My first Airbnb experience has made me a believer. Probably my first stay without one of those Gideon Bibles tucked in a drawer. A weekend like mine here will get you a sense of what it is like to be a local far more than any stay at a Marriot or Hilton property where a room in Columbus is indistinguishable from a room in Seattle, Atlanta, or Phoenix. The place is quite large (roughly 4x larger than the hotel room I stayed at when last in Columbus) with the rooms arranged in a line from the kitchen (rearmost), the bathroom (shower only), dining room, living room, and bedroom (front of house). You park out back and let yourself in with a keypad.
Rick has thought of everything including coffee for the (drip type) coffee machine, plenty of towels, individually wrapped hotel size bath soaps, wi-fi, binder with instructions and local info arranged in a table with distances. The furnishings are comfortable and such touches as uneven floor boards and the bedroom closet doors that don’t completely shut closed will make you feel like you’re in a lived rather than a rented space. Also, the book cases with real reading material (Dale Brown, Clive Cussler, even Bill Bryson).
Though the building has other units to one side and above, I literally didn’t hear anybody all weekend though I knew they were there because the parked cars changed. The only neighbor I saw was a fellow sitting with his dog on the back porch next building over. No street noise all weekend though the bedroom faces the street. The location is excellent for access to downtown (I had a Jeep) – MadLab, Schiller Park (summer Shakespeare), and Kolache Republic all less than 10 minutes. Ohio State Fair about 20 minutes. You can walk to the breakfast place Hang Over Easy.
As host, Rick was super efficient – sending clear directions and instructions on how to let yourself in – and anticipating casual needs from a fully equipped and spotless kitchen to bedtime page turners. I would absolutely stay at this lodging again.