Wander |
"Not all those who wander are lost."
Airbnb website: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/12348943 This is my last post for 2017 (California time) and the first post for 2018 (Taipei time). I was looking through my photo from 2017 and I realized that I am behind in my blog writing. I guess my wish for 2018 is to write more blog posts, especially for the MAKE section. A asked me why I don't post all of my homemade food on the blog. Well, I usually forgot to take pictures (too hangry) + night time lighting for photo is just crappy so nothing looks good despite the fact that it may taste amazeballs (yes that is a word). When we went to Napa, we decided to stay in an Airbnb. The property is a small cottage off of the main building. Victoria is a superhost with lots of shining reviews so we were pretty confident that this Airbnb experience would be better than our last Airbnb experience (Florence). For those who have never tried Airbnb, there is some basic etiquette that one should take note of before you check-in. 1. Airbnb is not a hotel. Don't expect hotel level services. Think of it as couch surfing at your distant relative's home. 2. Always be kind to your host. They put in a lot of effort to rearrange their schedules so that they can check you in. Don't demand to check in early (usually they may have another guest before you and they need to buffer in 1+ hours for cleaning). Don't check in at twilight hours. Again, this is not a hotel. Do you expect your distant relative to stay up and open the door for you at 2AM? Probably no, so don't ask your host to do that. 3. Keep the bed clean and don't eat in the bed. This is the host's home. If you leave a mess, it will take a few hours for them to clean it up. 4. Find out about parking and how to check in early. Don't just randomly park in the middle of nowhere. Your host's family may need the parking spot as well. 5. Bring your own toiletries and towels (when you can). 6. Text them one day before, the day of arrival, and the day of checking out. Good communication is important! 7. Try your best to leave the place as clean as possible. Your host will really appreciate it. 8. Don't try to bargain for a cheaper price and even try to negotiate offline. if you are staying for > 1 month, then yes by all means ask for a discount. If you are staying for 1 week and wants a great deal at a superhost's place, errrr you will leave the host thinking that you are a super cheapo and they may just reject your request. The whole reason why transactions should be done via Airbnb is so that you and the host are both protected financially. You can't have your cake and eat it too. Above. Amazing panoramic view of the farm + sunset The cottage is located in the residential area in Sonoma. You definitely need a car. We rented a car for the trip. Most residential areas in Sonoma do not have many street lights at night so we tried to get back to the Airbnb before sunset to avoid driving in complete darkness. A did not want me to drive into a vineyard accidentally. Above. Cows roaming around eating grass The cottage had a porch in the front with a hammock. There is no light pollution. On a clear day, you can probably sit there and stargaze. We unfortunately were still adjusting to our jetlag so we slept from like 9-3AM, woke up, and watched "Schitt's Creek" till 5AM. I recommend buying a few bottles of wine and just chilling on the porch. Above. Close-up of the cows (those little black dots) Above. The TV that we never watched.
I really love Victoria's mid-century classic furnitures. Tastefully decorated flats take forever to build because you have to collect the pieces of the furniture one by one and think about how it fits into the rest of the decór. She puts in a lot of thoughts for her Airbnb. She even put in snacks for us in case we were hungry (that is why she is a superhost). We had a blast in Napa. if solitude is your cup of tea, do check out Victoria's Airbnb (and no, she did not pay me to write this post).
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Address: 3515 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90010 http://www.thelinehotel.com/ Phone: 213 381 7411 When I first saw the Line Hotel in the mist of my hotel hunt, I was thinking about Brown and Cony from the popular Line application. Out of curiosity, I decided to check out their website. It turned out to be a chic boutique hotel. I read a few online reviews regarding their location/services/nearby restaurants. History lesson as told by A's cousin: The mid-Wilshire area was glamorous back in the 1930s. The nearby Ambassador Hotel used to host the Academy Awards. Around the mid 1970s, the neighborhood began to decline. Over the years, many Koreans have immigrated and established business in the area/revitalized the mid-Wilshire. Today, this is the go to place to get korean BBQ/nightlife. According to their webpage the interior design of the hotel is by Sean Knibb and food/beverage is by LA's own Roy Choi. If you don't know who Roy Choi is, I suggest you google him. He is the dude who started Korean taco truck and one of the many founders of the food truck movement. Anyway, to cut to the chase, Roy Choi is the brainchild behind the Pot and Commissary. Reasons why we chose to stay here: 1. Central LA/convenient 2. Within reachable distance to a Whole foods 3. To try out Roy Choi's food When I lived in the States, I hated the junk food there. The only junk food that I will ever admit that I love/crave is In-N-Out...ergo I insisted that we needed to live close to a Whole foods (if all else fail, I can go grab a pack of sushi as my dinner). The curtains have 2 settings. The blackout setting is amazing for a good night's rest. The room is itty bitty but can't complain as we are in L.A. The walls are concrete and bare- post industrialesque style (not everyone's cup of tea). I did like the decor a lot. I like the no frills/ clean lines. The bed is really really soft, sort of like you fell into sea of marshmallow kind of softness. I guess I should have taken a picture of the mini-bar. Everything costs money so I suggest you don't touch the mini-bar. Essentially, I just went to Whole foods and bought a bunch of fresh fruits and ate those as my snacks instead.
Best benefit: We were surrounded by many 24-hour Korean tofu houses. Due to jetlag, I was craving bulgogi in the middle of the night. A and I just walked down one block and got spicy pork bulgogi to-go (chuckles). Sorry to say this but Commissary was a let-down. I did not like the seafood chowder... it had freaking tabasco sauce in it. Don't mess with the classics man. Sad to say, I was muy triste about my lunch there. We did not go to the Pot, A's cousin told us it was overrated. Try it out yourself and let me know if you love it or hate it. BTW, do not stay at this awesome boutique hotel if you are light sleeper. People start to party downstairs from Thursday night onwards. |