My girlfriend and I stayed here for about two and a half months over the summer (2013). The first thing I can say is that Gaylene is a fantastic and very helpful host. The moment we arrived at her place (and throughout our stay) we felt welcome and as if we were visiting a close relative. Gaylene really helped us get acquainted with the city and even drove us around the first day to show us various nearby places like grocery stores and restaurants. The office where I worked was about 3 miles from Gaylene's house and easily accessible via bicycle. Gaylene was kind enough to let me borrow her bike to go to work every morning--my gratitude for this cannot be expressed enough.

The place itself is also very warm and inviting. The area where you'll be staying has the best views in the house. From here we had a great view of the bay and all of the freighters, and it was especially magical on the fourth of July when the entire bay area was ablaze with fireworks. The house is also a 5 minute walk from a bus stop that will allow you to get to many useful places, and also about the same distance to a metro (train) stop that will take you downtown. The neighborhood/area (Bayview) where the house is can seem a bit sketchy, but you'll never really have to go anywhere that's really too bad (just hop on the bus or train and experience the rest of the city). We had easy access to the kitchen and cooked a couple times a week at least. Gaylene's schedule didn't really conflict with our schedules so there was never really an issue of not having access to the kitchen or bathroom.

Last but not least, there are the feline occupants of the house: Chops and Luna. These cats are wonderful and friendly, though they may not have enough time to warm up to you during a very brief stay. On many occasions they would sit with us in bed or at the table as quiet and furry suite mates. But don't worry, if you don't care to have any feline companions you can leave the door to your private room closed.

All in all we had a wonderful stay at Gaylene's house and have made a true friend in Gaylene.