Renting a vacation home online is a transaction in trust not real estate. A great trip is, for me at least, all about how well I was able to connect with the host prior to arrival, how well the place meshes with my expectations once I arrive, how available the host is as I bumble through her or his apartment, how much the host's character is reflected in the property. And then of course it's about whether there are good places to sit, comfortable beds, clean and comfortable linens and towels, good water pressure and the mesh of setting and my tastes.
This apartment scores high on all these counts that matter to us (my wife and myself). We really look for places with character more than glitz, steak more than sizzle, homeliness over polish. When we want luxury and perfection we go to a hotel; when we want to live where we are visiting we look for a home exchange or rental that we feel we can connect to.
We hit a rare homerun with Ryan's place and with Ryan, though it might not click for some travelers: we loved the classic v vintage sink in the bathroom, but some might prefer one that mixed hot and cold in a single faucet; the bathtub and shower would not be my choice, but they are in period and I am pretty much sold exclusively on european hand showers; if I could change one thing about the place it would be to have a wc or bath on the main floor; the steps are a bit quirkily unevenly steep both inside and out, and the front door knob takes some getting acquainted with before it feels like an old friend; it's a hundred year old house and it has that feel.
For us that's a major plus. We visit our adult kids in Portland several times a year, and we'll happily return to Ryan's place without looking else where if it's available when we are looking next.
Ryan himself was available and responsive and cheery throughout, generally via SMS. We had no problems at all, but the spacey postman mistakenly left a package for the neighbors in Ryan's locked mailbox; the mailman couldn't reach Ryan, but he responded right away and got the packet to its owner swiftly; it made me feel that he was there and on top of things in case we needed him.
Lots of small personal touches; he left snacks in the fridge and they were neat things. If you know Portland, an Olympic Provisions mini-salami is a non-trivial piece of charcuterie. The kitchen could have had a few more staples to make it totally self-sufficient on arrival (we needed to get salt and pepper and sugar, but there were other things that were very useful.
I'm always intrigued when the host provides a scale, as a fat person perennially dieting; it's a mixed blessing to be sure, but very rare ion vacation rentals. Excellent easy to use TV, great blender in the kitchen and adequate vacation rental cooking equipment. A stove good enough to make me want to consider Jenn-Air as I shop for a new stove now, great fridge. Excellent beds throughout.
Don 't miss the fried chicken hole in the wall bar Ryan recommends a few blocks away, though perhaps takeaway is best unless you enjoy deep old style Portland saloons. But the chicken and Jo-Jos (lightly battered deep-fried potato wedges fried in the chicken cooking fat) may be the best in town.
Location is just east of Ladd's Addition, a great non-central part of Portland (which is mostly a decentralized city so the fact that it's not downtown doesn't mean that it's not near the parts of Portland that we always gravitate to when we visit).
All in all, a great value and a really pleasant, stay in a setting that felt like home.
john