Overall review: **would recommend**
Details below.
All the positive things: The physical space was great. The bed is incredibly comfortable, and the sheets very soft. The bathroom seems to have been recently remodeled, with a great shower and strong water pressure. The bath towels were very luxurious, and the shampoo/conditioners/body washes all had a great fragrance and left us feeling clean and refreshed. The a/c unit in the room also cooled down the space very quickly and effectively. The windows and doors were pretty old and hard to move, but they did the trick. The important things that you want to be nice in a rental space were very nice. The space is also in a secluded residential area, with a cute little tranquil yard, and is in a fantastic location, a short walk from the Grand Hyatt and Shipwreck Beach. The host also graciously offered us one of their cars to use as a rental while staying at their space for an incredibly discounted price.
The not-so positive: The things that made us feel uneasy about our experience have to do with logistics/coordination. Upon check-in, we were told that the room is always left open/unlocked and that we could just walk in. When we inquired about keys for the space, the host said there were keys but didn't know where they were. I understand that for the locals that live there and know the area, they may feel comfortable with this - But as travelers bringing belongings and valuables that have never been to this location before, we felt uneasy about the idea of not being able to lock up our rental. We were left to search the room ourselves for the keys, and thankfully we did find them.
The car rental situation also made us very uneasy. The same applied here in terms of keys. We were told the keys were always left in the car, but that they didn't know where they were. We searched briefly, trying not to dig too deeply into someone else's things, and couldn't find them. We felt strange that we couldn't lock the car when taking it out in town, and we stressed about whether or not the car would be stolen while we were out using it.
We also were made uneasy by there being no real check-out and check-in process for the car. The host lent the car to someone one else for the day in between the two days we had rented it, and we were then asked to clean up a mess that the other person made. There was back and forth about how clean the car was before we used it, and we regretted not taking detailed pictures of the car when we first rented it. It didn't feel good that we could be blamed for things we didn't do. The host also assumed we took the car out on a day that we did not use it, and since we were paying for the car by the day, that didn't feel good to us either. We were grateful to have the car access, but after this experience would definitely not rent a personal car again from a host without a better check-in and check-out process of the car. There needs to be some peace of mind that the renters could only be held accountable for the days they used it for, and to not fear that the car (or anything in it) could easily be stolen on the renter's watch. We also had no way to prove that we paid since we paid in cash and just left it in the center console. If someone else other than the host had taken it in between the days that we used the car, there would be no way to prove that we did actually paid for it.
Also just as an FYI, this space is directly attached to the host's house. So there is not a ton of privacy as conversations can be easily heard through the door that connects the spaces. If this doesn't bother you, its a great deal for a nice quiet space near the ocean.
The things that we felt were missing: a nightlight (pitch black in the unit at night), and maybe a box of tissues somewhere
Overall great rental space, but uneasy coordination and communication of keys and rental car. Would highly recommend for someone wanting a comfortable and convenient space near the ocean, who isn't bringing expensive gear or other valuables / is not too concerned about locking up, and who plans to walk places or has their own rental car.