Alina was very sweet and helpful. Her house was tranquil and quiet which was great after a days spent in Old Havana. She had pamplets for guests for various excursion, though nothing we were interested in she would clearly would have helped you organize them. She was helpful calling restaurants to make reservations. My issues with her casa were: she had two beds in the room advertized not one, which was fine except they were it seemed air beds that weren't filled up enough. Very squishy and not firm. We were so uncomfortable sinking in them that we slept in separate beds despite being a couple. The pillows were very uncomfortable too and had no pillow cover only a case, so I had to put a t shirt around it. The other thing was there were no chairs outside anywhere. Most casas we have seen and/or stayed in have great outdoor space to have coffee or tea. (Like in her pictures!) but she had nothing set up for us. I felt like I was inconveniencing her by asking for a chair. It was tiny and uncomfortable. Not like the awesome metal patio furniture and rocking chairs you see everywhere. And she didn't bring out a table. So prepare to be jealous of the casa next door where they have a private terrace with great patio furniture. Lastly, there was no hot water to shower the last morning before getting on a plane and we saw two cockroaches one in the shower and one small dead one on the bed when we arrived. Even with that though. The house is big and airy and so quiet. We stayed in worse in Cuba and anyone who is new to visiting will see it's all relative. She had a working bathroom, a pretty, large room with windows, an A/C, and a mini fridge that she always had stocked with a giant bottle of water which you will need! (Also, it is directly across from Cuba Libro a great English language bookstore and outdoor oasis run by an American woman and her family. It's very cute. They sell chocolate chip cookies. And you can hangout in their garden even if you don't buy much. We left the rarely found American books for the Cubans, but bought a beautiful limited edition sketch book by a Cuban artist as a souvenior. If you have room, bring her books for a donation. Especially American books. We would have if we had known!)