So, I don't like writing anything but glowing reviews but if I did so for this property, it would be dishonest. It wasn't awful but it wasn't great, either. Let me share with you some pros and cons our group of 8 experienced:
Pros:
1) Evan is very friendly, helpful (he let us check in 3 hours early) and VERY prompt with help needed and responses.
2) The house is in an amazing location, very close to the airport, Balboa Park, the zoo, Sea World, beaches, the airport and lots of shopping and great restaurants. It's a very safe community where I never worried about our safety or leaving the windows and sliders open for fresh air.
3) The view from the balconies is incredible. We enjoyed the sunsets and fireworks from Sea World nightly.
4) The rooms are spacious and there's plenty of room to comfortably sleep 8 without ever having to pull out the queen air mattress that's also provided.
5) There's a nice, long table for large gatherings where we ate and played games daily. The living room accommodated all 8 of us nicely too.
6) You'll have a private garage big enough for 2 standard sized cars.
Cons:
1) The noise level from the airport, whistle-blowing trains and freeway is off-the-charts LOUD! My white noise machine couldn't even drown it out so if you're sensitive to loud sounds all the way till late in the night and very early in the morning, this house is not for you.
2) The house was clean except for the floor, which turned your socks black pretty quickly. There's a swiffer there and I think it just moves dirt around instead of getting rid of it so pack flip flops for indoor walking to keep your feet clean. Even the carpet up stairs in the hall is stained and I found it just gross.
3) The appliances are very old and are not always working. The garbage disposal gave out while we were there, which flooded the kitchen. Evan was very quick to respond to that emergency and got a plumber out the next morning. The dishwasher isn't installed well and you have to push it hard to the left just to get the door closed. The AC also didn't work so the house got warm and stuffy, making it hard to sleep the first few nights until it got fixed. The washer and dryer are just ancient and we had a hard time figuring out how they even worked.
4) The kitchen floor has loose boards that move under your feet when you're walking on them so be careful if you're prone to falls.
5) The walls are scuffed and stained in several places. The pictures make the house look dreamy and perfect but it's nowhere near as nice as the pictures suggest. It was minimally renovated and the work done was VERY shoddy.
6) There are no ceiling fans anywhere in this house so the only way you can get any air moving is to open all the windows and sliders and hope for an occasional breeze. My mom and sister bought oscillating fans for their rooms because they couldn't sleep at night without some moving air.
7) The rooms are spacious but poorly appointed. I stayed in the extra room off the garage and there wasn't a single hook to hang a robe or towel, no wardrobe or closet to hang a piece of clothing and the one small cupboard in the room didn't even have knobs so it was difficult to open them. There wasn't even a mirror to fix my hair so we all had to share two bathrooms. Needless to say, if you get up in the night to use the bathroom, this room is like camping. No facilities unless you walk through the garage which is impossible to maneuver with cars in them.
8) The downstairs bathroom is bigger and has more counter space for your things but the upstairs bath which serves the garage bedroom and the room with 2 queen beds is tiny with a small walk-in shower and ZERO storage to put even a toothbrush, toothpaste or a comb. This was a constant challenge for all of us for our entire stay. Even the shower didn't have a shelf or a soap dish so all our products and soap bars were laying all over the very small floor of the shower (gross).
9) The street this house is located on is extremely narrow and cars are parked on one side, making it quite the squeeze for larger vehicles. Dealing with the narrow street and finding parking was also a constant challenge.
10) The kitchen has very little storage for groceries because there isn't a pantry. We put our things in a few of the empty drawers and all over the countertops because there was nowhere else to put them.
Overall, we had a great time and an enjoyable stay at Evan's place. There were disappointments and challenges for sure and I feel the price point of this place would be more appropriate for a fully renovated house with thoughtful amenities but it didn't ruin the amazing memories we made staying there together. Would I stay again? Maybe. If the items on the con's list were addressed but otherwise, no.