Gayane is a very responsive host. Whenever I contacted her, she answered very quickly and was very helpful. We were a party of six. My husband and I in our 80s, our three children and one granddaughter. We had a list of priorities. 1) a minimum of stairs, 2) a walk-in shower, 3) individual beds for each person, 4) a reasonable price for our 5-night stay. The property has a lot of potential to be a great place, but it needs some tweaking to get there.
The plusses: The house was super clean, very fresh when we came in. It has lots of space to move around. Individual beds in three separate bedrooms, each with super-quiet ceiling fans. Two bathrooms with walk-in showers. A huge back yard with patio seating and lots of lawn for kids to play on. Gated security with plenty of parking including a garage. Excellent air conditioning that cools very quickly. Two dining tables, one in a separate dining room and another in the kitchen area both with lots of chairs. Two smart TVs: one in the bedroom with the queen bed and a large one in the living room area.
The things that still need work: the beds are very low to the floor, which made it difficult to get up for some of us. The mattresses on the twin beds are very thin and lumpy. They rest on spring frames and squeak when you move. The sheets do not stay tight on them. I prefer cotton sheets because they do not make you sweat at night. These were synthetic. The pillows were so small and airy (no substance) that they hardly supported anything. I was glad I brought my own. The beds also had quilts on them, which made things even hotter, so we were running the air conditioning even at night. There are no end tables next to the beds, so we took chairs from the dining room to put our glasses and phones on. The master bedroom has French doors to the outside, but they couldn’t open and there were no other windows in the room to let in fresh air.
The showers have just a soap dish in the wall, but no place to put your shampoo or other things you might need. We tried to get a shelf with suction cups but couldn’t make it work, although I think the right one would. Also, there are not enough racks to hang towels on so you can know which one is yours. I took mine to the bedroom and hung it on a hanger in the closet area.
The kitchen is roomy enough but has a minimum of plates and silverware, so you must keep doing dishes all the time. We asked for permission to have our nephew and his family for dinner since we didn’t want it to be construed as a party. We bought disposable plates and utensils for that. We also purchased some measuring cups and spoons (these were not provided) as well as two frypans (the one in the cupboard was only omelet size). There was only one dish towel and no pot holders.
The doors in the living room/kitchen area do not have screens, so we could not open up the house at night.
Finally, we bought some extra towels because one of my daughters prefers a bathsheet to a normal sized towel. When we washed them, the washer was about one-third full, but it could not handle the load and stopped spinning altogether. Even resetting and rearranging the load did not get it going. We had to take out one of the towels and finish the wash in two steps.
The conclusion I come to is if you are a family with small children, this place is ideal because they have plenty of space to run around in relative safety. The neighborhood is quiet, the street is not busy, and it is well-located with lots of shopping and restaurants nearby and a fifteen-minute drive to Universal Studios. Don’t expect luxury as the furnishings are very basic. Bring your own pillows and towels if you are fussy about that and are driving in. The host is excellent and pleasant to deal with. I’m sure she will gradually address these needs and make the house fulfill its potential.