My family and I stayed at Derek's place for the Christmas holiday, and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Derek's place. We were a total of 6 people and 2 small dogs, and his 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house with washer and dryer worked great for us.
Let me start with what we enjoyed the most about Derek's place:
The location was ideal. You are essentially in the middle of everything in LA (10-20 mins drive to a new spot to check out). You are about 20-30 mins from the beach, 10-20 mins from hollywood / beverly hills, less than a mile away from a Target, etc. This was very nice for us as we had people who had never been to LA.
The neighborhood was fairly quiet. Outside of police helicopters flying within 1 mile radius (this was fairly common around LA), I would say we did not notice anything significant during our stay.
We had no issues finding parking for 3-4 cars. Street parking was readily available, and driveway parking could fit 2-3 cars. No fees necessary.
The house had 3 nice and spacious bedrooms that accommodated 6 people rather easily. (2 per bed and the rooms had added couch space). I could see 8 people fitting just fine. Derek provided the usual amenities, and if we ever ran out Derek would often come through within an hour of us texting him.
The washer and dryer got a lot of use from us as we had to extend our stay, so we needed to wash clothes. This is very nice to have while traveling.
Dog friendly home with a small backyard and gated off area to allow the dogs to run in and out of the house as they pleased. Our dogs really enjoyed this place and the ability to play outside.
The house we rented is attached to Derek's place, and there is a broken down wall that connects both kitchens. The wall is covered with a blanket of sort, and this allowed Derek to bring us any amenities when we ran out. We got to interact with one of the neighbors and his dog, and we found them very friendly. However, I would have to say this was our least favorite thing about Derek's place. It's essentially a double edged sword. Noise from the neighbors side could easily travel into the kitchen / shared space area, and vice versa noise from our side would travel into Derek's space.
The wifi was alright, I personally did not connect to it, but some members in the family had trouble staying connected. Each room comes with a TV and netflix which was great.
Overall, we really enjoyed our stay, and should we have another family get together in LA we will definitely look to book Derek's place for another holiday getaway.
Happy new year Derek, and thanks for being a great host!
Best,
Ali