Bob and Karen's place is the epitome of what makes Portland so fantastic! It is fun, artistic, comfortable, homie, funky, unusual, and seems to be full of pride.
But all that aside, from a traveler's standpoint, it was one of the overall cleanest places I've ever been in including any hotel. They left no detail unturned and have thought of just about everything for someone who is coming into Portland to stay. The linens were nice. The bed was comfortable. They took out and made a spare twin bed on the floor for my son and he loved it.
The ping pong table was super fun and we actually used it about four times. The tv worked great and came with full cable access. The kitchen area has a full washer and dryer, laundry soaps, clothes line, fridge, toaster, kettle, microwave, etc... (No oven or stove if that's something you need.)
We spent about an hour going through the place when we first got there because it's like a mini art museum - full of interesting things to look at. and the next morning i walked around and took tons of pictures of everything. But my personal favorite part of it all was the old school record player connected to a great speaker system that perfectly flowed through the whole place. And they had tons of classic records on hand at your fingertips. There wasn't a moment we were in there and awake that we weren't using that record player. It was such a great addition to our trip. Our cel phones didn't come out one time for music. (My 13 year old son was so impressed that he decided he likes music much better like this and we're now looking into getting a record player for our house. Win!) It personally made the trip for me. Took me right back to days when I would actually sit still to listen to an album then get up and flip it over! I felt so relaxed.
The neighborhood is beautiful and clean and feels very safe. It's conveniently located next to all the best food in Portland, in my opinion. We walked to all of our meals, but Bob and Karen have provided two bikes, a bike pump and two helmets as well. Their back yard area was available and lovely, as well. They were helpful and friendly when we needed them and left us alone when we didn't. The entrance to our place was well lit, easy and private.
The only thing I would say to be aware of with this rental is, because it's a basement and they lived in the house above, the plumbing is very audible and loud and their floor (our ceiling) creaks pretty loud when they walk around above us. The walls are thin so it's not a place to be loud in the evening hours. No worse than a hotel or any other place in historic Portland, but if you're looking for complete silence, or know you're going to be loud at night, this is probably not the place for you, because it's in a basement and you're under their house. We didn't mind any of the shared noise experience and felt it added to the extremely charming funkiness of the whole experience. (The worst of it is that sometimes it sounded like very loud rain on the roof and walls.... which was actually pretty cool and I welcomed it.)
I can't say enough good things about this rental!