my sister and i stayed in a room in Gemma’s flat for a few nights and overall it was good.. but there were things that we would like to have known beforehand.
first for the good things.. there are 3 lovely cats who love attention, you are located 2 mins walk to the bus that takes you directly into the center of London, you’re 5 mins walk from Morrisons for groceries, there’s a comfortable bed with silk sheets (if you pay for bedding), 4 nice flatmates, a nice garden space outside.
please read the description of the listing thoroughly before arriving. keep in mind, you are asked to pay for bedding and wifi. you’re also asked to sign a contract when you arrive, also to give her copies of your passport, and to send £120 on PayPal for the key that she refunded to me upon leaving.
there are security cameras throughout the house, (it’s not a secret, Gemma showed us these, so it’s above board but just so you’re aware). The floorboards in the room squeak with every step which was annoying especially when coming in late and trying to be quiet.
you’re also not allowed to leave any food out on the counters at all and must clean up immediately after cooking food because the cats are always on the counter and their drinking water is there also. we would cook food in the kitchen and then have to clean straight away and wash everything up. so our food was cold most times before we got to eat it which is annoying when you take the time to cook proper food.
there were times when there was food left out by roommates and nothing was done about it all day. or we were blamed for not closing the toilet top lid, when we made sure to do it every time because of the bleach in there that can kill the cats. we felt a double standard there for sure and that made me uncomfortable.
there is cat hair everywhere, but that’s to be expected from 3 long haired cats. it just felt like the rules were a bit excessive. but i think they are all in place because she has had a few difficult visitors in the past.
there is one toilet downstairs, the one upstairs where your room is doesn’t work. ask her to show you how to flush the toilet (as it was hard for me haha) and also how to lock the doors properly as they are a bit tricky, must pull up on the handle first before locking. i figured that out in my own because it wasn’t shown to me. i also didn’t feel particularly safe coming back late at night in the area, i felt like i was watching over my shoulder a lot. that’s no one’s fault, but the area is a bit rough at night, just to keep in mind if you’re alone.
if you like rules, and cats; this is the perfect place for you (: Overall, our stay was nice, we just felt like constantly making sure we were doing everything right and to her specifications.