Well, we found this a very difficult review to write. In some respects it’s a 5 out of 5. In others it’s much lower. Rating it fairly and balanced for the guidance of both the owner and prospective guests is tricky, but in the end we decided on a high rating simply because Lizzy (for the most part) was very responsive. Having said that we would not choose to stay here again (but only because of the absence of items we want).
The apartment is in a fantastic location, and has terrific concierge team. It’s beautiful. It’s scrupulously clean. Thoughtfully provided are all the little things that help make your stay enjoyable - nibbles, kitchen basics, sweets, flowers, soaps, shampoo’s, conditioner, flyspray, even complementary wine and an esky with cooler bricks - the list goes on and on. The owner has done this really well and better than we have elsewhere seen. If you just plan a stay of a few nights and don’t have any need for laundry access, and don’t plan to eat in, then this apartment will be great.
Our issues surrounded what we reasonably expected, but was not provided. Don’t get us wrong, there was no misrepresentation. The apartment description didn’t list inclusions that were not provided. It was just that we had expectations (and we think very reasonable ones) of what we would find in an apartment. At it’s most basic we expected bed, fridge, oven, cooktop, dishwasher, clothes washer and dryer. We got the bed, the fridge, the oven, the cooktop, but there was no clothes washer, no clothes dryer, and the dishwasher existed but was marked “out of service”.
A little prior to arrival we learnt that just one key would be provided. Maybe thats ok for holiday makers who are doing things together but we needed to be able to come and go seperately. It took quite some persuading before Lizzy agreed to provide two keys, and that was only because we said we’d provide a $100 key deposit. We saw this as wrong if you are renting an apartment for two people - two keys ought to be standard.
We booked for 10 days and were pretty shocked when we learnt that no mid-term cleaning and linen service would be provided included in the price. We don’t wish to use the same towels and lbed linen for 10 days and so had to pay extra for this service. We saw this as unreasonable since we know the owner would provide cleaning and linen if the apartment was leased (say) twice for 5 days (each) over the same 10-day period. Our recommendation for future guests is if you need a 10-day stay book two consecutive 5-day bookings and you’ll get the mid-term clean up.