Highlights
-great location—near beach, restaurants, bakeries, shopping, and grocery store
-apartment tidy and clean
-washing machine was great
-beds were comfortable
-no cleaning tasks required—some places charge a cleaning fee and then ask you to clean. I appreciate places that don’t ask me to clean if they also charge a cleaning fee
-host was able to accommodate an early check-in
-response time for communication was quick
Things to Note
-The sheets smelled a little like mildew or like when clothing stays wet too long. They appeared to be clean but this smell definitely bothered me and made me question just how clean the sheets were
-This place is not ADA accessible—Although there is an elevator you have to go up a few steps to get to the elevator and there are also small steps in the apartment (particularly going into the bathroom). This is not a con but something to note if you have mobility issues
-The bathtub has a weird set up. The curtain doesn’t fully cover the bathtub so every time you shower the toilet and the floor get wet. So, definitely don’t put anything on the toilet. The floor is also extremely slippery when wet so folks should be careful when getting in and out of the tub as we almost slipped a few times.
-I do not recommend this place for summer stays if you are hoping to sleep well or late or if you are a light sleeper. There is no air conditioning which is stated in the description and we were ok with when we booked. The lack of an air conditioner would have been fine except that the two nights we were there were extremely and unseasonably hot and there were no fans. We opened the windows throughout the house and that seemed to help but because it was so hot and it took most of the night to cool down, we all had a hard time falling asleep until late at night. Then because the windows were all open we were woken up early every morning with the loud sounds of people dumping their glass recycling in the bins in the patio that is on the ground floor underneath both bedrooms as well as by the sounds of a power saw and drilling (I think a neighbor was working on some kind of construction project early in the morning both days we were there). Even if there is no construction, if you leave the windows open you will get awoken by the sound of people dumping their glass recycling since that is where the recycling for the building seems to be. I’m sure this is not an issue in winter as you would be able to keep the windows closed or if you are a heavy sleeper. For us, we had a hard time falling and staying asleep for the reasons described. This is one of the reasons for the low rating.
-The other reason for the low rating is that when we reached out to the host to inquire about fans, we were told that we should enjoy the weather since it’s normally rainy. I knew that it was unlikely that they would be able to provide fans on short notice if they didn’t already have them and so I wasn’t expecting much but what I didn’t expect was the response that we should enjoy the weather. This response demonstrates a lack of empathy and care. If they had simply apologized and shared they couldn’t provide them at that time but they would look into it in the future, I would have rated this stay higher. Instead, the passive aggressive comment coupled with the fact that sleep was an issue are why the rating is low.
After we left they assured us they would have fans next time so it may be a better experience for future guests but I don’t plan on returning to this Airbnb.