Seek out the negative reviews before booking. You might be thinking I am being overly critical below, but the truth is this is the 1st time I’ve ever left a negative review on AirBnB. After arriving we saw little point in complaining about the things that made me write this review as there was nothing that could be done about it. The point is to provide honest feedback and point out some the deceptive descriptions and photos.
Pros
1. Beautiful location, the Malibu Hills are great!
2. Beautiful yard. Description as a vineyard is deceiving, there is a small vineyard, and it is beautiful.
3. One of the Best showers I’ve ever used. Great way to clean off after a day hiking or at the beach.
4. Quiet neighborhood. Very little traffic and other noise.
5. Being just 5-minutes form the nearest beach was the biggest plus. There are numerous beaches nearby so you have cart blanche to go where you want and joy the cool waters on a hot day!
6. DoorDash delivered and I met the coolest and most down-to-Earth dasher. We ended up talking for 10-minutes and it was a highlight of the stay.
7. The was beach gear (it might need an update as there was only 1 chair, and the umbrella is well-loved), but we were glad for the towels and the umbrella!
8. Very safe area. Honestly, the area is great and that's a huge positive.
9. WiFi was fast and worked without any issues.
10. We had no problem finding the house, the parking, and getting in and out of the property. Easy access!
Cons
1. The listing is very misleading. While the description does point out that this is a “studio” is a wine cellar in the basement of the main “villa”, the top of the listing clearly states "Private Villa". Unfortunately, despite reading the description and looking at the pictures, we still booked, thinking it must be a very spacey studio to call it an entire villa. It is not spacey--the space is small and has a lot of unnecessary items taking up valuable space that could be used to make it feel larger. Overall it felt cramped. While the listing states it can sleep 4 people, 3 really should be the limit. The sofa sleeper is a mini sofa, with a twin sized sleeper that really isn't suited for sleeping in its current state. So again, 3 people max with the bed.
2. The “Green Tea Infused Memory Foam Bed” is very uncomfortable. A 6” thick mattress at $370/night is unacceptable, especially with the incredible variety of affordable mattresses available in 2022.
3. The “sofa bed”, wasn’t really suitable even for our 8-year old. That sleeping pad was even thinner and the cross bars were easily felt just by softly pressing on it. It needs a better mattress to be suitable foe a kid.
4. The “Marble Dining Table” is literally on its last leg—and isn't actually marble, it has a marble veneer.
5. If the sofa bed is open there is no room to move about the room. When I say it is a tiny space I mean it.
6. Due to the tiny space it had a very awkward setup for the “kitchen” which doesn’t have a sink, so enjoy doing your dishes in the same sink you use in the bathroom—super cleanly. So good luck using that smoker right outside the door. Trying to meal prep in here would be a nightmare.
6. Perhaps one of the biggest issues is the kitchen. It's not a kitchen, and while it includes anything you could need to meal prep the space is not conducive to cooking at the foot of the bed on a ledge. The only sink in the space is in the bathroom. It wasn't leveled when set so water pools to one side. If you had any kind of grime, gunk, or food wast to put down the drain it would be nearly impossible. We ended up not doing nay meal prep here due to the setup. Keep this in mind if you plan to "cook" here. With some adjustments to the space a kitchen would be possible, but they need a sink at the kitchen locations.
7. The ledge around the room take up what would be a good amount of usable space—that in addition to the very unnecessary storage closets adds to the cramped feeling.
8. The floor is wildly uncomfortable for the “no shoes” rule. We pulled the rug from the ledge to the ground so we could walk around the small space without hurting our feet on the unevenly laid tiles.
9. ZERO cell service with Verizon. The description of the cell service is inaccurate in being spotty—it’s nonexistent on Verizon—so make sure you have that WiFi info available offline when you arrive. You have to drive about 2 minutes to get into coverage.
10. If you have luggage that you can’t carry over your shoulder or on your back, its a bit of a pain to take it form the parking area to the room. You have to go down a hill under an arbor on a gravel path which is fine, but not for wheeled luggage.
11. Make sure you have a flashlight if you need to get to and from the parking spaces at night. Even with the mood lighting along the paths, it’s too dark to walk safely without worrying about tripping.
12. The amenities list is very deceptive. A lot of what is listed is not accurate, or not really an amenity. Most of the "views" are not accurate, there is no AC, many of the things listed were not found in the unit
13. It appears that the price goes up $50/night per guest, without any additional amenities or value for the guests. While this may be common at other AirBnB's, I have never encountered this when booking anywhere else and was surprised to learn this