All in all, this is a fantastic 5* Airbnb.
The Flat
Perfect. Brilliantly Clean. Whole flat (and the bedding in particular) had a wonderful fresh scent.
Lovely and airy - abundance of natural light throughout the flat. Nice view from the bedroom.
Everything you need in a kitchen - normal size oven, grill, toaster, microwave, normal size fridge freezer - and all the necessary utensils, crockery, pots and pans, pizza trays, mini baking trays, and even a Pyrex dish if you fancy cooking a casserole. Very important for me - the non-stick cookware did NOT have scratches so it was nice not to have bits of plastic mixed into my cooking.
There is both a washer dryer (with detergent) and dishwasher, though I didn’t use the latter. There were also Tetley tea bags - the best brand imho. Kitchen is also equipped with basic ingredients like salt, pepper, olive oil which is handy - let’s face it, no traveller is going to want to buy that just for short-term use.
Didn’t need to use any of it but there are toiletries available in the bathroom. Plenty of towels as well.
Good sized desk in the lounge for doing work on and plenty of plug sockets close by inc USB ports.
Didn’t use them either but there are two televisions - one connected to a games console.
The flat also had scales which was useful for luggage weighing.
Location
Easy walking distance to Sainsbury’s and Coop supermarkets and 3 train stations (underground and overground) which have lifts and escalators - essential for me as I had heavy luggage. The shops and stations are somewhere between 7-15 minutes walk depending on what you want.
Safe, quiet (but not so quiet you’d feel like you are disturbing people) family neighbourhood.
Also easy walking distance to various cafes and takeaways - although I didn’t go to any, there was always a steady stream of people frequenting the coffee shop around the corner called “Southpaw Coffee” and an eatery close by called “Sunday”.
The Host
Jason is lovely (and great to chat with). You can tell he genuinely cares about his guests, eg asking whether my stay was going ok.
Very swift with his responses to messages and accommodated my very early arrival and my late check out. He also helped me with my luggage - there is one flight of stairs.
Without me asking, he bought bread and milk for me so it was already there when I checked in. And if you’re a Brit, you’ll really appreciate that first cup of tea after a long journey! The chocolate was also a nice touch.