We really enjoyed staying at Larisa and Evgeny's beautiful apartment in Auckland's North Shore!
The apartment was spotless, with everything brand new. The hosts really took care in creating a comfortable home for their guests.
The king-size bed was super comfortable, with plenty of pillows and duvets provided. There is no heating in the apartment, but it didn't get too cold at night while we were there at the beginning of December. And the bed was nice and warm, even without electric blankets.
The bedroom is spacious, with a nice wardrobe, sufficient hangers, a lounge chair and a small coffee table.
There's also a big storage room in the hallway leading to the bedroom, so you've got plenty of room to store your belongings.
The living room has a couch (with a blanket for when it gets nippy), a coffee table, a smart tv (with Netflix and Apple TV), and an expandable dining table with 4 chairs.
The kitchen has 2 gas hobs to cook with, a small fridge, a microwave, a coffee machine and a kettle. There's plenty of dishes but only 2 bowls, a salad bowl and serving trays. There's 2 cups, 2 mugs, 2 glasses, and a set of 2 each of red/white wine glasses and champagne flutes. There's enough cutlery provided, but not many cooking implements like spatulas and tongs were to be found. The kitchen knife was super dull, and there was no knife sharpener, but I managed to sharpen it a bit using the back of a mug ;-).
Basic amenities like salt, pepper, sugar, oil, vinegar, paper towels and facial tissues were provided. There were also bits and bobs in the fridge, perhaps left by previous tenants, which was handy (sharing is caring!), like: mayonnaise, ketchup, almond milk, jam, honey and margarine.
Cleaning products for the kitchen were also provided.
Outside the kitchen, under the cover of the patio, were the washing machine (with laundry detergent) and dryer. It was super handy to be able to get our laundry done!
There's space for parking right outside the unit, which is down a very sleep slope. On this note, it might be hard for the elderly, or someone with limited mobility, to walk up and down the driveway. For everyone else, it's just a bit of extra exercise! ;-)
Location-wise, the apartment is about 25 minutes away from Britomart in downtown Auckland CBD. The bus stop is only 5 minutes away from the apartment, up the hill, and there's buses every 13 minutes until late at night. So it's very easy to get to the downtown area of Auckland with only one bus (no changes). Very handy!
The area where the apartment is located is very green and quiet, with the chirping of local birds. Very peaceful.
There's a big New World supermarket about 13 minutes walking distance away (or 3 bus stops away) which is open until 10pm. There are also plenty of coffee shops, restaurants and takeaways nearby. The township of Birkenhead is FULL of eateries and shops and it's about 30 minutes walking distance (or 7 bus stops) away. There is also a big Countdown supermarket there open until midnight.
To get to the airport the cheapest way (avoiding the $14 SKY bus) is to take bus 97 to Britomart, then a train to Papatoetoe station, and then the orange Airporter bus 380 from right in front of Papatoetoe station to Auckland airport (there's a stop at both the Domestic and International terminals).
In conclusion, we really enjoyed staying at this very comfortable apartment and wouldn't hesitate to stay again!