Our whole experience at this rental was disappointing. We were on a couple week road trip along the California Coast for our first anniversary. We decided to stay in LA area for our anniversary and found this place on Airbnb. It looked amazing!
We had booked a couple of months early and we were very excited about this place. As soon as I pushed open the rickety gate half-way down the steep stairs I knew that this place was going to be a disappointment.
There is a great view from the balcony but it's obscured by shrubbery that badly needs a trim. If you glance down to the ground around the balcony it is littered with garbage. A used dog pee pad had been left on the ground below the balcony amongst the other garbage.
When we stepped into the suite the first thing you notice is the two burner electric hot plate on top of the microwave. We weren't sure if this was even safe but we had bought ingredients for dinner so we risked it and somehow made pasta. It tasted pretty good because I am an excellent cook but was a bit tricky cooking pasta without enough heat to boil water.
As soon as I sat down at the breakfast nook idea of a table I thought that my chair was going to collapse. It didn't though so we were able to finish our dinner sitting side by side staring out the window. The view would have been great though as previously mentioned it was partially obscured by shrubbery.
The bathroom was fine and even rather attractive with a cheerful paint scheme. I did find the shower to be pretty tight accommodations though and my wife found the fingerprints on the walls around the mirror a bit off putting.
The master bed is raised up about five feet so that it'll fit into the narrow room above a structural intrusion into the room. There's a rickety plastic step stool that scared my wife a bit to step climb up onto shelf a shelf and then crawl onto the bed.
The view through the window from the master bed would have really been lovely if not obscured by the previously mentioned shrubbery in need of a pruning. The bed was very comfortable.
There was a pet fee separate from the Airbnb charges of a reasonable $100 for two dogs for three nights. The overall cost of this suite was similar to what it would have cost us to stay at a 3 star dog friendly hotel in Santa Monica including the extra pet fees. Staying at this Airbnb was a complete disappointment. It actually really sours us on the idea of staying at Airbnbs in the future. There were only two good things about this place. The bed which was treacherous to climb up to and the view which was obstructed by non-pruned shrubbery and surrounded by garbage.
I really didn't want to write this review because I really just want to forget the experience. But maybe it'll help to push the owners to do a better job of maintaining their property for guests who are paying a premium price. We were actually surprised that rental properties don't have a minimum standard to meet before they can be listed on Airbnb.