Stayed at Monita’s house for three months (May-August) as a summer intern with another college roommate. Decent place, but had some issues.
Pros
1. Room is fairly large, nice hardwood floor. Bathroom has two showers.
2. Big window, good natural lighting. Desk/chair for working
3. Housemates were friendly and reasonably clean
4. Cayuga Park right across the street. Enjoyed the free zumba classes offered by the parks dept
5. 20 min walk to Balboa Park BART station. Kind of hilly, but safe and pleasant
6. Asian grocery store across the street. 18 min walk to closest Safeway.
7. Neighborhood felt safe, clean
8. Street parking available, but not super reliable, though this is typical of SF neighborhoods. Usually could find a spot within a 5 min walk. Twice weekly street cleanings (Tues/Thurs mornings)
Cons
1. “Shared spaces” (living/dining room) misrepresented. These were often curtained off by the host at night, who rented out all her rooms and slept on the living room floor when she was staying there (about 50% of the time)
2. Wifi not great, could only get a good signal in half of the room. Ceiling lights pretty dim
3. Mattress was old and springy, pretty uncomfortable especially for side sleepers
4. Host often violated her own quiet hour rules by playing music in the living room. Really thin bedroom walls too so you could hear conversations in other rooms, which was frustrating at night.
5. Kitchen pretty basic, no dishwasher, and a lot of the pots/tupperware felt dirty
6. Stayed May-August. Local microclimate was usually overcast/cold, even on days when downtown SF was sunny and clear.