John's place lives up to the billing! Since we were staying for 5 days, we chose this listing as an alternative to a hotel downtown to have more space than a conventional hotel room. The unit looks exactly like the photos and has plenty of room to spread your things out and relax. The unit includes coffee and tea to get you going in the morning and he laid out a selection of beer and wine for happy hour which was a really nice touch. The inclusion of a record player was unique and one rainy afternoon we just relaxed on the couch reading and listening to records from local musicians. The unit appears to have been recently remodeled, and John has done a nice job with wood and tile accents to give the space a rustic yet modern feel. We did occasionally hear a footfall or two from upstairs, but it wasn't a big deal for us.
The apartment is about a block and half off of Haywood road, the main thoroughfare through West Asheville. There are several things within walking distance, including a coffee shop, brewery and a selection of restaurants. The unit is within walking distance of the RAD (perhaps a 20-25 minute walk). Downtown is walkable (about 2-ish miles) but more easily reached by car. We drove a few times and Ubered the other times (about a $10 Uber).
I would wholeheartedly recommend this place to my friends or family. The only potential thing I would say is that if you're someone who needs to be in the heart of the "action" (eg. walking about the door and being surrounded by a plethora of restaurants, shops and breweries) this may not meet your expectations. You will need to drive 10 minutes to get into downtown. For us, the size of the place and price point below downtown hotels more than exceeded this small point and we didn't mind Ubering downtown and back so as to not drink and drive. Further, West Asheville is a funky neighborhood and off the regular tourist beat so we felt more local staying here and enjoyed exploring a part of the city most tourists miss.