We travel to the Menlo Park area every year with our two small children to visit family, and this year was by far our best trip ever, thanks to Amanda and her beautiful little house. We stayed for just over two weeks and the house had everything we needed.

The highlights of the house for us were the beautiful backyard (which the kids loved) and the proximity of the house to great local restaurants and all the other areas we frequent (Stanford Shopping, Downtown Menlo Park).

The house was absolutely spotless when we arrived, and Amanda had stocked the fridge with basic items for us prior to our arrival. There is a great little store right next door (really friendly owner), and even though the house is on the Alameda (a somewhat busy road) there was no noise at all from the street. Also, the beds were really comfortable and there was loads of storage/closet space in both bedrooms, which made it really easy to unpack and 'set up house' during our stay.

It's a five minute walk to the nearest Starbucks, and a really pleasant 20 minute walk to Safeway/CVS/etc. Lulu's Mexican is only a five minute walk and it became one of our favorite places to eat.

West Menlo Park is such a lovely neighbourhood - very quiet and leafy and really close to Stanford and beautiful Woodside.

We were traveling with an infant and purchased an Ikea full-sized crib + a highchair to use during our stay (it was actually cheaper than renting the same equipment). Amanda was so helpful - she even let us have the items delivered before our arrival so we could set them up as soon as we arrived, and I believe she is keeping the crib and highchair on the premises so that future guests with young kids will be able to make use of these items (the crib converts to a junior bed for older children).

Amanda was as lovely in person as she was via email, and she was always really responsive to any questions we had. I just loved this house so much, and we will most definitely stay at this property next time we visit California!