Though the host was not available to meet us on arrival, he emailed clear instructions for how to get in. However, the unit is not marked with a room number, and located between the garage and stairs to the actual apartments above. The behind-the-stairs entry felt a bit shady when we first arrived.

Although tastefully decorated, the unit is almost underground, located between the garage and the street-level stairs which lead up to the actual apartments in the building. Most likely converted from a laundry or storage room at some point, the unit has no windows opening to the outside, only two small windows in the kitchen, above eye level, which look into the covered parking garage with a trash can right in front. Opening them would only allow in car exhaust fumes, so the unit gets no ventilation and no sunlight. It feels like nighttime 24 hours a day, which really interfered with our sleep rhythm. There is no window at all in the bedroom. It felt like a dungeon. Aside from being uncomfortable, it is also unsafe as you could easily be trapped in the event of a fire. The lack of an apartment number on the door, only a keypad, gives the appearance of a storage room, which could easily be missed by emergency personnel. The unit also has no HVAC or air ducts. I doubt it is up to building code.

In addition, tenants from the apartments above pass through the corridor en route to and from the garage from before 6am until late at night, with doors at both ends slamming shut. All that noise, plus a lot of bright light from the corridor, enter the unit through the poorly sealed door.

We had problems with gnats in the kitchen from the start. John, the owner, quickly responded with a home-made remedy. But after about 10 days during our month-long stay, the gnats returned. I can only assume that the unit's close proximity to the trash can in the garage and the poor seal on the door are the cause.

There was also a foul smell of raw sewage coming from the bathroom sink the whole time. This was never resolved, and I suspect that this unit at the bottom of the building is probably near the big sewer pipe that services the 12 actual units and is pretty susceptible to this.

The description says "Executive Suite in Bernal Heights." However, it is not actually IN trendy Bernal Heights with all the nice shops and restaurants, but about a 20-25 minute walk from it. It's on busy Mission Street near a lot of low-end businesses. You can get to Bernal Heights or Glen Park from the unit, but it's not really in either.

John was friendly and responsive when minor things needed fixing. The room is well-furnished. But to call it an "executive suite" and say its is "in Bernal Heights" is misleading.