Please do not patronize this Airbnb. The owners are miserable and unfriendly and made us feel very unwelcome. We have used Airbnb extensively for 3 years and this couple ranks up there with the absolute worst dregs. Pay attention to the previous reviews about Suzanne being argumentative and difficult. Those reviews are dead on accurate.
The unit is approx 250-300sq ft, not 450 sq ft as stated in the listing and is cluttered with furniture. You would likely lose your mind with the claustrophobic arrangement in a day or so. There are notes everywhere telling you where to park and how high to set the thermostat and even instructing you NOT to look out the kitchen window. There are cameras filming you, located on the steps up to the unit. This was not disclosed in the listing as airbnb requires. We actually were also suspicious that cameras existed inside the unit ( because of something Suzanne said). They live in a connected building and rarely leave the house, so remember Big BROTHER is always watching. Please note that this area of Santa Monica is sketchy and has many homeless encampments on the streets. A homeless man approached me as I loaded my car.
On our second day, Gary came pounding up the steps and knocked on our door complaining that our little Prius was too close to his space. Gary’s car was not in his space at the time my dad parked, so it was difficult to gage distances. He was really nasty about it and it made us feel terrible.
For two days, Gary used a power saw right next to our window as my son tried to attend virtual school. It was a nightmare. My son couldn’t hear his online instruction. His teacher asked what all the noise was. We were later told that it was a retaining wall “emergency.” My dad said that it appeared Gary was making a bench seat out of plywood. Regardless, we should have been told beforehand so that we could have made different school arrangements. Next day, Suzanne was banging on our door and yelling that we had no right to utilize the outside washing machine. It was detailed in the listing that we could use it. She screeched that nobody had ever done that before and asked for 30 dollars a wash load. If you will check the reviews, you will find that other guests have used the washer. My dad ended up removing the wet clothes from
the washer and was forced to pack them soaking wet.
Then she started complaining that we had two cats despite taking a 50 dollar cash pet deposit. She wanted to charge us 100 dollars for a fourth guest (my mom came with us and we disclosed this before check in)
She decided to circumvent Airbnb on this issue and have us Venmo the money directly to her .
That is a contractual issue for Airbnb to consider. Reluctantly, we acknowledged that she was intentionally driving us out by harassing us and we informed her we were leaving. We actually had nowhere in LA to go.
As soon as she became aware that her harassment tactics had worked, she became civilized and acted like a human.
We are a quiet family with a child and never did anything to deserve this abuse. I am a psychiatric nurse and see many red flags here which I will not detail. Airbnb is giving us a refund for this debacle and that in itself speaks volumes. Thank you for your loyalty here Airbnb and future guests, please be warned.