Shannon & Brent's house was very convenient for us to get to downtown Minneapolis (10min drive or so) as well as to our American shopping hotspots (10-15 minutes to the Costco, Trader Joe's, Target) Also great for going on long walks with the dog,there was a really nice bike/walking path just steps outside their door. Our hosts were very friendly and accomodating- we had lots of suggestions for things to do, breakfast items were laid out every morning (cereal, milk, bagels, bread, fruit- lots of choice!), and we were even provided with a umbrella & dog towel to use for a rainy morning dog walk. Rayne & Minnie & Johnny were bundles of fun & energy- although our dog was a bit to rambunctious to join in the fun- our hosts were very accomodating in keeping the 'dog peace' in the house- the set up in the house allows for a compartmentalization of the guest room/bathroom area apart from the main house and the creative use of gates+doors kept all the dogs happy. The free parking & internet access are a definite bonus and we were even able to use their upright freezer so we could freeze our meat for the drive home to Canada. A nice selection of books/extra materials were provided about Minneapolis-Bike trails+tourist stuff+info etc which was a nice touch. This was a great choice for us on our shopping trip to the States.