This is a cute, quaint guest house/cottage behind a home in Van Nuys. The name "Balboa Lake" is misleading (not the owners choice, just the area). It's dry as a dessert as is the case in The Valley.
We wanted a full kitchen, a place for 3 to 4 for sleeping and privacy. So, this worked well for us. The decor is cute and very SoCal. Our 19 yr old daughter loved it.
I would not have more than 3 people sleeping here, personally. There isn't much space for clothes, suitcases, etc without tripping over things. Especially in the bathroom with a young adult female. Simply not enough space for toiletries and cosmetics.
We are tiny, thin people so the very small, narrow room with bunk beds was OK for my very tiny (5 foot, 84 lb) 19 yr old and I (5'2, 98 lbs), but I would advise against large people wanting to use that room.
My husband slept diagonally in the master bed because the mattress topper pad has such severe body impressions as to be concave on one side. Not at all comfortable for two. I slept on one of the twin bunks, which was quite comfortable.
The person doing the cleaning clearly is not detail oriented. The baseboards are very dirty, there is dust in many of the less-used areas (like the funky shelves in the room with the bunks).
The biggest issue would be for people with allergies. The tiny bathroom is old with some large gaps between the tile and molding and the shower curtain has some black mold at the bottom as well as between tiles and molding. It definitely could use some upgrades or at least some very deep cleaning and fresh paint.
It was very quiet for a Van Nuys neighborhood. Parking is in the street and we could not always park near the unit but we always found parking.
I ran into Brad twice by chance and he is very friendly.
My messages were replied to quickly so communication was good. (we weren't at the unit very much in our 3 night stay)
For a private place with a kitchen and two bedrooms, it worked for us for the price there aren't many like this in the area.
If you aren't too fussy or don't have allergies, this place can work great.