feels safe. Ah, the neighbors upstairs are fantastic - they have done a great job improving the landscaping directly in front of the apartment.
Apatment
A roomy 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with a private rear deck on the first floor with nice concrete floors. Fair amount of light, and the heat/AC worked flawlessly. Stocked with everything needed for a longer-term stay but not quality items. Heavily used pans and pots, low quality, dull knives, mismatching silvervare, etc.
Host communication
Great, no issues at all. Had the kitchen sink clog up twice and had the problem solved within the same day. Electricity went out for a few appliances along the same wall due to a storm and again - we got help quickly and had the problem solved. We were also offered the cleaning fee refund for the cleanliness issues.
Cleanliness
Significant cleanliness issues at the time of our arrival, and overall doesn't appear to have been maintained at a high level. Examples of such issues include:
- Trash was not taken out prior to our arrival; the trash bin itself had a caked layer of brown sludge at the bottom
- Dirty patio furniture appears to have not been cleaned in a long time
- Used dish sponge was provided
- Dirty cups and dirty and/or cracked plates
- Knives with pieces of food on them (almost all of them!)
- Dirty surfaces and shelves
- Dirty cutting boards
- Disgusting mattress with stains covering up to half of the mattress area
- Facial hair shavings in the bathrooms
- Toilets were between "somewhat clean" and "unpleasant"
You get the idea - cleanliness was a big issue for us and we spent the first view days cleaning the apartment to meet our cleanliness standards (which, mind you, are average and reasonable).
Misrepresentation of the listing
We wanted to dedicate a full section to this because it is important. The listing made a number of statements which were at best misleading, but often untrue. I am copying sections from the listing, and adding comments:
"...sharp knives, nice cutting boards, and quality pots and pans for the win!)" - misleading. There was one single knife in the entire apartment capable of cutting through a tomato. The rest were dull and a pain to use. The cutting boards are NOT nice -low quality plastic boards found in a convenience store. The host has a funny definition of "quality".
"The living room couch is unbelievably comfortable" - not true. The couch shown in the pictures wasn't there. In its place - an uncomfortable, small futon-style item. The listing made it least two references to how comfortable the couch. No communication regarding the replacement couch prior to the arrival either.
"There is a bluetooth Boom speaker for listening to music." - not true. No speaker in the apartment.
"The two bedrooms have a king size bed with a memory foam mattress, 4 pillows, and possibly the most comfortable sheets you've ever felt." - not true and misleading. There is one king-size bed, and one queen-size mattress. The sheets are synthetic, mediocre linens.
"This quiet condo,..." - not true. This is just false. It is a noisy condo in a very noisy apartment complex due to the busy highway. The apartment isn't very new, and it is not at all insulated well from the noise. The listing makes no mention that you will be living very close to the highway.
Conclusion
First, it is critical that the host addresses the cleanliness issues - a cleaning effort is needed. Second, the apartment requires maintenance - before renting again I would recommend ensuring all lights work, toilet seat is replaced, mattress is cleaned or replaced, screws holding the temperature controls in the shower are tight, silvervare replaced with new, matching sets, etc. Finally, the listing needs to be updated (photos and description). The host should be transparent about the noise. I would imagine for some people the noise issue would be a real issue althogh we got used to it and could fall asleep fine.