I am giving my stay with Mike 3.5 stars - 2.5 for the place itself mainly due to cleanliness and wear and tear, but 1 star for Mike's help with the situation. I am rounding up to 4 stars for the overall review since there are no half stars.
I'll start by saying that I was excited to find Mike's place available for our trip to visit relatives and have an early Thanksgiving celebration -- I had never booked with AirBNB plus, the pictures looked gorgeous, and the reviews were stellar. Once I booked, I messaged Mike asking if he had any kids items such as a high chair or crib, to which I got no response. a few days later once our reservation date was near, I got a few messages but all automated. I was a little annoyed that he never responded with my first request but figured he missed it or was busy - no big deal.
However when we entered the apt, I immediately felt like something was off. At first glance, the place looked like the photos on the listing did, but everything looked a little bit run down. The carpet in the living room was curling up at one edge, the tables were dirty, there were crumbs and leaves on the floor, dust on the windowsills and in other areas, and there were stains on the couch as well as many of the comforters in the bedrooms. I started inspecting other areas and found dried up contacts in the bunk room on the floor. At this point I was pretty disgusted. I knew the place had been cleaned because we had asked for early check in, but Mike had said that the cleaners would be coming so we couldn't check in until 4pm which I understood, but it really didn't feel like much cleaning was done at all. As I continued looking around I noticed that the hardware in the bathroom was worn down - the towel rack came undone every time we pulled a towel off as a screw may have been loose, and the toilet paper rack in one of the bathrooms was loose as well so every time we pulled on the TP the whole roll would fall into the trashcan directly beneath it. I am generally a clean person but have realistic expectations. I definitely care more about cleanliness when my 2 toddlers are with me, which in this case they were, so I did not believe the cleanliness standards were up to par.
Mike's place has 179 reviews and almost all of them are 5 stars. I honestly believe that Mike's place was once amazing and that for some reason I had a one-off experience - but I feel that the wear and tear of all the travelers coming in and out non-stop (I mean the calendar for this place is booked quite thoroughly) is showing and the place could use some major deep cleaning or some updates.
Mike communicated to me over airBNB and he offered for us to have the cleaners come again or a small refund. Because I ended up buying clorox wipes from the 7-11 nearby and cleaning the place myself, I appreciated the refund but I still felt uneasy about the living situation overall. It was OK overall, but not great.
With all that being said - there are some pros that I would like to mention:
- Layout - I really liked the layout of the place where there were 2 bedrooms on one side and 2 on the other - gave some privacy for night time sleep.
- Beds - can't speak for others but I felt the bed that my daughter and I slept in was extremely comfortable.
- Heaters in every room - this was a nice addition as everyone could control the temp for their own rooms (also had one in the living room).
Other comments:
- The kitchen is pretty small so if you plan on doing a lot of cooking, this may not be a good place
- The doors are creaky so if you need to sneak in and out of a room because of young children sleeping, take note.
- Overall I would not say the place is toddler friendly - better for older kids and adults.
- Location was good and had some nice spots nearby but we ended up driving everywhere anyway.