This was an okay stay. We didn't feel the issues with this house were properly addressed in the listing. No house is perfect, but mitigating the obvious issues goes a long way in turning an "okay" stay into a 5-star experience.
Positives: The communication was great and check in was easy. The location is fantastic (in a suburb sense), though see below re: street noise. Bathroom, kitchen and living space all have a good size.
Negatives:
1. STAIRS - The warning in the ad does not fully convey the issue with the stairs. We are not "elderly" or with "mobility issues", but three people within our group struggled. The stairs are not extraordinary for Sydney - they are your usual, steep stairs you find in older style houses in Darlinghurst/Paddington/Surry Hills etc. However this style is not something that all guests from over the world would be use to and the ad should include a photo of the stairs so people can decide for themselves if they are navigable. I would also suggest the ad note that they may be difficult for people to use at night to go from the bedrooms (all upstairs) to use the bathroom (downstairs) if they are not use to steep stairs.
2. BEDS - My parents-in-law slept on the sofa beds downstairs so they could avoid the stairs. These beds are not comfortable and if there is no intention to properly list the issue with the stairs, greater comfort here would have made the stay better value. On this note, the quality of the beds overall could use a boost.
3. NOISE - The ad says the master bedroom is "peaceful" - it is not. It faces Elizabeth St which is a thoroughfare used by plenty of traffic and trucks. Again, nothing shocking for Sydney, but removing the "peaceful" reference from the listing would be advisable. If you wanted to score points in this regard, perhaps offering complimentary earplugs for guests in the master bedroom would be better. (It is only the road noise that is an issue, the neighbourhood itself seemed very quiet - so, again, an easy fix.)
4. COFFEE - Complimentary tea and instant coffee - very low quality, which is absolutely fine, but doesn't make this a 5-star stay. A couple remedies - A) better coffee and coffee machine; or B) a booklet near the tea/coffee which says "Looking for a great coffee? Here's the three closest, best cafes in the area".
5. STRAIGHTFORWARDNESS - I received a message from the host soon after check out suggesting "the neighbours" had seen more than 4 guests at the property and asking me to confirm the number. There were 4 guests so "the neighbours" couldn't have seen anything and my guess is the cleaners saw that the downstairs sofa beds had been used (see stairs issue, above). Asking to confirm the number is a fair question to ask if you have additional person fees, but the suggestion that "the neighbours" saw something came across as duplicitous, which given our other problems with the listing, made this a pretty average experience overall.