Carina Rossner's room for rent on 1022 Webster Street in Palo Alto is advertised as "Cozy room in Palo Alto and Stanford," and it does not disappoint. Her charming home with the white picket fence in front was in a perfect location for my visit this August - close to University Street - about a 5 block walk - and only a couple blocks to the north/south thoroughfare, Middlefield Road, where there was a shuttle and bus line available if one didn't have a car. A lovely old residential neighborhood. In my case, I was able to connect with a gentleman who could sometimes provide shuttle service between the San Jose airport and Palo Alto, and ultimately, I didn't have to rent a car over my 5 day stay.

From our first contact Carina's willingness to answer my various questions in a timely fashion, and her graciousness as a host were very much appreciated. My upstairs bedroom was right across the hall from a very nice bathroom with tub and shower. Large windows in the room opened out to a huge, lovely golden apple tree. I really enjoyed meeting Carina's family, but also thought she'd done a good job of setting up common versus family living areas. She would shut a door at the top of the stairway in the morning, for instance, which closed the upstairs hall away from the downstairs noise of the family getting ready for work and school.

Carina has two small dogs, Julie and Jake, who are very cute and friendly, and pretty darn good about doing her bidding. I don't recall hearing them bark much, if at all, and I loved that they enjoyed being petted and having conversations.

I was in Palo Alto for some specialized health care, and apart from some nervousness surrounding that at first, I certainly benefited from the relaxed, open and attentive atmosphere in Carina's home, where I could begin to feel a bit like a friend of the family.

Many thanks to her, her family, her friends and their dogs!

Joanne Ward