I booked Sarah’s place for five nights for myself, husband and 4 year old child. The home is in a great location in Beverly Hills, close enough to walk to all the action but distant enough for some peace. Within a few minutes walking you can find great breakfast spots like the Viviane Restaurant at the Avalon Hotel which has a lovely pool setting. We also walked to Rodeo and the Beverly Hills Public Library.
NO SMOKING ANYWHERE: Being from New York I was not aware that you cannot smoke inside or outside multi-unit dwelling buildings in Beverly Hills. Because the listing originally said no smoking indoors and “free smoke” instead of “smoke free”, I assumed we could use the outdoor sitting area to smoke but that is not the case and there are signs all around the building that prohibit smoking and vaping. You can use the back alley but that’s not the type of vacation we had in mind so our trip was less than enjoyable and the host was not flexible in giving us a refund even though the listing is not clear. Also, when someone did smoke in the alley a neighbor screamed about the smell the entire time. I’m certain guests from other places will probably appreciate this truth and transparency. If you plan to smoke anything at all, ever in the peace of your rental then this is not the rental for you.
CONS: The home itself is good for a small group who need an easy, well located place to crash. However, this place feels very “lived in” with most counters, corners and tables covered with books, candles and other random decor. There’s much more than the listing photos show. With a purge of all the extra decor, deep cleaning and some new blankets this would be a great location for non-smokers looking to enjoy everything Beverly Hills has to offer. The parking space is very tight. We barely fit a Porsche Macan. Nothing bigger would fit.
ADDITIONAL DETAILS: Not a lot of light comes in the bottom floor so it’s quite dark. Similar to another review posted, we also heard a loud grinding noise off and on when we used the air conditioning. This seems out of the hosts control but wanted to note it for any light sleepers or people traveling with young children. Checkout is quite early at 10am. We asked for a later checkout but it wasn’t possible since housekeeping was coming which we understood. However, housekeeping showed up at 9:40 while we were packing up and cleaning.
Hopefully the hosts takes all of the private feedback I’m sharing into considerations as this could be a great spot but needs some TLC.