Although we did not meet our host in person, we exchanged numerous email messages which supplied all the necessary information and tips about the area and the flat. The appartment is very comfy and typical (with luxurious plants on the entrance terrasse and full of great books that we didn’t get the chance to read in a one-week stay like ours, unfortunately). The area is great in that it is not far from the city center(s) but quiet enough to feel like a real Londoner; one lives there in a genuine neighbourhood with local pubs and parks, and one can hop on the (still so amazingly expensive) tube and get anywhere within half an hour at the most to go to a show, a museum, the shops, another area or one of London’s many markets.