Although they were on a trip of their own, Tara and Derek's studio in North Park met me well. I had a terrific stay during my time in San Diego. The space felt exactly like a beach house. All the essentials were there and despite their absence, Tara and Derek provided a very detailed house manual. Also, they were so nice to give me tons of phenomenal recommendations that really came in handy during my trip. Check in and check out were a breeze and they even had a parking spot for me when I arrived. Another positive definitely worth mentioning is the location. The location is amazing. San Diego is the craft beer capital of the U.S. and a couple blocks over from their place starts the most densely populated strip of craft beer bars in the nation. Most of San Diego's other main attractions (i.e. Zoo, Parks, Beaches, even Mexico) were all only a 10-20 minute drive away.
It pains me to have to say there were any negatives at all, but since I didn't see this in any of the other reviews, and to be fair to my Airbnb Community, I must mention there was just one single downside. A good amount of the time it gets to be incredibly hot/humid in the studio. I'd say more humid than hot. It becomes almost unbearable at times. Luckily I kept busy and spent most of my time out doing things, but it would have been nice to come back to a place that was more comfortable to be in. The small stand-up fan was insufficient and I saw it was stated in the listing that there was no A/C, but I figured it wouldn't have been as big of an issue as it was.
I understand there were limited things Tara and Derek could really do to remedy the situation in there, as the two windows were both too small for a window A/C unit, and on my end, leaving the door open would have welcomed in a fair share of bugs (especially pesky flies). Although a bit of a task, I'd recommend a ceiling fan be installed with a dehumidifier as its side kick, or of course a nice little electric a/c system put in the corner. Like I said, not a ton of obvious options but something the next guest should be aware of and something the hosts hopefully help out with.
Other than that one thing that needed mentioning somewhere in this listing's reviews, (although, if someone else had said something then I probably wouldn't have, due to the great time I had during my stay, which also makes it understandable as to why no one else did mention it), everything else rose beyond expectations. The space was clean. Everything was provided as advertised, and my time in SD was excellent, thanks in large part to Tara and Derek's space. Would definitely recommend.