"La Gemma" is a very special place. When I was originally looking for a place to stay and looking at options, it sounded great from the write-up, and it was on my short list right from the start. Having recently stayed there it definitely lived up to - indeed exceeded - all expections I had.

Gina was an amazing host. She provided really good, clear and helpful communications before we arrived, during our stay, and warmly wished us safe travels at the end. There were nice touches in the apartment when we arrived, which made it feel a very personal welcome.

The apartment is a real delight - clean, fresh, with lots of natural light especially in the kitchen / dining area, and good design and use of space (our party consisted of two adults and one older teen as a family group). The kitchen is very well equipped with everything you could need, and more. Storage in bedrooms is good, and there is even a printer in the apartment which is useful to print out your boarding passes from! Good WiFi. The apartment has lots of interesting design features (including a spiral staircase) and there is very good attention to detail in the decor and furnishing. As a Brit, I appreciated the presence of English Breakfast Tea (!), and the coffee machine makes a good cup of fresh coffee also. Refridgerator and Freezer are ample, and having a dishwasher makes clearing up easy too. The property is 'upside down' - meaning that the living space is upstairs, and the bedrooms and bathroom are downstairs, which adds further fun and character to the apartment.

The location is just perfect - almost across the street from the famous Old North Church (which in turn forms part of the Freedom Trail) and within the vibrant "Little Italy" neighbourhood, which always felt a safe and welcoming area, whatever the hour, with shops, amazing bakeries and a wide selection of excellent restaurants open to late. The apartment is set back from the road, so it's nice and quiet. For us this was the perfect location from which to explore Boston - we did all our exploring on foot, except we caught the T from North Station to Cambridge one day. Most places we wanted to get to were within 20 mins walk, or if longer could be accomodated via an interesting circular route. Boston is a great city with layers of heritage, and a wonderful blending together of the old and the new, and of different cuisines and cultures. We would love to return again in the future - and if we did we would want to stay at "La Gemma" again!