Vrbo | Carbondale, CO | Cozy Modern Apartment

We had an excellent stay here!

We would definitely stay here again, but that may take some time since the last time we visited Colorado together was in 2013.

The owner, Helena, is very attentive and accessible. She saved our bacon twice: 1) printed up our Maroon Bells permit that we realized we had to book last minute 2) we left our pillows behind and she responded right away and we were able to drive back and get them from the VRBO.

The online photos on VRBO are spot on. Very clean. Lots of detail, attention, and care has gone into this VRBO to accommodate guests and make their stay a comfy one.

Bed is really comfy and best mattress in a while from all our recent stays at places. (We are Tempurepedic people so our standards run high.)

Biggest heads up: Anyone that can’t do stairs will not be able to stay here. See photos that clearly demonstrate the amount of stairs.

If you’d like a super detailed review I have it posted at TheHikingBookworms.

PROS (oh so many of them)

Kitchen:

One that works great for those who like to cook. We do!

Lots of glasses – enough to get you in trouble if you don’t wash them right away.

BIG dinner plates.

Medium sized bowls (love that for salad).

Loved that the utensils were of one set and not just a bunch of random pieces.

Pretty good amount of pots and pans to cook in. Colander. Plenty utensils.

Ample counterspace.

Well stocked with cleaning supplies such as dish soap, hand soap, dish towels, and a sponge. Also, a drying rack that I didn’t have to blow cobwebs off of or dig under the kitchen sink for it.

TWO fridges should you need the extra space (one was plenty for us).

Only thing we couldn’t locate were oven mittens and I’m sure if I texted Helena she would have IMMEDIATELY responded regarding their whereabouts or brought us some.

Dishwasher would be nice to have, but it’s not a deal breaker.

Electric water kettle. YES! Yes. YES! This is HUGE plus for me as I’m an iced tea drinker. I really dislike the alternative of using the coffee machine to heat up water. The tea ends up tasting like coffee (as is happening in the current VRBO I’m in at Twin Lakes, CO). And don’t even come to me about heating up water in a microwave.)

Laundry: 

Washer and dryer: fantastic and we took full advantage. It’s stocked with environmental friendly laundry detergent (lavender scented).

Bathroom: 

Sooooo much shelving and counter space around the sink. Including inside the bathtub area. Just spot on perfectness for travelers. She absolutely nailed it.

Tons of towels. All kinds. Fantastic.

Tub has a rain shower  and so much water comes out of it that it’s amazing and frightening at the same time. Like, how is there so much water pressure? Envious.

Bedroom:

Really liked the mattress. I slept great. (David had some neck problems, but not brought on my the bed.)

Living Room:

Great couch. 

Loved that the coffee table cubes can be moved around and made good footstools.

All Around:

The lighting from the sun is wonderful. Lots and lots of light.

Windows. Fantastic for cooling off the place. 

The artificial lighting was good. Ample in number.

The countertop space above the staircase is FANTASTIC for staging, arranging, and organizing gear, duffel bags, and tote boxes. (We are road tripping with a mix of camping and VRBOs so got lots of stuff with us.) Made great use of that countertop. (If only if I’d been smart enough to put our pillows there then we wouldn’t have left them behind. First time that it’s ever happened.)

Welcoming vanilla treat and flowers just again shows off attention to detail in making the place feel warm and welcoming.

Lots of real plants throughout.

Detailed instructions for check out.

Excellent WiFi connection. (We streamed Netflix and I uploaded a lot of photos to the Cloud.)

Your own parking spot right next to the entrance. Ridiculously convenient.

Cons (and I’m really digging here):

The stairs are serious business. We were fine with it, but on packing day I started feeling it on my legs. But we also hiked like some 20 miles the day prior. The main thing is. If you can’t do stairs then sadly you would not be able to stay here. (I greatly appreciated how well the stairs were made and the grippy material on them to minimize injury.)

The smell. There’s a weird smell in the place, most evident at the bottom of the stairwell, and maybe related to the art studio underneath the apartment. Not really a problem in summer, when you’ll have all the windows open all night and some of the day, but in winter this could possibly be an issue. Also, just comes down to how sensitive you may be to smells.

The toilet seat cover. You have to push it aaaall the way up to make it stick. This apparently was only a conundrum to me and not David. I made a video of the toilet seat for entertainment purposes of how ridiculously I’m digging here.

Because the shower head puts out a lot of water you’ll have to watch out for not being able to take really long showers as you may run out of hot water. David and I solved this by spacing our showers. The water heater tank seemed to replenish fairly quickly.

Oh! Okay, the one thing in the bathroom that we would change. We would put up a darker curtain. I don’t get particularly squeamish about being seen naked, but it was a bit odd to have a sheer curtain that didn’t fully close. From that window people from the outside can definitely see in, especially when it’s dark and you’ve got the lights on inside. I fixed the gap by draping a hand towel over the curtain bar. Easy-peasy, but perhaps this would be the one thing I’d adjust.

Must visit places while in Carbondale?

Carbondale Branch Library: 

We got so many books for less than $15. And really good books. In great condition. And most were hardbacks. We were absolutely floored by the selection of good used books for sale. It’s quite possible we’d have bought more had it not been for limited space in our Crosstrek. I filled a 10 gallon tote with the books we got.

Silo Culinary Productions

We ate lunch here twice. The sandwiches are amazing here. Full of flavor. Photos and review are on Google.