Apartment review - East Village

My partner and I have just returned to Australia from three fantastic weeks in New York – trip report to follow. First, though, a review of the studio apartment we stayed in. Long story short, it turned out to be excellent accommodation.

We found the studio at sublet.com, which I now believe is a very good site for sublets. We dealt with several owners on this site, and they all seemed very professional. There is a registration fee of about $100, but when you can get a sublet for $90 a night, this doesn’t seem like such a big deal. The URL for the studio is as follows:

www.sublet.com/spider/SupplyDetails.asp?

SupplyID=571404%26amp;SupplierID=333156%26amp;state=NewYork%26amp;city

=Manhattan%26amp;StateCount=More%26amp;nocache=0%2E1394691

(Tripadvisor made me put breaks into the URL.) If the link doesn%26#39;t work, browse private rentals in the East Village. It%26#39;s listed as a studio on 1st Ave for $2100/month. There are photos posted on the website.

We stayed on East 4th St, between First and Second Avenues. The apartment is adorable, although tiny. It is very suitable for a young couple. A single person might feel a little isolated here, as the building is filled with long-term residents who keep to themselves. There is a set of stairs to walk up, which got a little tiring. The space might be too cluttered for some people; but the clutter is mostly ornamental. It doesn’t really feel like you’re living with someone else’s personal effects. The kitchen and bathroom are fully equipped with anything you could possibly need – basic food products, condiments, crockery, toiletries, first aid kit, linens, and even bath salts for your relaxing soak after a long day’s walking. Oh, and the sublessor left fresh coffee, beer and vodka in the fridge for us.

The street is an incredibly vibrant and interesting place. There’s a Laundromat just downstairs with cheap internet access, a bodega on the corner, and a bakery with amazing red velvet cupcakes. There are also several great restaurants. Across the road from the apartment is a cute little park, where we would sit and rewind after each outing, before going inside to shower and go out into the city again.

The only negative aspect is that the sublessor is a little disorganised. She would often take a week or so to respond to emails; and the arrangements for meeting kept changing. We flew into JFK, thinking we would call her and then meet her at the apartment. When I called her, she told me she was working downtown, and I would have to go pick up the keys from her office. This was a headache we did not need after a 20 hour flight! We were starting to worry about the whole thing being a scam. But it all turned out alright in the end. Finally reaching the apartment, and discovering that it was perfect for us, was a huge relief.

We paid $1890 for three weeks, which we considered a bargain. We probably could have talked her down to $1800, but it came within our budget of $2000, so we weren’t particularly worried. We had to pay half the amount through paypal when we booked the apartment. We paid the other half by money order when we picked up the keys. She also requires a $250 cash deposit for the keys, which she gave back to us in cash when she met us at the apartment on our last day. The sublessor has moved to Rochester with her new husband, and uses the apartment when she is in the city on business if she doesn’t have anybody staying there at the time. The super of the building introduced himself to us, and seemed fine with us staying there for a short term.

The studio, and the neighbourhood, was a fantastic base for our holiday. We really wanted to “live like New Yorkers,” and this gave us a great opportunity to do so. While the sublessor is a little scatterbrained, I believe she is legitimate, and was really quite pleasant to deal with. I hope someone else can make use of this fantastic apartment while staying in New York. We intend to stay there again on our next visit!

Apartment review - East Village

Thanks for taking the time to review the apt. Glad to know it worked for you.

Apartment review - East Village

It is good to hear something postive for a change about an apt. Even with a scatterbrained sublessor. LOL

With all of the apartment scams going on right now it is good to know that there are some that are legit.

Looking forward to your trip report.