Staying at Michael's place was definitely a unique experience! The house is pretty amazing. It is in this very interesting district of downtown that is super close to Little Italy and the highway. It is also close to the airport so planes will frequently fly over ( the noise did not disturb me because I could barely hear it when I was inside my room). I thought the Cottage room was great. It is a little rough around the edges,but it has everything that I needed and the mattress was actually one of the most comfortable mattresses I have ever slept on! The shower is a bit small- kind of like a European shower, but I had enough space in it .
I felt very welcome by Michael and Moises . Even though it was a holiday and I arrived at a strange time, Moises gave me a tour of the house and rooms and was very kind and helpful. Michael leaves a list of information and restaurant recommendations in your room which is awesome! Take his advice! Filipi's and Hash House A GO GO are not to be missed! There are also plenty of places to relax in the gardens around the house and it is very central for great places to explore around the city like Balboa Park, Little Italy, and The Hillcrest. They also have parking which is awesome since I found parking in San Deigo to be very difficult .
**The only thing I would say is that I did not feel completely comfortable walking around at night as a woman alone. I think if I were with one other person it would be fine though. In any case, it was not a big deal because I just paid for a taxi at night which was very low cost since the location was so central.