Daniel’s home is beautiful, and the room was very comfortable. Daniel was kind in providing an extra single mattress so I could sleep on the floor and allow my older mother use of the bed.
We checked in and then went out for a family holiday celebration for the evening, collecting the front door keys in advance of an expected late-night return, when we were encouraged to be as quiet as possible so as not to wake the host or his wife or teenage daughter.
We faced a frustrating challenge in coming in late at night because we couldn’t get the keys to open the front door. After standing out in the cold and trying the keys for 15 minutes, and after trying to reach Daniel by email and text, all to no avail, we finally rang the bell, waking Daniel and his family. I felt terrible about this, and even with repeated apologies, it was an unpleasant moment. I have learned from this to try the keys at any home I will be staying in in the presence of the owner to make sure I know how to get a door to open — and also to agree together about what to do and how to reach the host in case there is an issue.