We booked this home after reading all the amazing reviews and we ended up fairly disappointed.
Some positives:
Toby is very friendly and willing to help with suggestions.
There are large fruit trees (mango, avocado, papaya) on the property and maybe you'll get lucky and something will be ripe! Toby thoughtfully offered us some green papaya, which was all that was available at the time.
There is laundry on site specifically for guests, contrary to some older reviews.
The bathroom is beautiful and spacious and lovely.
The home and backyard are comfortable and spacious and the ocean view is great.
We were able to borrow beach umbrellas, boogie boards and towels, which was awesome. Some of the beach essentials listed on Airbnb were not offered.
Even though we booked almost 3 months in advance, Toby seemed not to be ready for us. The big sliding door was open and the home had mosquitoes inside. One bed wasn't made, which he took care of swiftly, and the whole home was partially or completely out of stock. There was little of anything: soap, paper towels, hand towels, dish soap, no shampoo or tissues etc. There was no toilet paper so we requested some, and we were provided with one partially used roll presumably from his personal bathroom. When we ran out the next morning, I requested more, and it took until sometime after we were in bed that night to bring any, so we were without for a whole day.
The other primary inconvenience was that there was no propane hooked up for our stove, oven and BBQ. There were instructions for how to turn on the propane to the tiki torches and BBQ, which required climbing around under the deck, over large items and a full kitty litter box, only to find out the propane was empty. The propane got stocked 48 hours after our arrival, so we were unable to cook any meals the first 2 days. The long lighter we were supposed to use to light the BBQ was also out of fuel.
Our first impression on arrival was that it looked nowhere near as well-kept as in the photos. I'd guess the photos on the listing are years old.
The front exterior looks cluttered, with two new tarped-over, ramshackle sheds, garbage bags and trash cans etc. (Photo #14 shows the fence line all open, but it is not.)
The one parking option we were offered was very steep and awkward to get in and out of. Maybe before the sheds were installed, there was more space to park. The listing specifies 4 parking spots but I have no idea where those would be.
The home's interior is charming and nicely decorated, but things are run down. The couch has lost many of its buttons so there are now holes, the leather on the kitchen stools is ripped up, the dishwasher buttons are broken and the only one that appears to work at all is the "start" button, which looks like it runs a quick wash (not my favorite option in a vacation rental), but I couldn't be sure.
The house looked reasonably clean on the surface, but once we started to cook, we realized no one had cleaned out the drawers and cabinets. There was some kind of poop (mouse? lizard?) in one drawer, a piece of tortilla chip in another, and tons of crumbs amongst the cutlery.
The bedrooms and beds were cozy. Bedroom #1 has no window panes, just screens, which is something to be aware of if you don't sleep well with loud coqui frogs!
The backyard is much less manicured than the photos show. It's more overgrown and cluttered. And behind the fence shown in Photo #24, there are usually multiple trucks parked so there's no view to speak of beyond the yard. It was still a nice place to spend an afternoon.
Overall, it was hard to rate this home. We had a good time but I would not choose to stay here again since so many things are misrepresented and all the amenities weren't provided. Toby did eventually provide the things we requested but having to ask for so many items that should have already been there is awkward and frustrating. We ended up giving up and rationing what was there, but an expensive vacation shouldn't be that way.