I would like to start by saying that this is a very comfortable house that is well furnished and is in a fantastic location. Fremont is my favorite Seattle neighborhood, and we were able to walk to all of the bars, restaurants and shops we wanted to visit for a weekend getaway. The house is well furnished with modern amenities, and everything you’d need for a long or short stay. The host is very friendly and communicative.
Overall we had a very nice stay, but there are a few things that I wish I’d known that you can’t tell from the listing. I didn’t realize that this is a duplex property and you can hear EVERYTHING happening on the other side of the walls. The adjoining unit has space that is located above the kitchen/living room of the rental property. Their stairs are VERY creaky and loud so there was constant noise of people going up and down stairs as well as the constant stomping of feet above. We didn’t know the layout of the house and for the first few minutes we actually thought there was someone else in the rental property. My wife and I were trying to get a weekend away from our apartment, but the noise here was actually louder than where we live. The noise did stop at night, and the neighbors were not doing anything rude or obnoxious, you can just hear them all day long.
The set of stairs leading down to the master bedroom/ large bathroom area has an incredibly low ceiling. My wife and I are both 6 feet tall, but I think you would need to be under 5 feet to not hit your head. I have some back and knee problems and I use stairs all the time with no issues, but squatting and ducking under the ceiling for each trip to the bedroom was not easy.
The location is pet friendly. According to the host the previous guest was a longer term stay with a dog. My wife and I are not pet owners, and the amount of pet hair started to get a little uncomfortable after a couple of days. It was all hidden in the lighter colored carpet so it wasn’t immediately noticeable until we started to see it on our socks and other clothes. The host indicated this was not normal, and they tried to address hair before our stay, but it still needed a pretty deep vacuuming.
Also, keep an eye on the refrigerator. When we checked in the circuit breaker had turned off and items in the freezer had all melted. The host made it sound like this was a common problem so monitor the fridge if you plan on keeping food during your stay.
