I reserved this one-bedroom place for 48 nights for my son his summer internship at Stanford. During my research for a one-bedroom apartment close to Stanford, this place got my attention even though it is only a room in a three-bedroom shared apartment which was definitely not an entire apartment with one-bedroom and one-bathroom apartment that I searched for. I have mixed feelings about this stay and here's why:
Pros:
(1) This apartment is about 15-minute walk away from Palo Alto Transit Center where anyone can take the free shuttle to/from Stanford campus. If you prefer to walk to campus, it would take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour one way. The host Kathy has a bike which she lends to her tenants.
(2) My son left his room key inside his room once, Kathy was very quick responding to his call and unlock the door for him.
(3) The neighborhood is safe and quiet even with the street constructions going on all the time.
(4) It's very convenient if you would like to check out downtown Palo Also, it only takes 15 minutes to walk to many good restaurants, coffee houses and even an Apple store.
Cons:
(1) The entire room was very dirty, there were lipstick marks on the coffee mugs which were placed in the cabinet, the bed sheets, pillow cases and comforter had stains all over, there were huge stains on the white bath towels, too. I had to purchase all the linens because the stains never came off even after few washes. Because there was dust everywhere, I had to purchase a bag of wet towelettes (120 count) to wipe all the furniture, drawers, shelves, desk, sink, toilet, bathtub, door knobs and the mini refrigerator, I used up all 120 towelettes just to make the room clean!
(2) The host Kathy made an error in the apartment assignment, when she confirmed my reservation, I was assigned to #C1, but when it got closer to the check-in date, I noticed my assigned room changed from #C1 to #B2. I emailed Kathy and asked her to change it back, she failed to respond to me. I had to get Airbnb support team to get her respond to my question. She also responded to me slowly when I informed her my son will check out two days earlier and requested a partial refund from her. Again I must contact Airbnb to help get her to respond to my request.
(3) The room temperature was always pretty high probably because it's an older structure and the insulation was outdated. Unfortunately we must work with the other tenants to adjust the temperature. It was constantly set at 80 degree during my son's stay, it was quite hot because he was there from mid June to the beginning of August, therefore if warm temperature isn't something you will be comfortable with, this place is not what you want to book!
(4) There is no supply of toiletry items such as toilet tissue paper, soap, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, Kleenex or hair dryer that come with this room. There is no paper towels in the kitchen either. I have booked and stayed in many Airbnb places before and this one is the only one that does not provide any of these necessities, considering I have paid over $100 per night for a room, this rental is absolutely overpriced!
(5) The walls are as thin as paper, if you are a light sleeper, you will definitely have trouble getting a good night sleep here, I could hear every single footstep when the roommates on both sides moved around.
(6) Since there is only street parking available, finding a spot could be a big challenge if you have a car. There was a always some street construction work going on in the neighborhood during the 7-week period of my son's stay, so you may have to walk a lot if the limited street parking in front of the apartment is full.