We are a family of 7 adults and two one-year olds who chose this place to get together to celebrate the holidays this year.
The house is outdated, but it is clean, spacious, and comfortable. The kitchen has everything you will need during your stay.
It is located in a safe area, with nearby grocery stores. Drive time to San Diego Zoo, Balboa Park or downtown can vary from 15 - 30 minutes depending on traffic.
The pool and spa were nice but don't expect hotel grade pool here. Unfortunately the spa had too many rough patches that left some of us with scratched skin. The plaster likely needs to be replaced.
What SPOILED our stay was the tone used by the host about the house rules.
Every Airbnbs I had stayed had rules, but here you will find a binder with several pages that you MUST READ. That already feels like homework LOL
And the tone used in it is far from friendly. It is actually quite intimidating. There are phrases like "do this or you will pay a fee", "don't that or you will pay a fee"
There are paper reminders of what you can or can't do in the house on the walls, in the cupboard, on the washing machine.
On the night before my check out (which I knew it was by 11am, and received an automatic reminder thru theAirbnb app) I received a message from the host saying that his cleaning crew would be there at 11am. Meaning if I was to check out at 11am I would likely have an encounter with the cleaning crew. Just another way that the host puts pressure and intimidades its guests. That message really upset me because I had already spent days in that house walking in eggshells 😡
This whole thing made us feel unwelcomed, and made some of the people in my group to feel anxious. Who wants to feel stressed and anxious during vacation?
So if you want a stress/anxiety free place go somewhere else.
To be honest it felt more like were staying at the property as a favor, for free, and not as paying guests.
I have stayed at Airbnbs in more than 30 countries, from simple houses to very luxurious villas and this was the first time I didn't feel welcomed, where the rules were used as an intimidation tool.
Maybe a hospitality course refresh is in order so the guests can actually enjoy the property and not feel anxious or intimidaded.
This will be the 1st Airbnb that I will not recommend to friends and family.