Given the description and the price, I expected a clean, high end house with luxurious amenities and a gorgeous view. But, it was an uneven experience since a few things didn’t work and several minor annoyances. The owner(s) live in the house part-time with their dog so they have many restricted spaces and stuff stored in cabinets, closets, and the garage. For simple questions, the host response time ranged from a few hours to more than a day. Botton line, if the total cost was 20% less, I would recommend this place.
Pros:
Clearly a lot of effort went into decorating the house and it was lovely. All the soap, shampoo, lotions, and towels were high quality and there were nice touches like charging cables in the bedroom. Most of the house was clean. We were given codes for the gate and the garage door, so the check in was smooth. It felt like a safe neighborhood. We appreciated parking in the garage, however the garage is small and we had to move stuff around in order for our mid-size SUV to fit with 2 inches to spare.
Cons:
Even though it looks close to downtown on the map, the house isn’t easily accessible. Because of the Portland street layout with strange intersections, one-way roads, and the freeway, there aren’t many direct routes to the house. The steep, one lane road for two lanes of traffic, with no sidewalk makes walking and biking difficult. Taking a ride share was worth it for us.
There’s a lot of traffic noise since the house is 100 yards from the 405 freeway, plus I-5 in the distance, with many sirens (presumably because the medical center is a mile away). The house is all hard surfaces with little insulation, so sound echoes, meaning you can hear when someone turns on a faucet or watches TV. I wore earplugs and played white noise on my phone.
Many small things didn’t work or weren’t provided. A few examples: the chandelier over the dining table didn’t work; we couldn’t use the fireplace; the master bedroom has no clothing storage for guests; the master bathtub didn’t drain, and I was told there would be beverages in the refrigerator, but instead it was filled with old, partially consumed food.