Never before has an Airbnb so perfectly captured the feeling of being at home and on an idyllic vacation simultaneously for me. First off, the listing advertises the large fireplace for a good reason--it really gave the whole place this wonderfully cozy and welcoming atmosphere, and I loved its warmth, glow, and easiness to use. Another aspect of the place that I found important and lovely was the amount of space and flow of light and fresh air. The room felt incredibly spacious for a studio, and there were multiple windows with swirled glass where I could let in light without worrying about being seen, and the natural light really pervaded the place during the day in a way that felt very airy and free. I also loved how the light switch was right above the bed and controlled most of the bulbs and lamps in the studio, so that I didn't have to stumble through the dark after turning off the lights to sleep. Really great design.
I felt like my needs were well met in all areas, so I'm only commenting on the above and beyond features, or the things that really tugged at my heartstrings when I had to leave. One of those factors is the surrounding area: the door opens into a side yard of bamboo plants and lemon trees, warm beneath the same California blue sky I grew up under. The host encouraged me to park on their driveway, and I noted that their neighborhood is one of those ones with the really gently sloping curb instead of the regular perpendicular ones. It's a beautiful neighborhood for morning walks, with lots of fun and interesting houses to look at and a verdant park just a few minutes' walking distance away--I loved going there near sunset and sitting on the tire swing, watching other people throw frisbees or run after their children, laughing. This entire spring break, I was able to walk and drive only very short distances to visit my best friend and go get breakfast from Happy Donuts or pet dogs at the Mitchell Dog Park. Everything in that area is just so safe and sunny and slow, and it feels to me like the gold-toned nostalgia of my childhood tinged with the more knowing perspective of an adult revisiting their hometown haunts.
Or maybe that's because the host provided chopsticks and a fresh water purifier/unopened Brita filter, which I haven't seen before in any other Airbnb and always sort of missed, seeing as these were important kitchen implements from my childhood. As a trilingual American-Born Chinese person, I was pleased to converse with the host, Grace, in both English and Mandarin. She was very kind during the whole check in and even let me check out in the evening to best accommodate my midnight flight out. Also, one time pretty late at night when I feared I might have broken the toilet, I went outside and saw Grace gardening quietly--I felt guilty to disturb her, but I ended up anxiously describing the issue, and she immediately fetched tools and personally came to my bathroom to fix things, even leaving behind a set of brand new tools for me just in case the issue returned, which was definitely beyond my expectations. Furthermore, even when I was booking the listing, something went wrong and the booking didn't go through (it was pretty last minute and only days before my actual trip), but Grace not only communicated as soon as possible and cleared the booking, but she also very graciously waived some of the cost.
On the occasions that I invited my best friend over to watch movies or hang out and have a sleepover, they were also very impressed with how nice the place was and surprised when I told them the cost--it's genuinely a really great value for what I believe to be the best spring break I've had since I was literally eleven years old and went to Cancun with my family.
I know I just wrote probably way too much for a simple Airbnb review but this is my first day back in my cold Midwest city doing work as usual again and I just miss this Airbnb a lot. I'm a writer and I get sentimental about places but even so I still got way more attached to this place than I predicted I would. In conclusion, if you're a traveler and still reading this, I think you should stay here; you won't have any problems, and even if you do, the kind and lovely host will fix them with great effort and compassion. That's all! Thank you, Grace :)