Maria is an amazing host! Me and my boyfriend stayed at her apartment in Vila Nova de Gaia for 7 days and enjoyed every one of them! The apartment is super nice and cozy. Its not in the city center where all the tourists are, and this was exactly what we were looking for - its close to the city and far enough from the crowd. To my surprise it was very easy to commute with public transport - there is a bus stop near by and the buses are pretty regular and rather cheap, and it takes max. 15 min to Porto. Also, its right next to a big shopping mall, so if you are not feeling like travelling to Porto you can always swing by the mall for some food, shopping or movies. All in all we had a great time :)