We really wanted to love this place. If you're familiar with the area, you'll know that this location is unbeatable. Being able to stay 10 houses away from bustling 2nd street, and another 3 blocks from the beach, is a real treat. Traveling with dogs really limits available houses and this place offers the best front yard for your furbabies. A lot of natural light floods the house and the living room is comfortable for, no more than, 3 adults. The kitchen offers everything you need to make a meal and the refrigerator is a great size and immaculate.
If you're 6'+, you'll need to sleep in the north bedroom. The bed in the south bedroom hits right up to the wall. The bedroom walls are dirty, there were only 2 regular pillows to share between the 2 rooms, and there are only a couple throw blankets to share. There were 2 pillows in each room that we think were meant for sleeping, but they were in shams with 3d embellishments... not regular pillowcases for comfort. Also, each room had a flat body pillow under those two pillows but it was covered in a faux fur fabric, they were dirty (& crusty), and torn. Each bed had a decorative topper that was meant as a blanket. As if that wasn't uncomfortable enough, the beds were rock hard. We like a firm bed, but these wrecked our backs.
There aren't pictures of the toilet and shower area of the bathroom and now we know why. The shower is comparable to a ship cabin's shower and if you're tall, your knees will hit the shower when sitting on the toilet. There were 3 of us and we were provided with only 4 sets of towels. The best part? The water temperature in the shower was either scalding hot or freezing cold. It would even bounce from one to the other. Looking back at reviews, this has been an issue for years. I reached out to the host on how to regulate the temperature. He got back to me very quickly and told me to run it for a few minutes and then turn the shower part on. Clearly, he didn't expect that to work since people have been complaining about it for so long. His, "Sorry about that." now feels very sarcastic seeing that he knowingly rents this place out with this issue and doesn't disclose it. Just share that in the description and renters can't complain.
Overall, the place is dated but in a wonderful location. A lot needs to be addressed, but that doesn't seem like anything new when you really dig into the reviews. Location and front yard is amazing but it doesn't make up for everything you need to really be comfortable and what you'd expect for a place you pay for. Tom was kind to let us check in early when our flight was moved up and he was always quick to respond. I hope that the issues are taken seriously and fixed because this place could really be great.