Richard and Sarah made us feel very welcome with lots of communication, a useful welcome pack, and a bottle of wine on arrival.

The house also had some small notes dotted around various places that helped us understand how to best use things. There were wardrobes and drawers in each bedroom and, although the hosts clearly like their clothes(!), we never felt like there wasn't room for our belongings.

The house is listed perfectly and is very spacious and well designed. The living area is all open-plan and has four distinct and usable spaces: study, dining, kitchen and lounge. There is a charming small front garden under the welcome shade of a big tree, and a nice side outside space big enough to dine in.

The local area is residential and quiet in the evenings. Carlisle street is 5 mins walk away and has a good range of eclectic shops, bars and restaurants. It is mainly good for breakfast/brunch and lunch but also has supermarkets, good bakeries and banks etc. Best of all are the transport links with the Balaclava station very close by (10 mins to the centre of Melbourne) and trams to everywhere you want to go, including the beach only 10 mins away.