A trip to a new country can be daunting. Currency, language, food, shopping, museums. Where to begin? Where to end? Nobody knows for sure. And possibly the most trepidatious part of a voyage for most is the question of where you're going to sleep. We're at our most vulnerable in hotels. It's where we're going to reside, temporarily, where we spend the part of the trip with our eyes closed. And where comfort is paramount. But what if the linen is starchy? What if there's a noisy party in the adjoining room that keeps us up late and tarnishes our next day's plans? What if the place is too far away from anything you want to see and eat? What if the concierge doesn't even know where you should eat? So many times we've shown up at a hotel that looked perfect online, was well described by its PR company, only to find something quite different in person. Not so with Horatio's airbnb flats. As soon as we opened the door, we knew we were in the right place. Never before have we felt so at home from 4,500 miles away. And with Horatio it's more than just a clean, beautiful, well-appointed place. It's more than just fast WiFi and a bottle of wine on the dining table. It's more than just the power adapters he didn't have waiting for us, but quickly went off to find and bring in so we could charge our many computers and phones. Horatio took care of us. He didn't just hand us keys and then vanish. He welcomed us. He stayed to talk. He gave us restaurant recommendations (which were outstanding, by the way; much better than the guidebooks could ever have come up with!). He wanted to make sure we were comfortable and happy. A welcome change from the many years of dealing with those anonymous clerks who check us in from behind a desk the lobby, clacking away at a terminal, nodding, occasionally making eye contact, only then to forget about us five minutes later, barely ever even aware of our names and origins. He was a true host. Stay here, and you'll stay with Spain's ambassador to the US. With Horatio we ended up with so much more than just a vacation: we made a friend.