Staying at Oliver's beautiful, clean, well-appointed Garden Flat in Stoke Newington (affectionately known as "Stokie," which is in East London) was the best part of our London trip. I'm a 39 y/o woman who traveled with my 74 y/o mother and 78 y/o aunt to visit my 22 y/o cousin, who is studying at LSE (London School of Economics). Mom has recovered from a November 2010 spinal cord injury, and Auntie has a weak shoulder from caring for her husband, who is in a wheelchair after a stroke 19 years ago. As my travel companions are septuagenarian women with physical limitations, I anticipated we would spend most of our time at home. We would not spend 14 hour days exploring London then simply sleep in our flat. Rather, we went grocery shopping along Church Street and cooked most meals at home. We enjoyed the Saturday Organic Farmers Market on High Street. We woke, ate breakfast, packed a lunch, took the bus then tube to Central London to visit one site (Buckingham Palace, London Eye, National Portrait Gallery, LSE, Leicester Square), came home, napped, then cooked dinner. We were extremely comfortable in Oliver's flat. The garden was beautiful and in bloom when we visited. The kitchen was efficiently functional and well-used by us. The bathroom was ample, including a drying rack on a pulley system over the large bath tub. We adjusted the heat to our liking (I don't want Mom / Auntie to be cold!), and we used the laundry every other day. Wi-fi connection was fast. I used Skype to call our homes in California and Oregon, we checked email and used internet freely. Oliver gave me permission to give his home phone number to our family members in the U.S. to call us (some persons back home do not use Skype). We spent 8 comfortable nights in Stokie. Oliver had written a detailed 2 page house manual, which included instructions on taking out rubbish / compost / recycling on Monday morning. We indeed put out our trash on Monday and generally felt as if we belonged to the Stokie community (as opposed to being tourists staying in a 2 BR hotel in Central London). Oliver was in contact with us by phone and email. He briefly visited us twice during our stay, and I asked questions as necessary. The flat is quiet, not on a busy street, yet close to shops and bus stops. Thank you, Oliver, for leaving a bowl of fresh fruit in the kitchen and a vase of fresh flowers and 2 pots of beautiful orchids in the living room for us to enjoy. Thanks for bringing down extra bedding (blankets, pillows) and providing new, fresh towels. Most of all, thanks for choosing to let us stay in your home while you stayed with your parents and continued to work in London. We would assuredly stay in Oliver's flat again. Oliver is a thoughtful, lovely host, and I hope our paths cross again! Best, Maureen...