I'll just start by saying this: Stay with Toby and Joe if you have the chance. They're lovely, generous and interesting people who treated us in the best possible way, and their place is beautiful and unique.

You can tell that these guys have been hosting Airbnb guests for a while. The cottage in the garden is very well set up, and we got perfect information about the shared areas. The kitchen has what you need for a simple breakfast, and stuff like water bottles provided, and gluten-free bread (which Toby asked about when I had booked) is more than you expect already.

But that's just the practical stuff, and not what makes Toby and Joe such fantastic hosts. The place itself is unique, with the hosts own art (which is everywhere, from the garden to the bathroom) giving it much of it's special character.

But what we'll remember for a long time is just hanging out with Toby and Joe themselves. They really made us feel like we were staying with friends or family, and we had a lot of fun just listening to their stories and talking about this and that. They're quite extraordinary people who have led interesting lives, but they were also very generous and kind to us.

Bernal Heights is a slightly off location in S.F., even though we walked several times to the Mission District (takes between half an hour and an hour, maybe, depending on where you're going). The lesson we took from our stay was to rely on Uber, and not taking the bus – it's not really worth it.

For us, living close to Mission but in a quiet neighborhood was perfect. Bernal Heights itself is actually very charming and a pretty great place to hang out, with a lot of cafés and restaurants on Cortland Avenue. We ended more than one night with something to drink on Cortland.

One thing to note if you want to stay with Toby and Joe is that the shower situation isn't exactly on the cutting edge of technology (it involves a bucket). Since the place is the way it is, that just became part of the charm for us, but if you're EXTREMELY particular about your showers you might have an issue.

TL;DR - we loved staying with Toby and Joe and you should too.