This booking was well researched as we were a group of 5 on a special getaway. I checked things carefully ahead of time with Rickie to make everything clear, and some things worked out well but some did not. We originally booked for 2 nights but had to change that to 1 night and I appreciate the generous cancellation policy.
In general, this house is a lovely house, the neighborhood is cool with an interesting young/proletariat/hip/activist vibe that we really liked (a cafe around the corner had flyers for writer's workshops, trans youth camp, renter's right's town halls, etc). There is a deck in back which is a great pleasure to sit on in the morning and the evening with greenery all around. The main bedroom on the ground floor is lovely, and the two bedrooms in the basement are ok. The decor is quite dated and could use a facelift and some loving touches, but there are places to sit both on the main floor and in the basement and a group could be happy here no doubt. So, we are grateful for and appreciative of that.
I have put off writing the rest of this review because I have never written anything negative on Airbnb and I think Rickie is a really good person so I am not in a hurry to leave a review that might upset them or hurt their business. But I rely on honest reviews as a traveler, so I realize I must do this!
Before booking with Rickie I checked if we could have an early check-in as we arrived in Seattle in the morning and needed somewhere to put our luggage. Rickie had said yes and I booked based on this one important feature. I also checked and double-checked regarding enough beds for us all (four beds) and the house lists 4 beds. As time grew near, Rickie was not willing to give us the promised early check-in, even after I messaged several times that we really only need to put our luggage down as we didn't know what else to do with our suitcases and that we would not use the rooms, the bathrooms, anything- just put our bags in a corner, or anywhere we were told to, and leave. Only after I copied and pasted our earlier conversation did Rickie agree for us to come at 2PM instead of 3PM, hardly the early check-in we had hoped for. Again I stressed that all we needed was to put our bags down and leave, that we would not touch or use anything to disturb the housekeeping/cleaning, but we were not given this permission. So this was our first difficulty.
Secondly, the mattress in the master bedroom is very, VERY soft (perhaps some like it this soft?) and very uneven. Worse, 2 of the 4 beds are air mattresses (this was known in advance) but they have holes in them (or faulty valves) so that they were impossible to keep inflated and one of us ended up sleeping on a bean bag with his legs on the floor and woke up with a terrible back. The sheets for this mattress, btw, were still in the dryer, wet, and we only realized this at night and so we had to wait for the dryer to dry them so we could make the bed (which became flat within an hour). The master bed did not have an upper sheet, only a bottom feet and a duvet with no cover so it was a bit scratchy and uncomfortable in the night.
Another small thing is that the wastebaskets had not been emptied in the kitchen and in one of the bathrooms. The amenities in the master bathroom were a random assortment of left behind shampoos etc, which is alright but does not give that nice welcoming feeling. The kitchen had odd things left behind in the fridge and cabinets, but only a few spoons of sugar in the canister: Nothing to cry about but not that lovely welcoming feeling one gets at an Airbnb where the host has put some heart into the hosting experience.
I am sure these things can be improved on easily by the time the next guest books their room, so that this home can be as terrific as it should be, and I wish Rickie nothing but the very best.