The key was in a lock box. We never met the owner, although they were responsive to Emails. I suspect that they were keeping an eye on the place from the Y-Not Inn across the street somehow. The apartment had the feel of a large hotel suite that was frequently used. That is not a bad thing; just the assembly line feel of it - it was comfortable, but not charming or homey. It definitely met our needs as a base to explore the north coast for a couple of days. A decent Co-Op Foods is just across the street and a Gulf petrol staion just up the block. The award-winning Reid's Fish & Chips is just around the corner (next to a laundry), and was perhaps the best we had in our three weeks in Scotland and the Dales, although we did tell Enzo's in Ayr that we would give them a vote. Reid's was worth the walk in the rain. Thurso itself was nice and had a cosmopolitan feel. The area around the apartment felt safe and was reasonably quiet. The occasional young drunks all seemed to get home from the pub by 10 PM. The kitchen was well equipped, but, as with most rentals, we found toxic Teflon aplenty and made cooking plans accordingly. Plenty of hot water and the Wi-Fi was OK for basic tasks and would probably support gaming. It was difficult to tell at a glance if the connection were exclusive to this unit, so I took care with security. No real complaints about this property and would consider staying here again.