Alex was amazing!! We had the privilege of staying at his modern flat for two weeks. His home is beautiful! It is indeed as spacious as it looks in his photos.
We had an early weekend flight to and from London, which could make checking in and out a hassle for some hosts, but Alex was great about accommodating our needs! He was quick to answer any questions me and my travel companions had: he took some time out of his day to sit with us, answering questions and simply allowing us the opportunity to get to know him [and his home].
Balham is a great area to stay in - you get the native feel of London without all the noise and bustle of tourist areas such as Leicester Square. This is not to say that Balham is not lively - Balham high street (about two blocks from this listing) is quite busy during the day, and especially on the weekend. But during the evenings, we rarely heard anything while in the flat. The Balham station (part of the Northern Line - which drops you off in plenty of great places, like Clapham Common, Charing Cross, and Leicester Square) is a 2-3 minute walk from the flat. This trip is even less if you cut through the Sainbury's parking lot. Plenty of shops and bars nearby; one of the best features for us was the proximity to 2 (!) supermarkets(Sainbury's & Waitrose) - one was literally less than a minute from the front door while the other is less than 2 minutes. As Alex provides a fully stocked kitchen, we quite enjoyed the ability to do some shopping and cooking while staying in his flat. Sainbury's is a typical grocery store, offering groceries at an affordable price, while Waitrose is a bit more expensive (not by much). We often made trips to Waitrose due to its more superior bakery section.
Feel free to take advantage of the good sized terrace as it is pretty fantastic on a nice, sunny day. Alex's house feels more like a townhouse than an apartment - the bedrooms are really spacious and modern, and the bathrooms are pretty great! There were no worries about water pressure and temperatures as everything was wonderful.
I definitely plan on coming back to London, as my trip was pretty amazing. I hope that Alex will still be hosting then as I would LOVE to return and rent out his flat for my next stay! Give this place a try - you won't regret it!