Location, location, location.
Although we looked at the map provided, it didn't really sink in how close this house is to Mission Beach until we walked down there. It's fantastic! If you are sitting on the beach and you want to pop home for a beverage or sunscreen, you're back in 10 minutes.
Positives about the house: The upstairs master suite is spacious and the balcony is lovely although as the listing reminds you, you won't see the ocean from it. The master has a large alcove with nothing in it which would be an idea place to set up the provided Pack n Play if you have a baby with you, or to put a cot for an extra kid. The courtyard area accessible from inside the unit gives you a secure place to store any beach stuff that you don't want inside, and the side yard with hose and shower help keep sand out of the house. We were able to get our Toyota Highlander into the narrow provided parking spot, but unfortunately we had to crawl in and out of the hatchback since it's too narrow to open the doors. The entryway is spacious which was a good area for our dogs' crates. We liked the durable surfaces, like the ceramic tile floors, which were easy to keep clean.
Negatives about the house: The spiral staircase isn't the easiest to carry a suitcase up, and the master suite does not have a door that shuts. This was a problem for me because if you are trying to sleep while anyone is awake downstairs, forget about it. Of course, this is not a quiet neighborhood anyway, what with planes going overhead, people partying on the other balconies (there wasn't a lot of this being that we visited in November but there was enough that I can imagine what it must be like in high season), etc.
The unit is older which didn't bother us. There have clearly been a few recent updates, but some things still need to be improved, like the downstairs bathroom and the kitchen sink and tile kitchen counters. Because we were there for Thanksgiving we gave the kitchen a workout that people at the beach probably don't. The cooking supplies are adequate for quick meals but we had to improvise to get a more elaborate meal cooked there. Buying a big set of foil pans from Costco helped. On the upside, the dining table was big enough for all 5 of us to enjoy our holiday meal.
One thing that isn't super clear from the photos or description is that there is a second separate unit in this building, upstairs from this rental. In the photos you see two balconies and a patio, but the highest level balcony belongs to the upstairs residents. We heard a few footsteps from above the master suite and we talked with the upstairs resident briefly when we first arrived because he wanted to make sure we didn't move his trash can when we were putting away the rental unit's cans, but otherwise it felt private, since the whole patio and side yard were exlusively ours. The other thing to keep in mind is that the neighbors on either side are very close, due to the way the whole Mission Beach neighborhood is built. I think the residents on the ground floor on either side live there full time, and they each have dogs, so there were brief moments when their dogs barked at ours or vice versa, but both the people and their dogs were nice so it wasn't a problem for us.
For dog owners: As first time visitors to Mission Beach, we were surprised to learn that dogs are not allowed on the beach, the oceanfront path, or even the nearby grassy park during daytime hours. In winter, they are allowed at the beach before 9 and after 4, and never off leash. This was a challenge for us since there is no area at the rental property for dogs to relieve themselves, nor are there any grassy lawns or parkway strips in the neighborhood. We took our dogs to other dog beaches in San Diego in the car some days, but other days, we had to sneak into the edge of the beach or park just to give them a chance to pee somewhere other than the street. These rules are of course not the owners' fault, just something to be aware of!
As far as communication with the property owner, this property is owned by a company that has some very professional and nice staff doing all the communications. They were great, and responded quickly and empathetically when I contacted them during our stay to alert them that a couple of small things had accidentally been damaged. On the downside, the company charges $150 pet fee per dog, which I thought was steep on top of the rental price and cleaning fee, and sends a sternly worded rule list including no dogs on the furniture (not uncommon to be fair) and warning us that we will be fined for any excess cleaning or repairs caused by the dogs. These rules made us a little less relaxed during our stay because of course no one wants to be fined. I spent a lot of time warning the dogs to stay off the couch and sending my kids back outside to rinse again to make sure no sand got inside. On checkout day we spent about 3 hours as a family making sure every room was as clean as expected in the checkout instructions (they don't ask you to scrub the toilets of course but they don't want to see any sand or dog hair anywhere). After being so careful, and notifying the company of the 2 things that accidentally got damaged during our stay, I was really surprised to receive a (polite and friendly) note from one of the staff saying that the inside of