In many extremely positive experiences with AirBnB I have never felt ir necessary to write a negative review and I hope that this review will be helpful both to prospective renters and to the host.
The apartment building is modern and well kept, but it is in a somewhat odd neighborhood - on the fringes of Marina Del Rey, Venice and Culver City, without feeling it is a part of any one of them.
The location is not easily accessible to the beach, it is actually @ 20-25 minutes away from Venice Beach and 30-35 minutes away from Santa Monica.
The apartment is very interesting design wise - a triplex with kitchen/dining area and 1/2 bath on the 1st floor, bedroom and closet w/ full bath on the 2nd floor, a very small loft like area on the 3rd floor (where the w/d is) and a very nice roof deck on the 4th.
But the apartment has very little furniture:
1st floor - Dining room table and 4 chairs
2nd floor - very low platform bed with very thin mattress, one small end table and one narrow TV shelf/table. There is a TV. There is a table lamp on the end table with a white faux fur shade (!) No other furniture - no dressers, no chairs, etc. The bathroom is utilitarian.
3rd floor loft - a black love-seat couch. A table. a small TV.
Missing and Inadequate:
>No toaster (we had to make toast in the oven)
>No coffee maker (we had to make 7 am runs to Starbucks .7 miles away every morning)
>Hard to read & inadequate hand-written instructions (it took a good deal of time to acclimate and figure out basics like the TV operation, and the 2nd loft TV - where the only sitting furniture was - proved impossible to operate.
>While we were told that the apartment had just been cleaned, it was dirty.
>The dryer was full of clothes and towels, including the host's underwear (!)
>There were very few towels and sheets.
>There was no soap for the shower -- hosts should supply at least one small bar for guest that check in late at night and don't want to make a run to a 24 hour store
When we alerted the host to some of these things - including the lack of a toaster and coffee-maker, he made no effort to remedy the problem.
While we appreciate that renting out an apartment is a balancing act, we certainly hope the host of this one uses this review to provide a better experience forces guests.