Location, location, location! One floor up, overlooking the Empress Canal. Neighborhood life is easy to watch, seeing parents take kids to school on bikes, seeing dogs walked while only hearing barking for a few moments morning and night, watching groceries brought home in carrier bags, all wonderful. The apartment is easy to access, just 2 blocks to a local grocery, within easy walking distance to all the tourist sights.
Front sitting room is airy and bright. Furniture is fine. Attached bedroom is comfortable, although I'm not a fan of twin beds pushed together to make a queen. Outside the door to your main living area is a narrow hall, shared with the owner heading upstairs to his apartment, leading to your kitchen/bathroom. Both are functional, but wouldn't suit for long stays. We never ran into Joop in the hallway during our 3 day stay.
Joop is welcoming, leaving a bottle of wine, a package of stoopwaffels, milk, tea, and coffee. He allowed us to leave luggage wile awaiting room cleaning. He even offered a shower if we wished.
Improving a few details would make this a 5 star experience. There is a single, skimpy towel for bathing and a face-mitt per person. Hand towels would help, even if small. Hooks and hanging racks for drying towels and/or clothing items guests wash out would greatly improve the bathroom as guests wouldn't feel everything was wet all the time. A more extensive write-up for guests would also help, pointing out the grocery and recommending restaurants. We are intrepid explorers, and didn't mind trying out Joop's directions,even though we had to backtrack a couple of times. We enjoyed Restaurant 't Zwaantje on Berenstraat a bit more than a block away.
Positive details-- lots of hangers in the armoir, the Nespresso machine, plenty of lamps. Joop's trusted driver is highly recommended. It would be very difficult to walk the brick sidewalks from the trolley, unless you have only a bare minimum of luggage. The problem is the unlevel sidewalks combined with trash that residents have left out for pickups, narrowing the walkway yet further. Maybe if you have limited luggage and haven't just come off an overnight flight, you could manage.
Overall we'd stay with Joop again and we give this rental experience 4.5 stars. P