I’ve been thinking for a while exactly how to make this review without making it too lengthy or too “complain-y.”
Our host(s?) were nice, our stay went smoothly, and we were pretty comfortable. The Airbnb is in a good location near Balboa park.
But my boyfriend and I are concerned about several aspects of our stay.
-The listing was entirely inaccurate.
First of all, we did not end up staying at the house shown in the photos. Perhaps the only this that were similar about the house we stayed in were: we did get a private room, and there was a shared bathroom and shared kitchen available.
We were told that “Gabriel” doesn’t exist, he’s just an account name that Drew, the real host, is using on Airbnb. I also saw no one who looked like the profile picture.
We slept fairly well, but other guests who stayed up much later were noisy and there don’t seem to be any quiet hours.
I’m also concerned about the safety of the listing. We wandered in through an open front door and at first there was seemingly no one in the property. We wouldn’t have known it was the right property if the friendly young lady directly across the street, Sophie, hadn’t shown us where to go.
For the rest of our stay, the front door was frequently left open and it was always unlocked.
There was also no lock on our bedroom door so I kept my valuables in the car when away during the day.
I also didn’t feel that the Airbnb was very clean. I needed to wear my shoes around the house or my feet would get dirty. The bathroom ran out of hand soap on our first night and there wasn’t much TP. When I turned back our bedsheets, I found pieces of dirt, as if the sheets had not been cleaned (not to be confused with lint). The top blanket, a zebra pattern that had maybe once been plush, was browned with age/dirt and had at least one cigarette burn.
There’s a lot more I could say, but I’ll leave it there. I don’t want to seem hateful or ungrateful. I just want travelers to be informed.
More on the positive side:
The airbnb also had a breezy, calm, friendly vibe, and everyone I spoke with (guests and friends of the host) was nice and relaxed. (The airbnb is apparently quite 420-friendly but no one smoked near us while we were there, which I appreciated because I don’t like the smell.) Drew was sweet, he checked on us a couple times during our stay. There are tons of board games and plenty of soft (if maybe weathered) places to sit and relax throughout the house and outside. The weather was nice during our stay so the windows were open and that was comfortable.
For the very low price, this was not bad. But I do think the listing accuracy should be improved, the bedroom and bathroom should be cleaner, the house should be kept more secure, and quiet hours should be instated.
Thanks for reading and I wish our host luck in the future.