Kris made us feel very welcome-he wrote a welcome card for us, left us veggies and hummus in the fridge, and provided an info booklet about the surrounding area. Although he wasn't able to meet us upon our arrival, he was very attentive to emailing us with key info and how to enter apt. We were very happy with the apt. upon our arrival. Plenty of space for a family of 5 to spread out! I loved the outdoor porch that I sat out on and had my coffee and read my book in the early morning.
The neighborhood was a bit of a mixed culture. A beautiful modern apt. building across the street, but also a park across the street that provided benches for people to sleep at night.......The easy access to the subway (1 block away) was key-we took the subway into Toronto, which is the only way to go. Parking the car in the city would have been a pain and so it was great to have such accessibility to the train. An easy walk to shops/restaurants/ etc.
There happened to be a renovation of a nearby building going on which was quite loud in the early morning hours-thankfully not on the weekend!
We did have an issue with parking one night. The space that was provided for us was taken and so we had to drive around and find an all night parking lot to park in. Fortunately, it was only $6 but my husband had to get up and move it before 7am the next morning and then find another spot to park in until the car moved. The other guests of Kris' had had a party the evening before and apparently had no issue having their guests take our parking spot.
Even though wi-fi is available, our kids (17, 15, and 13) were disappointed to hear that they couldn't stream movies or tv shows on their computers per Kris's request. They survived.
Overall, our first airbnb experience was an excellent one, and Kris was a great host.