Staying with Sam, his son, his roommate and other AirBnB was a wonderful experience. This really is a large house. And if you happen to say in the Master Bedroom – it is wonderful.

A few things to really understand about this stay. If you are looking for that 1:1 intimate stay – where it is just you – and the owner of the house, you probably won’t find that here. Sam AirBnB’s 3-4 rooms of his place (depending upon if someone is renting the tent out back.). In addition, Sam also rents out additional rooms to other full time tenants. All in all, you may find 5-10 people in the house at any given time. But if you are excited about an “adult youth hostel” with the very possibility that you are meeting new tenants and roommates who can tell you about the local area or other places in the world – then this is a great place. While there, I found myself have spontaneous late night discussions around the heated fire out back or sitting around the kitchen table.

You need to be a pretty independent guest – as Sam and the rest of the crew are very busy. It is up to you to ask questions about rules of the house or how things work.

But it is a great location if you want to explore the “just outside of downtown” million hills area. The neighborhood backs up to a hill – and is green and beautiful. Yet, literally within 5-8 minutes, you can be downtown, at Balboa Park, to one of the 25 area San Diego Breweries, to the beach or to the airport. All within 5-8 minutes.

The only thing I didn’t like about the place is that a new family has moved in next door to Sam. And they have a large dog that loves to bark. And Bark. And bark. During the day – they leave the dog outside, and if he is spooked, her will start his barking. Sam acknowledges the frustration to the neighborhood – and has said he is going to work with other neighbors to take measures to either ask the owners to keep the dog inside or turn to noise violation rules and legally get it taken care of. It sort of ruins the nice and peaceful nature of the beautiful mission hills neighborhood.

Take a chance and hang out at Sam’s adult hostel – done well in a mansion!