Tara and Michael's place was my first experience with Airbnb. I was glad that they were the first because their house was more than I expected. The place looks exactly as the pictures show and I really liked that their set up was so well organized.

Off the top of my head, my first impression was how trusting they are with Airbnb guests! They left me easy instructions on how to arrive by car (or transit if we had chosen that option) and how to get into the house even when they weren't home. The space was very clean and the neighbourhood is very safe and quiet with lots of parking options. They are about 5-7 mins from LAX and 25 min bike ride to Venice Beach. It was very easy to get around LA from their place.

The first day we arrived, we walked around and found the Venice Japanese Culture Centre close by (don't remember exactly where) that was having a summer festival party so we got to try some local Japanese foods. We met with Michael later in the evening and we had a chat about the World Cup. I cheer for Germany too so he was happy to hear that. We didn't chat long because he had to get up early to work but gave us a good run down of things to do and how to access the bicycles and gave us directions for a bike tour to Venice Beach. It was super easy and a lot of fun!

We didn't get to see Michael or Tara much for the next few days but they were very quiet and answered all our questions via email/Airbnb messenger really quickly. I was very impressed with their promptness.

The best part of the whole experience was it felt exactly like living in my own house (because it was organized much like mine but bigger and warmer) so I didn't have to think too much about how to do anything there.

Anyway, if you have a chance to meet Tara and Michael or just to have a stay with them, I'm sure you'll be happy. I don't think I can do hotels anymore now that I've discovered the ease of booking through Airbnb and the positive experience I had staying here.