I have mostly pros and only one con to staying at Jenny’s place for our 2 night and 3 day weekend trip to LA:
Pros:
1. Great location! We didn’t have to drive too far at all to get to the things we wanted to do while we were there! It was pretty centrally located and made getting around easy!
2. Street parking! There was plenty of street parking always available! We never had to struggle to find a spot which can sometimes be an issue with Airbnbs, but not at Jenny’s place!
3. Spacious and pet friendly! We had to bring our pet rabbit with us and the cage we keep him in is quite large. There was plenty of space for his cage and our bags and such! I also saw a dog bed and food/water bowls available in the closet which I thought was a really nice touch!
4. Check-in was super easy! She shared pictures showing her house and the gate we needed to go through to get to the Airbnb (which was behind her house). She also sent the door code a few hours before check-in! Sometimes hosts don’t make it clear at all where to park, how to get to/inside the Airbnb, etc. But Jenny had extremely clear and easy to follow instructions that made our check-in process fast and simple!
5. Aside from the mold (mentioned below) the place was sparklingly clean! It’s obvious that it’s well-cleaned between guests and maintained with care and attention!
Cons (only one, like I mentioned):
1. As soon as we entered it smelled damp and musty. When I got into the bathroom I saw a large amount of mold on the baseboards which was making the entire Airbnb smell bad and gave me a bit of a headache. However, I would like to say that I was not able to personally speak with Jenny at any point during our trip and would like to give her the benefit of the doubt. My assumption is that either the mold hasn’t been there very long and they haven’t had an opportunity to clean it up yet or perhaps she doesn’t know it’s there. As we were leaving the cleaning people were coming in, so it’s possible that she hasn’t been told that it’s there.
This is clearly an Airbnb run by a family out of their back yard, likely as a source of extra income to help support themselves. It’s not some large developer who is neglecting properties that they own from 3 states away. The ONLY reason I mention the mold in the bathroom in my public review is because I have a friend with an extremely severe mold allergy who wouldn’t have been able to stay at this Airbnb if she had arrived to discover mold, or even the lingering smell of mold. We were really only in the Airbnb to sleep and were able to keep the smell pretty well dissipated by leaving on the ceiling ventilation fan to air things out. If mold sensitivity or allergy isn’t something you deal with it really wouldn’t be an issue. Leaving the bathroom fan on helped a great deal!
And again, as I mentioned, I wasn’t able to actually speak with Jenny about this during our stay. All of her other reviews are excellent and she was helpful and communicative and clearly cares about providing a good experience and comfortable stay for her guests! I don’t at all think she’s trying to trick anyone or be deceptive and conceal mold issues. I would just hate for someone with a severe allergy to book her place and be stuck with either nowhere to stay or having to spend a lot of money to find other accommodations last minute. I’m assuming this is something they’re actively trying to take care of and don’t at all think it’s something that should stop anyone with regular tolerance levels from booking her place, especially since everything else about our stay was great! I would absolutely still recommend this place to anyone looking for somewhere to stay in LA!