Location: 5/5. Situated in the Mission Hills neighborhood which puts you within 10 minutes of Little Italy, Hillcrest, and the airport as well as within 20 minutes of basically every San Diego attraction (La Jolla, Gaslamp, Coronado, Old Town, Mission Bay/Sea World). The outdoor patio has a nice view which overlooks a hillside and the downtown area in the distance.
Check-in: 5/5. Host provided a code that unlocks a box containing the keys to each unit. We experienced no issues gaining access to the apartment or leaving at the end of our stay
Amenities: 5/5. The outdoor patio and seating area was a great space to unwind after a long day of touring the city or to enjoy a coffee and the crisp morning air. Kitchen was well-stocked with cooking essentials like olive oil, salt, pepper, paper towels, etc.
Layout: 3/5. Although the house is beautiful and has a nice finish, we found the layout to be a bit strange. The Airbnb is comprised of 3 separate units, with unit 1 reserved separately from units 2 and 3. Since each unit has multiple glass sliding doors opening out to the shared patio, we found the privacy to be a bit lacking. On several occasions we were relaxing in the unit 2 common area when the guests staying in unit 1 accessed the common area. This was always a bit distracting and made us feel a little more on edge. In order to have some privacy, you have to draw several curtains over the glass doors. These are still somewhat transparent and of course leave small openings which can be peered through. Additionally although the kitchen in unit 2 is quite nice, it is oddly located in the living area, giving the unit more of a studio/hotel feel than a true apartment. There is no true indoor dining area, only a small table with 2 chairs.
Sleeping: 2/5. Unit 2 has a small device on the bedroom ceiling that activates a fairly bright white light whenever it detects motion. We are not sure what this device is for but we assumed it to be some kind of smart home system. Regardless it made us a little uneasy to have an unknown electronic device over our bed and the light emitted prevented us from getting deep sleep. The windows behind the bed have no curtains/blinds so the room became flooded with natural light quite early, also preventing us from sleeping late. Finally there aren't true doors separating the bedroom from the rest of the apartment, rather 3 sliding opaque doors. These didn't appear to lock and always left a small gap that allowed others to look into the bedroom. Since this unit is booked with unit 3 which does not have an indoor shower and unit 2's bedroom is directly across from the full bathroom with an indoor shower, we didn't feel like we had enough privacy from guests using the bathroom.
Common Space: 4/5. Sofa was quite comfortable. Large TV with multiple streaming services. The description mentioned cable but we couldn't figure out how to use it. Overall this area was a great place to hang out. Only downsides are that the TV is quite large and a little too close to the sofa. Also it's not mounted or atop a stand so it's literally on the carpet. Any drinks/items on the coffee table obstruct the view of the TV. Also the large glass doors and shared patio area raise some privacy concerns when using the living room.