My husband and I were booked to arrive at Marguerite's the very day after the shoot-out with the Boston Marathon bombers, while the younger brother was still at large and the whole city was basically in lock down! I had only arrived back in the States the night before and was not even aware of what was happening. Marguerite called us first thing in the morning to give us her report on the situation, well in time for us to cancel or postpone our trip. I was very grateful that she had been proactive, thus giving us the time to make our decision. Moreover, she was quick to reassure us that we would be refunded if we did decide to cancel and she would be glad to have us at a different time if we preferred. In the end, we decided to make the trip, but we spent the first night at an airport hotel, only getting to Marguerite's for the second night. (I should add that she took care of getting our refund to us promptly and even arranged with airbnb to give us a bonus coupon to use for our next airbnb stay somewhere! That was going above and beyond, and we really appreciated it!) When we finally did arrive at her place, we were quite enchanted by the hominess of our little basement flat. (Personally, I felt much happier in that cozy space than I had at the somewhat sterile hotel!) We had our own separate entrance and could come and go as we pleased without disturbing anyone. The windows in the main room looked out into the garden where tulips and forsythia were in glorious spring bloom! (My husband enjoyed sitting in the sunshine on the little patio in the corner of the garden where there were chairs and a table.) A bottle of wine and two goblets with a corkscrew were thoughtfully laid out on the marble-topped coffee table to welcome us when we first walked in. (My Facebook picture that day showed my husband raising his glass as he relaxed in the old-fashioned rocker next to the coffee table :) I was a wee bit concerned about the bed being a futon, but, in fact, it was super comfortable (and nicely made up with a pretty Americana quilt--with plenty of extra blankets and pillows handy.) We had our own full bathroom, closet and chest of drawers, a desk to work at, and Internet and a nice flat-screen TV that all worked just great. Marguerite was very welcoming in the mornings, preparing a nice breakfast for us. We really enjoyed chatting and getting to know her and discovered that we had many common interests. (I forgot to add that, after the wine, our first clue that we were going to like our hostess came as we perused the many fascinating books she had lining the walls of our apartment!) Marguerite's home is within easy walking distance of the subway ("T") and also of one of...