A+++ location!!! This part of the beach is just perfect. Beautiful, wide and clean, and not crowded. We liked it much better than the busier and more chaotic Pacific Beach.
The sliding glass door of unit #3 opens to a narrow balcony just wide enough to sit and have your morning coffee or takeout. In front of that and down a few steps, is Oceanfront Walk, a wide pedestrian street where people walk, skate and bike, and beyond that is the beach and ocean. So there are no motorized vehicles between you and the beach. With the sliding glass door open, you see and hear the ocean from the living room, and there is a nice breeze. Great sunset views. And you have some privacy from passersby, due to the slight elevation of the apartment. A four-minute walk down the pedestrian street and then a block away from the ocean is a little bakery where you can pick up pastries and coffee for breakfast. A few blocks further down (away from the ocean), and you arrive at the beach on the bay (not ocean) side, with no waves at all. Perfect for young kids, stand-up paddle boards, etc.
Communication with Vacasa, who manages the property, was not as smooth as it usually is with with a local host. When we had issues with hot water, for example, there was quite a bit of back-and-forth with various people before the issue was eventually elevated, and the problem was addressed the next afternoon.
The apartment itself was nice, although it could be wonderful with some updates and TLC.:
The floors were sticky and sandy when we first arrived, and it only got worse over the course of our stay, even though we removed our shoes before entering the house. The latter part is inevitable, given the proximity to the beach. If I go again, I would bring a separate pair of flip-flops to wear inside the house.
There is no window screen on the only window in the upstairs bedroom, and the blinds cannot be pulled up. So the room never really cools down, even with a fan and the sliding doors fully open downstairs.
The listing states that there is a BBQ grill. However, the grill is behind a gate with a sign next to it saying that the area belongs only to unit #1.
The bathtub and shower in the bathroom of the downstairs (main) bedroom would not be easy for some to get in and out of, as the ledge is high and wide and is surrounded by glass. So you can’t sit on the ledge and swing your leg over because of the glass. You have to step over the ledge through the glass door.
Overall, we enjoyed our stay very much. The positives far outweighed the negatives.