There are a few pro’s and con’s to our stay at Sarah’s place.
I’ll start with the pro’s:
Her place is clean, tidy, air conditioned and within close proximity of the downtown area. We never walked anywhere but it would probably take about 20 minutes to walk to the shops/ tourist areas. There were plenty of towels made available for guests, which is nice should you forget to pack them for your trip.
The view of the city is great and the 5 freeway is very easy to get to. Even though the area and outside of the building was undesirable, the actual room was very clean and organized. The tv, portable a/c, combo washer/dryer and whirlpool bathtub all helped to unwind after a day trekking through the city’s sites and various hiking spots in the surrounding area. The security of the building is also good because you need a key fob to go through the main door.
The cons are worth noting, but I would say they are out of Sarah’s control. There is a large indigent/ homeless population in the neighborhood as well as throughout all of Seattle, they did not bother us.
However I would not recommend walking alone at night especially if you are a female or elderly. Which leads me to my next point: parking. This location might be most beneficial for those who prefer to Uber on vacation versus renting a vehicle. Parking is incredibly difficult to find (it took us at least an hour and a half every night - no exaggeration). There is a parking structure down the block, which charged us $10 for the 5 minutes that we were in there trying to find a safe spot.
Additional info to note:
The person that lets you into the room is not Sarah (I don’t know if this is an issue for some); you will get two sets of keys (which might throw you off if you’re used to air bnb’s that use key pads). The space is perfect for a single person or a couple; however the space is still a bit crowded. The entryway is a narrow hallway which makes it awkward to immediately set your things down.
While this may come across as a negative review, I do want to note that I like to know what kind of space I will be occupying during a stay, and I am hoping to do the same for future guests. There are several medical facilities in the immediate area and this may be why there are more transient people around than other areas. Communication with Sarah was good and overall we did enjoy our stay.
Parking was easier to deal with after downloading the city’s parking app and paying $1 for every 2 hours before the time expired but there is a limit to the times one can renew their parking permit. Finally, seeing Robert walking around the immediate area throwing his football around to complete strangers and welcoming and brightening everyone’s day was awesome to see and it was very heartwarming to see that he is doing well.
If you don’t already know who Robert is, check out this link for YouTube:
https://youtu.be/WHQkPpl7_uQ