We stayed here for three nights in August of 2018. Prior to visiting, Le quickly answered all of our questions and helped us adjust our reservation after Frontier Airlines dramatically changed our itinerary. It is worth noting that Le is not actually the owner of the property, but a hired property manager with ASI. As of 8/1/18, this fact is not disclosed anywhere in the listing or Le's profile. The ASI office is on the second floor of the house directly next to the apartment (it is to the right when facing west on the side street). The house is tan and guests can walk through the gate to discuss questions or concerns when they need immediate attention.
The apartment is centrally located in the Capital Hill neighborhood and there are many great bars, restaurants, and shops within a one mile radius. Despite being near so much, it is located on a residential street and usually rather quiet. The room was clean, furnished with new appliances, and has a nice balcony, though we did find the apartment to be smaller than expected.
Regrettably there were several inconveniences worth noting. While the listing suggests the apartment has AC, there is only a single upright window unit in the bedroom. Despite Le suggesting it is powerful enough to cool the entire apartment, we found it loud and ineffective. Though the bedroom did get cool, when the temperature reached 80, the main room remained the (no fans are provided). Additionally, several days before checking in, Le requested we pay $10/day to park in the driveway. While this is clearly mentioned in the current listing, it was not stated when we booked in February of 2018. Though $30 is not a great deal of money, we found this charge unfair since it was not mentioned when we booked.
Moreover, multiple times during our stay, the entire apartment did not have hot water. Supposedly the power breaker for the water heater kept tripping. Though Le responded reasonably quickly the first time it happened, it took her over an hour to respond my texts the second time. Though the owner did eventually fix the hot water problem (he lives nearby but pays ASI to manage the property) and a small refund was given after we requested it, having to take cold showers due to unreliable hot water left us disappointed with our visit. Finally, we found this apartment overly sterile. Having used Airbnb across the globe, it was clear this space is not an active residence but a corporate rental lacking the personal touches of real living. While some may be fine with this, renting homogenous corporate spaces is not why we use Airbnb.
While we did enjoy our time in Capital Hill we feel this apartment is overpriced at $188/night ($566 for three nights after all taxes and fees). If potential guests are still interested, they must inquire about the problems we discussed prior to booking.