The highlight of staying here was 1)communicating with
Gina-she was very responsive and accommodating, and 2)the magnificent view! There were 5 of us and it was comfortable. The downstairs "room", is great in that it has the nice views, especially the lights at night. In the morning it is very bright and there is no privacy, but this is mentioned in the listing. That room also has a Nest smoke detector which flashes its green light throughout the night, so if that is something that would disturb you, you would want to wear a sleep mask. It seems like it is probably the most plausible place for a smoke detector downstairs. It was fine for us. Comfortable beds. It could use a little more comfortable sitting/lounging furniture in the TV room as it was a little tight for 5. The kitchen was clean and cute, could probably use a little more cookware, so if you had something that wasn't super simple that you planned to make, you may want to bring that along. We are originally from Southern CA and know the reputation that Oakland has, but we felt totally safe in this neighborhood. You can see that there are many homes that are being fixed up, which is good. We actually walked 1/2 mile down to a Thai restaurant after dark and we felt safe-you'd have to judge that for yourself. It is very steep, hilly neighborhood, so a great little workout. We would stay here again!