Staying at Carmen's place was a month was great. The house itself is spacious, especially the master bedroom and bath, and the kitchen is fully stocked with spices, decent pans, etc. It shows that the host lives here part of the time with her family. The internet speed was good and we worked during this vacation, even with multiple video calls simultaneously.
The real highlight is the backyard. Not only was there real grass (an unusual luxury in Vegas) and a beautiful tree, there was a fruiting pomegranate and lemon tree! The hot tub was in good working order and gets really hot, which we appreciated often during our stay. There were plenty of laundered towels and each bathroom had shampoo, conditioner, and soap, which was a nice touch even if we didn't need it all of it. The furniture and setup was clean and well-maintained.
There were only a few minor issues during our trip, which I mention here for completeness:
- The rear of the house borders a major road. While that means less neighbors and more privacy in that direction, it can also mean some car sounds at night if you are very sensitive. We were fine.
- USPS mail is not accessible during your stay. It is automatically forwarded to the host's P.O. Box, and the caretaker did not have a key. USPS larger packages (that would not fit in a mail box) and UPS/FedEx arrived fine.
- Speaking of the hot tub, the normal arrangement is that you need to text the host every time you want to turn the hot tub on. If you want direct access to the control, there is an additional $1000 deposit (which the host returned after the trip).
- Finally, the host has a caretaker nearby who gives everyone an initial walkthrough of the house. Which we much appreciated, except that the host was not happy to wear a mask. He begrudgingly put on when we asked, but then took it off half way through the tour when we went outside, and did not put it back on when we went inside. For what it's worth, he did say he was vaccinated.