Vivian is a smiley, charming person and was very kind to take care of my suitcase until the check-out time of 5pm. Her house was clean with easy access to the city centre and the breakfast was good. However, I had real difficulty getting any peace and quiet. It turned out that her office was in the room adjacent to mine and was separated only by a panel. So for the first three days I had to endure non-stop high-volume telephone conversations that started early and ended late. When I expressed my discomfort, Vivian said that the calls would finish the next day and that my visit had unfortunately coincided with a busy time. Nevertheless the next day the situation was the same.

I mentioned to Vivian my disappointment about this as the feedback about her place was generally very good. I politely asked if she could speak in another room, but she said she couldn't because that was her office. Later on (and in the middle of the night) I heard her husband yelling, mentioning me, and of her attempts to stop him. That freaked me out. I think that was his way of bullying. For a female traveller I should mention that it was very frightening. So I got the picture and understood that it wasn't a good idea about expressing my concerns (afterwards, her husband kept looking at me with sulky expressions). Thankfully, for the last two days of my stay the telephone conversations occurred less frequently.

The other issue was that of heating. I could not alter it in my room and it was barely on - and if it was on, at quite a low setting. During the night the heating was totally off. I became cold and asked Vivian on the third day if she could switch it on? She replied that if she did, her husband would get too hot! Then I suggested if she could switch it on in my room only? In reply she turned on the stove and advised me to warm up my hands on that!! I couldn't believe my ears. Then, however, she added that she would switch on the heating for some time and turn it off later. Unfortunately by that time I had to take paracetamol to avoid catching a cold. For the last two days I stopped having showers and relied on paracetamols alone. And that was my Amsterdam trip.