Things I wish I knew before I booked:
- This unit is in someone else's backyard. The only way to access it is through a gate in the fence, which if you're short, is hard to open back up when you're inside the yard (there's no handle on the interior, so you literally have to reach over the gate and unlock the gate from the other side to get out). This was especially fun for my girlfriend, who would regularly have to come back and ask me to let her out.
- This unit backs up directly to the alley and another building that has really bright floodlights that turn on when a car drives by, and really brightens up the bedroom even when you don't want it to.
- You can literally hear everything. You can even hear the neighbors pull their garbage and recycling out at 2am since there's no soundproofing.
- The shower is TINY. Super fun for someone who is over 6 feet tall.
- The unit is TINY. Definitely would not recommend staying here for a week like we did. There were only two of us and it still felt really cramped.
- You only get 2 bath towels, a hand towel, and a face towel. There's no bath mat. Again, problematic for long stays.
- There's no detergent for the washer/dryer. Kind of makes the washer/dryer useless but at least there's a Safeway around the corner.
- We had one tiny trashcan for everything (there's wasn't a wastebasket in the bathroom at all). Also problematic for long stays but at least there were extra garbage bags.
- There might be some extra blankets, pillows, and maybe even a foldaway bed when you get there, which is useful for people who might have more than 2 people, but otherwise it just takes up a bunch of space in a small unit.
- The yard is shared with the main house so don't be surprised if you come back and find a small gathering in the backyard when you're making your way to the unit.
Pros:
- It's in a really convenient location. The unit is really walkable to all the restaurants and shops in Ballard.
- We had a small dog with us and so having the yard was useful, though the main house has a dog as well so if your dog is shy or doesn't socialize well, I would be careful about when you let the dog out.
- There's free unlimited street parking out front if you have a car.