Emilia's Retreat

We really enjoyed our stay here. Donna the owner is the perfect hostess and looked after us really well!

My wife and I have a 7 months old daughter and we stayed at Emilia's retreat in July for a family reunion. It is in a quaint neighborhood which has still kept its Victorian charm & beauty. It is a safe area where families can still leave their doors unlocked during the day. It's a family friendly inn and the inn keeper made us feel at home. We enjoyed the peace & quiet away from the hustle & bustle and we look forward to staying there again!

Having been to New York many times before this was my first experience with a bed and breakfast, and with Brooklyn. It turned out well. This place is a really good place for families with teenagers and Donna is very friendly and is obviously working hard to try and provide a good place to stay. We rode the subway into town every day.

Donna and Wilson were both wonderful hosts, and made my mom and I feel quite at home. The thoughtful touches, including fresh bagels and an array of snacks, made our trip even more enjoyable.

Our family recently stayed in the downstairs suite and Donna, the innkeeper, was amazing! We found the B&B to be very convenient and comfortable for our needs, which included working, real estate and school "shopping," and site-seeing. It was a great alternative to staying in Manhattan, which we have found to be difficult with our 2 small children. The kids especially loved all the toys. You won't meet nicer folks or have a better experience.

We stayed at Emilia's last Summer for somewhat over a week, and what a week. Days flew by and we always had a nice place to come back to. Breakfast were copious. This is a very nice neighbourhood. We're thinking of getting back a few days to NY and this is the place we'll stay. Excellent value!

It is like a haven after the hustle and bustle of New York. Close to the city, yet quiet and green. the apartment was homey, nicely furnished, comfortable with a nice welcome of beverages, a nice breakfast of fresh bagels, and enough toys to keep 3 boys happy at play.

Emilia’s was a better value, and we’d return there. The house is in West Flatbush in a safe neighborhood. Dekoven Court is a short walk from the subway station, and it couldn’t be more convenient. There’s a lot of cheap ethnic food in the immediate neighborhood, and within a half-mile, there are a couple of excellent yuppie restaurants. The street is a quiet, dead end so it's really quiet. You do hear the subway trains go by during the night, especially if you keep the small windows open and aren’t using the air conditioner. But the subways quickly became white noise, and we didn’t have any noise issues sleeping. Depending on whether you hop an express train or a local, it’s about 30-45 minutes to midtown Manhattan. Unless you’re comfortable and familiar with the subway, you’re better off taking a cab from JFK and LaGuardia to the houses (about $45-$50), especially if there are three or more people. From Newark, there's a direct subway connection from Port Authority Bus Terminal or Penn Station. Emilia’s basement is a real apartment, complete with a kitchen, two separate bedrooms, a dining area, a large living room, private bath, and a laundry room. The only downside is that it was slightly musty, which wasn’t a big problem once the air conditioning kicked in, and probably won’t be a problem during the winter when the heat is on. The beds are comfy. A few corners were somewhat dusty. Donna, Emilia’s owner, invited us to use the computer upstairs whenever we wanted to check our e-mail or print our boarding passes. She has an ultra-friendly small dog, Trixie, who isn’t shy about asking guests to play with her. She welcomed us into her home, and shared her knowledge and life without making us feel that we were imposing. The breakfasts featured fresh bagels, each day from a different nearby bakery, as well as any other breakfast food we could think of. She also provided packaged desserts for snack food at night. When we left, we hugged each other, because there was a bond. This is a calling for Donna, not just a business.

Emilia's is clean, comfortable, spacious and convenient for transport connections. We appreciated the fresh warm bagels for breakfast!

Great location, accommodations, and hospitality. Perfect place for families.

Emilia's Retreat has everything we need. It's very private, and it has every convienance, including a full kitchen. It's comfortable and close to the subway. It's also attractively decorated. I'd give it a ten out of ten.

There is only reason I hesitate to write a great review of Emilia's retreat - I am afraid it will become so popular that it won't be available next time we want to stay! :) My husband and I drove down from New Hampshire and stayed for a week in June. The place is spacious, and Donna is very friendly and welcoming. One of our favorite things was waking up to bagels on Saturday morning - yum! Emilia's retreat felt like home after a week, and we hated to leave! The neighborhood is nice, and although it is busy and full of commerce a few blocks away, DeKoven Court is very quiet. The only noise we ever heard day or night was the sound of the trains passing on their way to the subway stop conveniently located only two blocks away. It was very easy to get into Manhattan or around Brooklyn by subway. Obviously, we had a great stay, and hope to return to Brooklyn and Emilia's Retreat very soon!

We loved our stay at Emilia's Retreat! The space was absolutely wonderful; very clean and inviting. Donna was extremely accomodating. We were asked what kind of breakfast foods we liked and they were there in the fridge when we got there; including the soy milk that my daughter drinks. She even bought our daughter a birthday cake! The location is very nice! The subway is just a couple of blocks away and there are many stores close by if you want to pick up food and other necessities. My kids loved being able to go out front and shoot basketball in the quiet, dead end street. The value was wonderful; especially for a family of five. We had plenty of room to spread out and we were easily able to make our lunches and dinners, thus saving a lot of money in N.Y. I know that if we ever go back to N.Y., we will stay here again!