5 Stars is not enough, and let me tell you why. It’s all about the Mike.
I flew into LB to help with a very difficult family matter for 3 days. This was no joyous beach excursion vacay. This was major. And I left the big city living two decades ago, so just being here is already overwhelming to me. But Mike made everything easy. He answered all my questions and promptly, long before I arrived - where’s the bike rental? Is there parking? Where’s the Whole Foods? Can I walk there?...
When I finally arrived at his apartment, after dealing with hours of stressful travel, the place was quiet, neat and spotless. Mike wasn’t home, and I selfishly have to say that I almost wept tears of gratitude for the space because my nerves were fried and the journey had only just begun. The next day was 9 hours solid family situation. When I finally got back to the apartment, I again had the space I needed. Again, tears of joy!
I chilled out for a while, decompressing. Eventually, Mike showed up and in seconds I could tell this guy was chill. The kind of guy who’s probably everyone’s favorite friend. Heck, under better circumstances, I would’ve grabbed a coat and the opportunity to tour the town with him. But I was not in that space, and he graciously knew that. After some pleasant conversation, he kindly recommended a yoga in the park meet up, then let me have the space I needed.
Now, obviously all of this matters deeply to me, but here’s what matters to you - the apartment is adorable, the bed is comfortable, the kitchen had everything I needed (and it was all logically placed, so it was easy to find by myself!), the shower has serious water pressure and plenty of hot water, it’s in a nice, very walkable neighborhood for a great price and I was able to rent parking on the back of the building. While all of these creature comforts are nice, ultimately you can find many AirBnB’s that boast the same things, but they don’t have a Mike, and I think that makes all the difference.