Marie has a beautiful home with wood fixtures and elegant old furnishing. I enjoyed my stay. She was out of town when I got there but had mailed me the keys and her caretaker had taped the wifi password to the door to my room. It was great to have use of the kitchen, which is fully functional. I also met some of the tenants, who were very pleasant, and some other visitors who were sharing the main floor with me (and attending the same conference that I was.)

My room had its own tiny shower, toilet, and sink. (Marie had initially assigned me a room with a shared bath but changed it upon my request.) The bed was comfortable and had plenty of blankets. I was grateful for the last because it was very cold in the house. I could hear the heaters starting up regularly but it was still freezing. Perhaps these old homes are hard to insulate, despite the plastic that was sealing all the windows.

Marie kept in touch via email to make sure I was comfortable, which was really nice of her.

The house is in a quiet neighborhood just south of Brown and I enjoyed walking around and seeing houses from the 1700s. Thayer, the street its on, has plenty of restaurants once you get close to campus. My friends and I also took it further south, where there were a few more blocks of eateries and retro clothing stores.

I shared a cab with friends from the airport to the house. It was $17 when there were three of us, and $10 when there were 4. Really convenient.