Tao's place (although he's not living there himself) is a great location for commuting to Sorrento Valley. Tao usually drops by every morning and is a very nice and accommodating host.
My main concern with my specific room was that I was beside the garage and any noise by the people (usually at night and 8:30ish in the morning) seemed a bit too close, and also the heater in the garage made some occasional rattling noise during its turn off cycle. The kitchen was ok but could have been a bit better cleaned (there were fingerprints on all the utensils and the fridge).