Unfortunately, the beauty of the apartment was shadowed by our arrival experience- upon arrival for our stay the unit had not been cleaned/flipped from the guests who previously stayed. So we walked into a total mess.
Upon booking I was SO excited. The apartment is as beautiful (if not more beautiful) in person than it is in photos. It’s perfect, and anyone would want to stay here!
We were traveling with our child who is barely a year old and this served as a major inconvenience for us, after a very long day. When you arrive from travel, you want to walk in unwind, my first thoughts were “okay we’re doni wash the sheets so I can lay my baby down to rest”.
In advance (upon booking) I requested to be informed if an “early check in” was available and was given an opportunity to arrive 2 hours before the otherwise noted 3pm check in. I would have accepted and planned for anything available to us (which I communicated) but was really pleased that Hannah felt confident it would be ready earlier! Prior guests checking out at 11 A. Traveling from another state takes a huge effort, let alone the time and money it takes to get around with an family and baby. Our entire day before checking in, was geared towards an allowed 1pm arrival.
Hannah is an excellent and clear communicator and I appreciated the speed in which she tried to remedy the situation. She was kind and offered to refund our cleaning fee. She asked if we needed time to adjust and settle. I understand hiccups happen and that there was some miscommunication on the hosts end with her plans to “flip” the apartment for new guest- but I felt that my small request to plan for a potentially more flexible check in with our child, really took the reigns when I was being explained why I would have to leave the apartment again immediately after arrival and wait once more. It was reiterated to me several times that my request was the culprit. I did not like the feeling as a paying guest that this had something to do with me, because it’s “never happened before”. That’s fine.
Alas an hour before a “usual” check in-after 30 min of being there - someone arrived to flip the apartment. During that hour we waited outside so that it may be cleaned. (Im glad it wasn’t raining). I do not operate an Airbnb and do not know what it takes provide a “at home experience” for others but I do know that in the other places I have stayed, finishing touches go very far. It’s obvious that more time was needed to make our stay nice and as others had experienced staying here. And that someone using one hour before didn’t seem to be enough. I felt rushed, and i wasn’t even cleaning. After the rooms were cleaned and we were left alone, we checked out the “amenities” based on the raving reviews I read. Two things stuck out to me. Molded bread in the pantry and loose hair around the sink and all over the bathroom drawers. Some trash from a previous guests from old toothbrushes laying in the top drawer.. There is a cabinet in the bathroom with “restocking” supplies that is clearly to be appointed to the person helping make the apartment be ready for guests. We ended up finding what we need there after some searching.