I stayed 11 days/nights in Alex’s apartment Apé Calypso, nicknamed after the Calypso apartment block, a prominent building near Central Station wherein this apartment is contained. The location was excellent for my purposes of attending the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2019 (IFFR for short). All but one festival venues were within 10 minutes walking distance, and the one exception could be reached by subway in 20 minutes. As a result, my standard festival menu of 4 movies per day could be “done” without loosing time in traffic, thus leaving enough room to prepare for the next movie to see, and to update my festival notes afterwards. And to top it all, the Calypso building also contained an Albert Heijn supermarket on the ground floor, so obtaining groceries could be done in a minimum of time too. #####

As a self-catering traveler by choice, the kitchen is important for me and the first to inspect upon arrival. I found everything I needed: ample pots/pans, dishes, cutlery and so on, and even some herbes and other small things you usually do not bring along when travelling but still come in handy when cooking for yourself. #####

The apartment is on the 17th floor, with two sides providing for a nice view over the city and its skyline. Two balconies, one southward and a smaller one westward, offer a convenient place to sit, even protected against rain due to being totally inside the building. It did not protect us, however, against the cold in January, so we used the balcony only to make pictures of the surroundings. #####
Communication with host Alex was perfect, before and during my stay, with short turnaround times to provide a useful response. Due to my yearly film festival visits to Rotterdam since 2010, I already knew my way around in the city, so I did not test his touristic knowledge. Rather, my enquiries were about home appliances and the in-house fitness room that one of my guests wanted to use. I needed his help not very often, however, as the comprehensive House Manual and his introductory explanation at check-in time were very clear and useful.