We booked this house for a five night stay for our family of seven (all adults). We are Airbnb Superhosts with a solid five star rental and have been for many years. We often stay in vacation homes as well as Airbnb’s as well as 75-100 nights a year in hotels. We had a fantastic time and this house worked out great for us. I find that reviews are important and we rely on them often. As a host I use the reviews to make improvements to our rental. This house is rented by a management company and not the owner directly. Hopefully the owner reads these too. So, here we go with “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”
The Good-
- Great location. One side of the house faces Mission Blvd. There is a lot of foot traffic. 4-5 blocks to walk to a variety of local restaurants.
- steps to the sand and boardwalk. Only one house between you and the sand.
- The house is a great size and layout for larger families. Love having four bedrooms and four full bathrooms.
- the kitchen is well equipped. Loved having a gas stove. We cooked a lot considering most of the restaurants were closed.
- the bedding was clean and comfortable. Plenty of bath towels and beach towels.
- loved having full cable television (Spectrum) on all of the televisions. Televisions were all newer and smart equipped.
-WiFi was lightning fast and accessible from anywhere in the house.
- plenty of floor fans for warmer days and space heaters for cold days. The built in wall heaters worked well that we didn’t need the space heaters. Nights were often chilly this time of year. Especially with the wind coming off the ocean.
- We absolutely loved the roof top deck with the fire pit and small four person jacuzzi
- The bbq grill on the ground level is newer and was clean. There should be an extra gas tank kept on the garage in case you run out.
- The house overall was clean upon our arrival. I’d say not sanitized but overall clean.
- The views are okay. You can see the ocean from the main balcony and the roof top terrace. Not great views but nice nonetheless.
The Bad
- the interior of the house is pretty worn and in need of a face lift. Walls are marred and paint peeling in many places.
- Rust everywhere. Much of the metal fixtures inside the home are rusted. I understand the ocean air is hard on things but it’s time for a facelift. Especially at the price of this house.
- The roof top deck and exterior decks need to be cleaned or at least fresh water rinsed.
- The jacuzzi should have been drained and refilled between each guest. The water was not clean or sanitized. “Stuff” floating in the water. We cleaned it.
- The smoke detectors on the main level are outdated and need to be replaced. They alarm at everything when cooking. This is a sign they have passed their serviceable life.
- The included bicycles in the garage are an absolute joke. Two bikes. One adult and one kids bike. Neither are rideable and belong on the trash pile. I’d guess they haven’t been ridden in a long time based on prior reviews.
- Only one partial roll of paper towels was left. We would have been fine with two like promised.
-the refrigerator is also rusting and the door ice dispenser no longer works. Frozen over i believe. The ice maker does produce plenty of ice though.
The Ugly
- we traveled during the peak of Covid and at a time when California was essentially in lockdown. We knew this ahead of time and accepted the risk. We knew it would require us to spend quality family time over sightseeing. On check out day, we had a later departure flight and requested a two hour delay in check out. 12 instead of 10. The management company confirmed the home was not rented on our check out day yet they would not allow a late check out without us paying a 95 dollar fee. This is tacky and unnecessary and because of this i would not rent a home from this management company again.