I was looking for a house to accommodate my family (me, brother, and our senior parents) for a Seattle trip while we visited my dad's old pilot buddy in the Ballard area. I spent days searching airbnb before finally deciding on this place, and I'm so glad I did. I feel like so many of the places available looked so...delicate, and uncomfortable. Like they were decorated just for show and not for people to actually live there. We needed a place where we could actually kick back and feel at-home. Because of Alex's excellent photos of the comfy-looking living room, basement and hot-tub, I had a feeling we'd all be happy here, and I was right.
Never having visited the area, I wasn't sure what to expect when it came to location, accessibility, and privacy. Well, the location is amazing. There's easy parking, it's in walking distance to a great little downtown area, and the house is very private.
The house itself? I loved it immediately. It's an older home with what looks like original hardwood floors, spacious bedroom and living areas, and the cutest, quirkiest spiral staircase in the kitchen. They really don't make homes like this anymore. The seating in the living room and basement was truly comfortable. The dining room table was substantial. And the bedrooms! The beds were not only comfortable, but the bedrooms are each set up allowing great privacy. On the top floor, the two queen bedrooms are on either end of a hallway with a bathroom in between. On the basement/bottom level, the king bedroom has a door and curtain separating it from the rest of the basement (plus the bedroom itself is quite large.)
It was hard to pull my dad away from the big-screen TV in the basement, and we all found the mega-couch really comfortable.
And the hot tub! New, spacious, nice and hot with powerful jets, and kept sparkling clean. Getting a relaxing soak in the morning with Seattle drizzle all around me was one of the highlights of my trip.
The neighborhood--we were able to walk to get dinner every night. The italian place Perche No (literally like 30 steps away) was our favorite place. It had some of the best Italian food any of us have ever had, in addition to the most charming chef/owners you've ever met. Great original cocktails and a fantastic young pianist, too.
On to the hosts--they were always so nice and friendly, lightning fast to respond, yet still gave us our privacy. They also left us a really enjoyable bottle of wine when we arrived! My mom liked it so much she bought another bottle.
I could really keep going on and on, but I'll wrap it up. I'm so impressed with the place. I feel like it was a fantastic deal and provided us with everything my (picky) family needed. Awesome place and truly hope to stay here again.