I would not recommend staying here. Positives: the location
Negatives: literally everything else
Why does this property have such good reviews? Probably because they urge you to reach out to them before leaving anything less than a 5 star review, so they can “correct” things. If I were to reach out and take some sort of partial refund, then I’d be a part of the problem, so instead I chose to write an honest review. Below are some of the details of our stay, and the reasons that the rating we are giving this AirBnb is so poor (we have only EVER given out 5 star reviews for our past AirBnb stays). There are certain legitimate expectations that come with Airbnb’s and/or vacation rentals that just weren’t met.
HIGHLY Inadequate Maintenance:
1. This place seemed to have no routine maintenance at all. To start off our trip, when we arrived, 3 lightbulbs were out. One in the bathroom, one over the dining table, and one in the living room. We were only able to change the one in the bathroom because that’s the only one we could find a replacement for.
2. When we got to the Airbnb we went to take a shower, but the hot water ran out in less than 10 minutes. A substantial amount of air was in the water tank, preventing it from heating the appropriate amount of water. This was alleviated by allowing the air in the tank to escape through the release, as is the proper remedy, and for the remainder of our trip there were no more issues with the water heater. However, we shouldn’t have to do maintenance on our vacation at a rental property that we are paying for. I can’t imagine how many guests went with virtually no hot water on their trip because of such a lack of maintenance.
3. The blinds were tired and broken. The property is in the middle of an active area, and blinds (that aren’t broken) are obviously a necessity.
4. The stay didn’t feel particularly clean, the side table had dust and hair on it, and there was a VERY clear AirBnb message sent by the host that we were absolutely not to remove the bed sheets... which definitely raised flags of concern on what the mattress probably looked like.
5. The towels seemed old. Each towel was randomly mismatched, giving the impression that they were once in someone else’s home and are now being reused at the rental instead of purchasing new towels.
CHEAP Amenities & Random Upcharges:
(To preface, we didn’t receive any up charges, but we were heavily inconvenienced by all of the warnings)
1. There was a crumpled, crooked sign taped to the closet, warning guests not to use any additional towels or sheets or they would be charged an additional fee. This seemed particularly agitating as we were opening the closet to assist with maintenance during our vacation. For the record, we never needed (nor did we use) any extra towels or sheets.
2. The checkout requirements were ridiculous (and of course, If you don’t follow them, they will up charge you). FYI: you’re already paying a cleaning fee. You still have to empty all trash cans and carry all trash down a flight of stairs to go find a garbage bin.
3. If you forget anything, there’s an additional service fee for them to send it back to you. (This one is probably fair, but still frustrating)
4. If there’s any sand in the apartment, they will up charge you.
11. When we arrived, we were greeted with a half-used mini bottle of hand sanitizer with a hand-written sticky note reminding guests that this mini bottle is not to be kept.
12. The 3in1 shampoo/conditioner/body wash in a mostly used bulk bottle in the shower was the epitome of cheap, and also unhygienic. It would have been better left out completely, but of course the only reason this was (most likely) there in the first place is so that it could be advertised as amenities offered.
13. Also, just in case you missed it (since it’s not photographed in any of the photos) the bed is basically in the kitchen and there is no bedroom. You could probably get the whole place in one camera shot - and while they DID advertise the property as a studio, it was just one more thing that rubbed us wrong.
If you got through all this and still think you want to stay at this rental, by all means go for it. The location is really good. But we spent way too much time fixing things, and any time not spent fixing things, we were worried about up charges. We couldn’t lay in bed with the blinds open because people can stare literally right into your windows. There were other great properties in Capitola and we both heavily regret not going with a different option.