I stayed at Ron’s basement level studio for a month during an extended business trip. There was a mix of pros and cons at the apartment. To start, the home is located in a very beautiful part of town (right at the juncture between Midtown Terrace, Twin Peaks, Diamond Heights, Upper Market and Noe Valley) with some of the best views of the city right across the street from the home. I would walk out at sunset many evenings to enjoy the huge panorama of the city. Checking in was extremely easy and the home felt secure. There are several bus stops extremely close by (3-7 minutes walk) and there’s also a garage space for parking. Additionally, if you like to moped, there are almost always blue Revel mopeds available to rent nearby. Just a short bus ride or drive downhill, you have the colorful and fun Castro in one direction and the lovely and walkable Noe Valley neighborhood in the other, both with bars, restaurants, and cafes. In the apartment itself, you’ll have full privacy, a heater on the wall, a mounted TV, a kitchenette and a nice bathroom with an excellent toilet that has a bidet and heated seats. Also, the wifi worked fine for me and I never saw any pests or insects. The coin-op laundry machines are directly outside the apartment door, (remember to bring quarters— It costs about $5 per full cycle). Ron communicates kind of slowly, but he was a pleasant person and he is responsive to feedback.
However, there were some drawbacks, too. The apartment is situated behind the garage and then the back porch extends over it, so it gets an extremely low level of natural light. Also, during my stay, I noticed a faint but ever-presence damp smell, like mildew, so I always had to have some scents and the fan going to drive away the smell. Additionally, please note that the living room ceiling lights hum quite loudly over time, so if it bothers you be sure to use the standing lamp instead. There is an outdoor porch, but it’s located upstairs right off the kitchen and bedroom of the upstairs unit, so I was not keen on using the porch and disrupting the other tenants’ privacy. Last but not least, it’s very easy to hear the upstairs neighbors walking around at all hours.
All in all, the studio and its location present a lot of advantages like security, beauty, convenience and price. Also, Ron seems responsive to reviews as I did not have problems with wifi speed or pests, as other reviewers mentioned. (In fact, he had an exterminator come out and spray the exterior while I was there as part of his regular maintenance). However, if you are sound and smell sensitive and need significant natural light, staying here might be a challenge for you.