While our overall experience was okay (for the reasons outlined below), some of the things we liked was having the beach accessories in the listing available, the patio, and the washer/dryer. The location is as mentioned – walking distance to the beach and the bay. Host was responsive.
However, we also had several issues:
Propety Condition - The listing indicates that the property went through a ground up renovation in 2008 and is one of the newest homes in the area. This is not the case. The place is old, and there was a smell in the kitchen as soon as we walked in, such that my son didn’t even want to go in the kitchen. There is old, opened food and opened toiletries in the kitchen and bathroom (that we did not use), including an opened rubbing alcohol that expired in 2017. The bathrooms had a toothpaste holder (that initially looked part of the counter) but when flipped over, looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in a long time. It begs the question as to how often the property is being cleaned. While the property appeared to be clean on first look (i.e., no visible dirt, stains, marks), the rugs in the living room, bathroom, and kitchen were so old that no amount of cleaning is going to help it – those need to be replaced. The stove is old, such that the markings on the knob are almost completely erased. The lighter on the gas stove doesn’t work so the stove needs to be physically lit. It is an issue if I can’t clearly see how to light the stove, considering it is a gas stove. There was black tape on the doorknobs to the bedrooms – I don’t know why. Lots of dust by the window sills corners of the bedrooms, etc. Air Conditioning is only available in one bedroom (and it’s loud), and while you can open the windows at night to cool the place down, you can hear neighbors and conversations easily (see section below). We did not find the property condition to match what was described in the listing.
Parking Space - The parking space is small. We have a medium SUV (Toyota Highlander) which took several attempts to squeeze into the spot, and once it’s in the spot we cannot open the doors to let people in and out or to get things from the car. While trying to figure out how to get our car in the spot for the first time, a neighbor screamed profanities at us for blocking the way, even though we took no more than a few minutes and had another person on the alley to make sure we weren’t blocking anyone. The alleys/streets are very narrow such that two cars cannot pass through at the same time. For reference, the long-time residents looked like they needed several attempts to park their cars as well. For further reference, I have driven extensively in San Francisco and the Bay Area and found it difficult to park here.
Privacy and Noise – the houses are very close together, so if you open the window you can see what the folks across the way are watching on TV. And you can clearly hear conversation on the neighbors patios. While I did not find this to be an issue, it is useful to know to those who value privacy. Airplanes can be very clearly heard early in the morning (630 on a Sunday).
We have AT&T cell service and got zero signal at the house.
The condition of the property was the biggest disappointment of our trip. Staying here cost us more money than a hotel.