We took an in-city vacation from our home in early August 2011. Well, it felt like a vacation, but we were evicted from our home while our house was under construction.

I needed a place for my two kids, hubby and I to stay for a week. I was not looking forward to a hotel because it was pricey and we'd be sharing a room...taking on food expenses, etc.

THEN, I discovered an apartment complex that I used to live that had short-term rentals. This place is great.

It's a gated, upscale apartment community two exits from downtown Sacramento. Our unit (#106) was ground level and offered our family access to the beautiful pool, feeding the ducks in the "fake lakes" and access to their gym.

It's a true apartment with Granite countertops throughout, a full, stacked washer and dryer, living room with fireplace, two flat screen tvs (one in the LR, one in the master br) and great closet space. There's a private patio as well. The unit is carpeted in an industrial carpet. The bathrooms in basic linoleum. CH&A worked great.

The kitchen was a standard apartment kitchen with a full-size fridge, full-size oven, built-in microwave, coffee maker, rice maker, plus all requisite utensils, plates, cups, and mugs.

During the week we had a daily maid that vacuumed, did dishes and made beds. IMPRESSIVE! The development is very quiet. You're assigned a gate pass and parking spot.

I got a $99/night rate. I thought it was too good to be true and checked it out in person. We LOVED it and will recommend it to family and friends visiting Sacramento. Our only recommendations to owners are to: ) add a few extra sets of dishes and utensils. For a family of four we really ran through items. 2) We never figured out how to use the gate. Fortunately we squeaked in behind other residents. 3) The sheets are rather threadbare. They could stand to upgrade to make the experience entirely perfect.

This would be a great short-term spot for folks relocating too!