Marco's casita was one of my favorite places to stay, ever -- and I've traveled all over the world.
It perfectly met all my needs domestically speaking: The mattress struck a fine balance between hard and soft, the bedding was all cotton. The kitchen had everything I needed, including a French Press coffee pot and a box of ginger tea. The little desk allowed me to work away on my laptop in lovely daylight that flooded the room each gorgeous day of my stay, while the A/C kept the room temperate. The location in a peaceful low-key family neck of Venice is beautiful. The little private porch outside with blossoming bougainvillea was charming. "My" bike was a solid one-speed retro model ideal for exploring and photographing the wonderful Venice world of canals, old houses and murals, plus it allowed me to ride to the Pacific ocean and hit the wonderful trail that extends for miles on end along the shore. I used the bike every day to get to wherever I needed to go, including to the wonderful EREHWON grocery story, organic and not too terribly pricey. A thoughtful small collection of books included a treasure entitled "Venice, California: An Urban Fantasy" by Horst Schmidt-Brummer. This book was key to my stay, allowing me to contemplate the socio-political challenges the locals have faced over time, whole worlds and communities captured photographically, and lost "thanks" to precipitous gentrification.
I was in LA solo, on the occasion of sending my dearest fellow filmmaking friend's ashes out in the Pacific blue and to do research at the Academy of Motoion Pictures Arts and Sciences where his films are being taken care of. Thanks to Marco's casita I was able to enjoy an emotionally loaded, super productive stay that at the same time was wondrous and restorative.