This was tough review to write, as Ruth has hundreds of 5 star reviews -- and rightfully so. She is a very friendly, sweet and communicative host, and her apartment is clean and perfectly located in the heart of London. Despite many reviews that mention how hard it is to sleep with the street noise, I found that by simply turning in the fan she provided, the white noise easily drowned any potential street noise out. So that was a non-issue for me. She also offers to let you eat whatever she has in her kitchen, and while I never took advantage of this, it's a very nice bonus.
What made writing this review so tough, is that I would have given her and her apartment 5 stars hands-down, if not for an incident that happened on my 2nd to last night. I gave a lot of thought as to whether I should share it here, but ultimately decided that transparency and honesty in writing this review was very important. On my 2nd to last night I was in bed around midnight, just having started to fall asleep, when I was somewhat taken out of my sleep by the sound of two people talking right outside by bedroom door as well as light shining into the room (there is a window right above the door, so if hallway light is on, light shines into the room to some extent). I started to get up out bed as the talking outside my room got louder and just as I did, my bedroom door flung open and there was a man in a tuxedo standing there. He seemed confused, and said something to the affect of "oh, its a den!" and then the door shut half way (on its own -- the momentum swung it back) and then I heard Ruth kind of quiet him down and have him leave the apartment. He seemed drunk to me. Suffice it to say --- I was VERY startled by this. Ruth did not address me right after this happened. She just went right into her room and shut the door, and my door remained ajar, and I remained startled. I was not able to fall asleep for most of the rest of the night, and I was quite exhausted that day, which is not ideal for vacation.
Now, it is important to note that I did speak to Ruth face to face about this the next afternoon, and she was very apologetic and explained that she had been at an event and gotten sick and this gentleman offered to see her home safely, and that when he was leaving he got confused and opened the wrong door to leave the apartment. I accepted her apology and explanation. And the remainder of my stay with her was fine.
Again, I think Ruth is very sweet and communicative and it is a nice place in a great location. I would have given 5 stars. But, nonetheless, I do believe that something like that happening is noteworthy and should be stated for future guests to consider.