A great new apartment in a nice part of Austin. Liz told me that we were her first airbnb.com guests, but immediately after, someone else was checking in.

King size bed for me, a large fold-out sofa for my daughter and a fully equipped kitchen. I carry my own coffee maker and Guatemala coffee, but for others, Liz has a new Keurig and a variety of coffee cartridges. Windows on both sides look over a large garden and behind the fence where you enter the house, there is a large empty track fading into a forest. Looks like you are deep in Texas countryside, but you are only 4 - 5 blocks from restaurants and a Walmart plus shopping center.

Liz was a great host, responding immediately to questions and a couple of requests. We made breakfast and had in on the porch outside, looking over all the land. We had evening drinks there at sunset.

Bathroom, as everything, is new, the shower great. Wi-Fi works as advertised.

Great that more people like Liz are opening up to airbnb travelers, and in her case, it seems, specifically building a rental apartment for airbnb guests. We have rented airbnb houses and apartments all over Europe, and North America. I have rented twice before in the same area of SW Austin. Two years ago, a bad experience, as the house had two unadvertised cats and I am allergic. Last year, we needed two bedrooms, and rented a lovely house. This year, just my daughter and I, so this new place was perfect. As I was searching for this year's visit, I noticed there were many more choices in this part of Austin. However, many are getting larger and larger ... and much more expensive. This place was compact, comfortable and affordable.

A nice aspect to the house. Near it, is a chicken coop with a bunch of chickens. They don't make much noise, just eat all day and lay eggs. I bought supermarket eggs, but noticed there were two eggs in a bowl in the fridge, different colours and different sizes. We had those, from "our own chickens" - delicious! Liz plays up the chicken angle, there are toy chickens in the kitchen, a chicken carpet and chicken serving mats on the small dining table.

I would recommend this to anyone who needs an unusual home ... close to shops and everything, yet deep in open countryside.