URBAN ISLAND I Riverside Apartments

The waterfront apartment was spacious. There is a good amount of furniture and having the TV on a portable stand was useful. Staff were responsive. It is close to several public transport links with most locations being within 30 minutes and very close to affordable parking. A choice of supermarkets and food places are within a 10-15 minute walk. Many places could be accessed mostly via a cycle/walking path which is right by the canal.

I hadn't expected the apartment to be in a 'gritty' area, which I later discovered is how the area is referred to in a guidebook I had brought. Lots of beautiful street art but also lots of less beautiful graffiti. The apartment we stayed in has 3 air conditioning units but only one of them was particularly effective. Whilst staff were responsive when I asked if the units could be looked at or if fans could be brought to the apartment to help cool it down, the situation did not change. Eventually, we were able to get the temperature in the bedroom down by opening windows at appropriate times (it is too close to the roads to have open during the night) and closing curtains during hotter times of the day. It also took us a while, through trial and error, to understand that the temperature of the hot water in the shower and taps was related to the thermostat in the toilet. It was set at 33 when we arrived. I changed it to 50 which was far too high and then we tried it at 38 which worked well. We weren't able to change the temperature of the water in the usual way in the shower itself. The kitchen was reasonably well equipped although another sharp knife would have been great. The shower room has a lovely double sink, but the glass wall offers less privacy than we wanted when sharing the apartment with our daughter.

River view but there was no balconcy as per posted pictures when booking

Oven in cooker reported broken when arrived,host acknowledged but it was never fixed.

Clean, modern apartment with full equipment, the location is nice and very near the U Bahn station.

It will be better if we can do laundry for free inside the apartment

The property looked new and had all amenities. After you figure out the best route from the tube to the apartment, which can take a bit going to city centre is only a 15min ride

Even though the room had a no-smoking sign, there was still a noticeable smell of smoke. Also, keep in mind that not all apartments offer the attractive river view shown in the advertisement photos.