Jillian's place is very cute. It is a quaint little house that sits right on the edge of the interstate that aligns downtown with east Austin. There was adequate parking on the street and the rental came with two permits which is wonderful. There is two homeless camps very nearby. Don't let that alarm you. None of them were aggressive or intrusive. Keep walking a little farther down and make sure you make it to the new area of East Austin. We didn't stumble onto this until our 2nd to last day and really regretted it. Google "Snooze" and eat there for breakfast and explore the area! Also, the interesting renovated homes in the area were fascinating. Don't spend all of your time in South Congress. There is more to see!
The house has lots of space and a large kitchen if you plan to cook on your trip. The pool is a great size for a small family and it was nice that it wasn't exceptionally deep with seating ledges in three areas. There is a large tree over the pool where squirrels drop things all day. There was also a storm the night before our arrival. We sent a message and they had someone over to clean it right away. The pool area was excellent!
The communication with the hosts was amazing. We messaged about pool cleaning, ants in the kitchen and no paper towels and toilet paper and they delivered some right away! They always responded quickly and with a solution.
My only negative was the cleanliness of the home. It was in major need of a deep cleaning!
Floors and counters were very sticky and dirty. There was hair in the sinks, showers, all over the rugs and bedding. We had to wash our bedding before using it. The fridge had things spilled inside of it that wasn't cleaned up and the ice maker was broken, covered with masking tape that said "do not use". The stove was covered in grease and half of the knobs were missing from the front.
These are certainly simple things that can be remedied with a good, deep cleaning.
One thing to note(which didn't bother us at all) is that there are security cameras everywhere including the pool area. It is East Austin and the owners don't live on-site so I would do the same thing and again, this did not bother us at all, but could feel intrusive for the wrong person.
Overall, we would definitely stay again. Love the area and like I said, the simple things can be remedied.