Stephan's apartment made a comfortable and functional base for our very busy 4-day NYC visit. As shown in a photo, the apartment is airy and long with a hallway, with multiple windows providing excellent ventilation. The ground-floor apartment stays surprisingly cool even in warm weather, and I only needed to carry my luggage up several steps on the front stoop. The bathroom worked great, and so did the kitchen and the living area where we sat and worked on our computers at night. We liked it that the polished wood floor was so clean we could go without shoes. Wifi worked great, with the router in the living area.

Access to the Express A train makes going into Manhattan easy, and it's fairly convenient to JFK as well through L.I.R.R. Nostrand Ave station (connects to Air Train at Jamaica), which was helpful because I had to rent a car from the airport to drive into Massachusetts one day. If you walk a bit, many other train lines are accessible, you can get anywhere in Manhattan and Brooklyn pretty quickly. Both the neighborhood and apartment were quiet as described, a very important point for me as I (female) was traveling with my teenage daughter, and we felt safe walking after dark. She found her new favorite yoga pants at a local Chinese store.

The neighborhood is filled with Caribbean restaurants, and we enjoyed food from Chris's Caribbean Restaurant (recommended by Stephan, always busy), and a place called Gloria's further down Nostrand Ave. Since we were on the go and also on a budget, patties from Caribbean places made delicious portable meals and snacks, plus fresh veggies we got from a local grocery store (there are like 2 per block) that I prepped in the kitchen. Roti, flatbread stuffed with various filling, is also tasty and an incredible value.

Stephan was away so we never saw him, but his friend met us on arrival and departure, both on time and pleasant. I communicated easily with Stephan via messaging. Overall, a very smooth and successful first airbnb experience, a SUPER value versus staying in a tiny hotel room that could be loud. I recommend staying with Stephan - it's convenient, safe, quiet and fun!