This was my first time using AirBnB. It was easy to make a reservation, especially since I wanted the "out of LA" feel while still remaining close for my Mom's 60th Birthday. Overall, I had a great time and encourage people to experience time at the Fairytale Cottage. That said, here are my take-aways to understand the experience you'll have:

Positive:
- The people are beyond nice. David was quite accommodating, as were others we met on his property. When I say nice, I mean really really lovely. Great people.

- The house was unique and sweet.

- The property is close to nature and has a lot of animals. Take a walk, it's refreshing.

- The property is close to fun trips to the cities around it. We had a great time traveling to Malibu and Woodland Hills.

- Clean towels and bedsheets were provided, as was a bit of shampoo, conditioner and lotion.

- Shower has unlimited hot water!

Less Positive:
- There are aspects of the cottage not as represented in the ad. The cottage was dirty when we stayed in it (this is fixable, obviously). It had a musty smell (especially in the sleeping areas) and had cobwebs throughout.

- The riverstone floors are beautiful, but they are also a little dangerous when you walk around - they are bumpy and sometimes sharp, so bring slippers/shoes for the home. They go into the bathroom a wee bit, which made it difficult to walk around and get comfortable.

- The great thing about the cottage is that it is all windows. That said, there is not a ton of privacy to get dressed, and there is a window in the shower.

- The bathroom wall and bath are beautiful, but the bathtub doesn't fill up so you cannot take a bath (especially with the low water pressure - take a long time to fill) and the sink, etc. is a bit wobbly and the handles going opposite ways.

- The beds, as mentioned are upstairs, bathroom downstairs, so definitely make sure you're nimble. I hit my head on the hanging bar on my way up, so there's definitely crawling involved. Although there are two bedspaces, there was only a mattress in one cubbyhole, so we slept in the same bed - had a musty smell, some cobwebs, ans was quite compact, but it fit us both and I slept well.

- Must love animals. This is in the wilderness (mom, who had a great time, called it glorified camping). When we were eating dinner, a family of 4 mice crawled into the kitchen and ran around. I hate mice, so I flipped a bit. David was on it and brought no-kill traps and a cat (at our recommend) to stay overnight. We also saw a frog pop in and out. Later we also heard critters scatter in the second bed crawlspace whenever mom would get up to use the bathroom, so we think the mice hung out upstairs for the rest of the trip. This is also obviously fixable so you may not have this problem.

- We cooked two nights - bring your own supplies and pans to cook (salt as well, although David lent us some aluminum foil, which was so nice). The stove and oven need to be lit, so be comfortable with that. They have a couple of great plates and cups, so you should be set there.

- Roads are bumpy getting in, so if you have 4-wheel drive use it!