This is NOT a safe location.
Pros: clean, decent linens, easy check in, air conditioning
Cons: Locals all refer to this as the hood, as it's in a very poor area right next to rehabilitation and homeless services. The house itself had issues, with water shutting off often due to poor water pressure. The hosts are impersonal, with automated responses and hired cleaning staff. It's obvious this is a business taking advantage of cheap property.
Do not book if you're a single woman. I was born in Chicago and lived in Detroit. I've traveled by myself for over 10 years, hitch hiked in foreign countries, walked at night by myself in sketchy places. Even I felt threatened here. I tried to catch the bus and was straight up harassed by multiple men in broad daylight, who blocked my path and followed me when I pushed past, yelling aggressively and throwing out lewd comments. I tried to go to the grocery store and encountered the same thing, so I ended up walking the 8 blocks to Aldi. On the way back, 2 men in a car started stalking me, hollering at me out the window and pulling into streets as I crossed. They almost hit me trying to get a reaction out of me.
I walked another 10 blocks to do my laundry at a laundromat, again being harassed and offered/asked for drugs the whole way.
I ended up taking Ubers everywhere I went, and even then didn't feel safe between exiting the vehicle and getting in the front door. One night there was a man who quietly followed me up to the porch and turned around once he saw me get the door open quickly.
The Uber drivers all said the same thing: This is a dangerous area. Don't go outside at night.
The location is in a bit of an urban desert, with very few places to eat nearby. It's not at all a convenient location, unless you have a car... which, several people cautioned me, is likely to get stolen in that particular area.
The water was off when I arrived. On my third day, it shut off while I was taking a shower, and I had to stand there for nearly 10 minutes waiting for it to come back on so I could wash off the soap. I was late for work as a result.
I messaged Amy and Josh (I don't even know if they're real at this point) to tell them about the water shutting off. They said it was a "rare occurrence" from the laundry running at the same time that "everybody is trying to shower." Well, either the invisible people downstairs that never turn lights on are taking 5 showers a day, or that was a lie. I suspect it had something to do with the different people I saw coming in and out of the basement each day, carrying blue bags full of linens that looked exactly like the ones in my room.
On the positive side, the room was clean, the linens were decent, and my room had air conditioning. It seemed relatively pest free. The unit was beautiful inside and probably once served as a lovely family home in the earlier part of the last century. There was a coffee maker with filters and a big tub of Kirkland brand coffee.
This isn't what Airbnb is about. I joined Airbnb years ago and operated as a host for a long time. It's not meant to be a business. It started as a way for travellers to connect with hosts and get all the cultural experiences that a hotel couldn't offer.
This was just a cheap hotel in the hood.
Posting this is hard for me. I don't like writing bad reviews, but I don't feel good about having contributed to a place like this that's ruining Airbnb and impacting rental prices in poor neighborhoods.