We gave Alba & Mike a good rating because the location was good, the apartment more or less suited our needs, and it would certainly be great for anyone that wanted to take a short trip. We stayed for about a month and worked from the Air BnB while looking for a new apartment, so we spent a lot of time in the space. Due to that, we encountered a few issues during our stay that we thought were worth posting about. For one, I would say the communication around parking was confusing at first. They told us it would be $300 to park in the alley behind the Air BnB, but it ended up being $310 to parallel park in a dedicated tow zone in front of a garage on a real street. Alba & Mike send automated messages, as well as replies to direct messages, so when they sent a message that we had to move the car if we parked on Strongs (the "alley") every Tuesday between 8:30 and 10:30 (for street sweeping we later found out), we assumed it was meant for people that weren't paying extra to park in a dedicated spot. We ended up getting a $75 ticket one of the first mornings we parked there because it wasn't clearly communicated before paying that we were going to have to move the car at all. On top of that, we were almost towed because the building manager evidently wasn't aware that we were going to be there and didn't know to give us a parking pass for our car. We asked Alba & Mike a few times if we were okay to park there, and they apparently didn't know we didn't receive a pass.
We also felt there were some issues with cleanliness in the space. The dishes weren't well cleaned when we first got there, there is rust on a lot of the appliances and in the bathroom, and we found that there were beetles living inside the microwave (or at least we saw many go under the microwave and not be present when we lifted it up and looked under). At one point we spilled water on the carpet and were surprised to find it change color from a greyish-brown to white when we dabbed the water up. The photos make it appear brighter and cleaner than it really is and the outlets are all on one breaker, so we popped it almost immediately upon arrival when using a blow dryer and the AC at the same time (the heat had been left on when we arrived), and had to spend the first night without power.
All this being said, the apartment is in a good location, and relatively safe. We enjoyed the ease of walking to the beach at any time of day, and the security cameras seemed to keep the homeless out of the complex. It would probably be great for anyone that wanted to stay a few nights, but we thought it was worth sharing our experience for anyone considering a long-term stay.