Bird of Paradise Palm Watering Debacle

Hello! I'm a new Plant Dad. I've never owned a plant, but I just moved into a condo that gets a lot of light through a floor to ceiling window, and thought it would be the perfect place to put one.

I went into a shop in Toronto that had a nice variety, and ended up settling on a Bird of Paradise Palm. I bought the plant itself, which came in a plastic planter, and then a glass pot in addition to that. I'm not sure how old it is, but it's got 9 fronds in total, the tallest of which reaches up to about 6 feet of height. It's big and beautiful! And I have named it Keanu Leaves.

However, since I got home and started following the instructions given to me in the shop, things have been going kind of sideways...

The lady in the shop instructed me to water it once every 7-10 days, by filling the pot to about 1/4 and then plopping the planter back in there. I asked "really? It's okay to just leave it swimming in water at all times?" And the lady said "Yep, let it all absorb through the bottom. It won't take more than it needs at any given time."

So after the first 10 days, when the water was mostly gone, I refilled it as instructed. Took the planter out, filled the pot to 1/4, and put the planter back in. Keanu has been browning at the edges a bit, and curling and splitting a bit more than it appeared to when I saw it in the shop. But from what I've read that's somewhat normal, and likely due to the shock of the move.

However, now I'm about two weeks into my ownership. And I just checked to see how much water was left in the pot. There was quite a bit, which seemed odd, and it was very dark. And it smelled awful. I read into this, seems it's a result of overwatering. I read more about watering Birds of Paradise, and it seems you're not meant to leave any "standing water"? People seem to say to water the soil, not water it through the bottom, and to only give it enough to moisten it.

This all directly contradicts what the lady in the shop told me to do. But I'm lost because I'm sure she knows what she's doing. She kept the plant healthy up until this point, after all?

For the time being, I've removed the plant from the pot, dumped all the stinky water, and put the plant back in there with no water inside. I figure if it was overwatered, perhaps it could do with a few days to dry out a bit before I add more.

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Sorry for the lengthy story, just full-on new to this and worried about my new plant. Want to make sure I do this right! Any advice would be so appreciated.