Late on the night before arrival in Auckland the following evening (a Fri) we booked a 2 night stay. Despite this, Richard replied very quickly and clearly. Unfortunately he was away that weekend, so we didn't get to meet him. However he supplied detailed information which made arrival & settling in very straightforward. He also made himself available by phone, messaged us a couple of times to make sure everything was going OK, and gave us contact details for his mum (also an airbnb host), should we need this! The location, room and house were all as described, comfortable renovated older cottage character. Bed very comfortable, lovely room with ensuite, located easy access to the action yet on a quiet side-street. Despite handy location it has off-street parking if you need this (we did). I was doing an all-day course at Auckland Hospital next a.m, about 5 min drive, which was important in choosing this locale. Which also means it's close to the beautiful main Domain parkland & its excellent museum.
There are some shops within 5 min walking distance, including a Thai takeaway which thankfully was open when we walked there at 9.30 pm after late arrival, yay! A further km or 2 along Mt Eden road, past Mt Eden itself, is a really good strip of village shops/restaurants/cafes where we ate the following night. This was after we walked to top of Mt Eden at sunset, took in the terrific views, then drank champagne as watched dark fall & the lights go on over Auckland - great thing to do on our last night of the trip.