Our London home swap: a perfect gem with fantastic owners

"We travelled from the States swapping to Rosemary's lovely home in London. Rosemary and her family will come to our home in Massachusetts later this year; but I wanted to write a review of our home swap vacation while it was fresh in my mind.

Rosemary was an absolute joy to communicate with as we worked out the details of our stay; she and her husband went above and beyond to help us as we planned our trip. We were able to Facetime with them ahead of the travel dates and we came away from that first "meeting" with a solid feeling of trust.

When we arrived in London after a red-eye, with our children and all of our things, we were greeted at the airport by Rosemary's husband who helped us navigate back to their house in Battersea. This was certainly not within the requirements of hosting us and was so very, very appreciated! We had a chance to meet Rosemary and her children when we arrived at the house and then they left us on our own to explore, and explore we did!

Prior to our arrival, I had been in contact with Rosemary and shared our itinerary and she was able to send us some guidance on navigating London's public transportation system. Their home is just a 3 minute walk to several bus stops that can start you on your trip to wherever in London you might want to visit. I can not express enough how wonderful it was to be able to spend our days in and about London and then only have to make our way back to Battersea to settle in for the night. Having access to a kitchen where we could prepare a quick breakfast and some coffee every morning was a game-changer for our travel experience and the home was the perfect amount of space for all of us to unwind after a full day of activities.

Battersea is such a nice lively area of London and we loved visiting several excellent local pubs. Additionally, the Italian restaurant literally at the corner was a delight and we had no concerns at all about allowing our children (11 and 13) head back to the house on their own from the restaurant while my husband and I enjoyed another drink and a dessert.

If you're thinking of visiting London I highly recommend a stay with Rosemary and her family. Their attention to detail in their home packet was extremely helpful and they even had a few pages of possible itineraries that we would have definitely used had we not already planned our entire stay!

We are looking forward to hosting Rosemary and her family in a few months time."

- Miriam (Massachusetts, USA)

Our home swap highlights:

1. We were a 1/2 block away from several bus stops and Underground stations.
2. Battersea is such a lovely location to explore (excellent pubs, restaurants and cafes).
3. Rosemary and her family went so far above and beyond our expectations for hosting - helping us understand the area and the public transportation system; providing a clean, lovely home; being available before, during and after our stay for all of our questions and needs. Staying with such a nice family and getting to know them a bit has made our anticipation of their visit to us next year a delight.

Massachusetts, USA (HE41094)

Beautiful wooden home in Manchester by the Sea, MA, USA. Just 1.75 miles to the Singing Beach.

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Battersea, London, UK (HE40964)

Stylish Victorian maisonette with private garden. An ideal location from which to explore London.

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