This rental is the epitome of what an Airbnb should be - a home away from home with a truly excellent host. We stayed at Randy's San Diego apartment for a month with two young kids.
I have to start by talking about Randy. He owns this apartment, one other adjoining rental apartment and a third where he lives. Randy was the perfect host - able to help with just about everything but also not invasive ensuring we had our privacy. Randy was incredibly generous and welcoming with so many personal touches to make us feel right at home as soon as we arrived. Our country's flag was flying, there were drinks and snacks in the kitchen, toys in the garden. And when I somehow managed to find some obscure items I thought I needed, Randy would materialise them without hesitation. We could relax and there were just no issues during our month long stay thanks to Randy.
The apartment itself is great, and was especially good for a long stay. The apartment is in a quiet residential neighbourhood. It is literally a 5-15 minute drive to most areas in San Diego - the beach, the zoo, the parks. The décor is very personal and fun and we were always finding new things to look at. It is extremely well appointed with cupboards a plenty, full of all manner of useful things, bin bags, bedding, endless toilet roll, games, hair styling tools, bug spray....
My kids are already asking when we can go back and I would return without hesitation. We had a truly fantastic stay in San Diego.
Some details about the rooms:
Outside - the deck and garden are wonderful and much bigger than the photos make them look. We spent our time on the lower deck on the beach where the kids could play safely for hours. The sand is actually quite deep, not just a cursory dusting. My 6 year old with a spade didn't reach the bottom. There is always somewhere to sit that is shaded, which we appreciated. Some of the shade provided by Randy's old windsurfing kites that are strung up. There are little nooks everywhere were you could enjoy the shade and a quiet drink. Little lights turn on at night time. There is fun decoration everywhere, for example Randy's hand made totem pole! On the upper deck there is ample seating and a nice "bar" area where you can look out over the beach garden below. There is an enormous gas barbecue that we enjoyed using! The garden's isn't really overlooked and feels very private.
Living room/kitchen - nice large smart TV with netflix etc. The sofa is a sofabed but we didn't try that. Aircon, multiple fridges, ice maker, washer/dryer. The kitchen area is pretty small but functional and we had everything we needed to cook whatever we wanted. There was every type of pan and a cupboard full of cooking essentials - oils, seasonings, etc. No dishwasher.
Downstairs bedroom - much bigger than it looks on the photos. We set up a travel cot (Randy provided) and there was still plenty of floor space. The bunk bed is fun and a large comfortable queen sized bed in the room as well. No aircon in this room but the shutters can be opened to join up to the living room so cool air can flow in. There is also a door to the outside in this room. There is a load of storage, chests of drawers, shelves, cupboards. Large TV.
Downstairs bathroom - off the bedroom. Small but fully functional. Shower.
Upstairs bedroom - large room with load of storage. Huge mirrored wardrobe plus loads of drawers. Queen size bed. No TV upstairs. There is only a curtain between the bedroom and the bathroom and I imagine for some people this might cause a privacy problem. We didn't mind
Upstairs bathroom - shower over bath. Bath helpful for kids!