I had a lovely time with Gina and the Big Brown dog, Leroy! The house and the room were clean and cozy. I am grateful for access to all the comforts I needed -- storage space, linens, clean shower, clean kitchen, access to fridge space (a clean fridge), a washer, a juicer and a blender that Gina made sure was always ready for my evening of prepping. I'm sure that Leroy would have preferred someone was much more interesting foods for him. I loved sleeping under a comforting duvet with a fan in the window to blow the cool evening breeze into the room as I rested. I was also surprised to a bar of chocolate on the desk the day I arrived. I savored pieces of it each evening as I prepped myself for the next day.

I had LONG days in downtown Portland and having access to a bus that went directly into downtown was convenient; the bus stop was less than 10min away and the bus ride was at most 30min. She even keeps copies of the bus routes and schedules in the room so that her guests have a way to navigate the area. Even though I have visited Portland on several other occasions, this was my first time staying outside of downtown and I appreciate the green lush landscape and foraging for wild blackberries and mini-plums on the same block as Gina's house!

Gina was an energetic, gracious and welcoming hostess who was always checking in about my well-being because she wanted to make sure that my visit and stay was a pleasant one. Given my recent stressful weeks this was a welcome relief! I guess this is particularly impressive given that Leroy was dealing with his own medical issues and Gina was still checking on me! I enjoyed my evening conversations with Gina about travel, food, and life. Just let Gina know what type of experience you would like to have during your visit and I'm sure she'll do her best to help you make some of those connections!