Our family of 5 (w/ 3 kids 15-20 years of age) was planning to spend 4 nights in San Diego just ahead of Christmas. We had hotel rooms reserved, but with the rise of Omicron, decided that an Airbnb would be better. So we found this place on short notice early December and decided to book it. It was our first trip as a family to San Diego.
Overall, the house was great and as-advertised (with a few things that didn't work, and a few things that were surprises). Rick was very responsive.
For the pluses - the house is really spacious with plenty of rooms and light. It's very convenient to several areas exactly as you would expect. It has its own parking which is super convenient. A diner and couple of small grocery stores are a couple of minutes walk which is also very convenient.
For the things that didn't work (all minor that Rick fixed) - two showers had issues (one didn't have hot water, the other had extremely low flow) the first night that Rick fixed the next day. Even though the pre-check in emphasized that there were two keys and guests would have to pay for a lost key, there was only one key. It was a minor inconvenience, but we managed. A sink was very wobbly - which I pointed out to Rick so the owner can fix it for the next guest. I would categorize the issues as those indicative of a house where someone doesn't live. They were overall minor.
For the surprises - Even though the house is advertised as "Little Italy", it really is Bankers Hill. Little Italy is only a 4-5 minute walk, but one has to walk under the highway to get to it. I had not appreciated the extent of homelessness in San Diego - though in hindsight I should not have been surprised given the moderate climate. As in other cities, spaces under highways are convenient shelters for those who have been forced into homelessness by their circumstances. You can take this into your own calculus for your plans (e.g. if you have young kids who want to go out to Little Italy on their own late evenings). The other surprise were the planes. Since the house is right on their path to the runway, there is a lot of noise and the planes are extremely low at the location (a few hundred feet high). We like to sleep with the windows open, but could not (planes were landing at all houses including through the night). We learned to deal with it with earplugs and by not leaving the windows open.
All-in-all, it's a great location and the host Rick - who manages the property on behalf of the owner - is very responsive. It's an ideal location for those more interested in Balboa Park and Zoo than in Little Italy (unless driving). I would have given it 4.5 stars if the reviews allowed it.