Fantastic location with nice views of the sail boats on the bay over the rooftops of homes across the street. Lots of balcony access and great shore breeze keeps the temperature perfect! The home is accurately portrayed in the photos. The bathrooms and bedroom furniture are a little bit dated as the photos show, but everything was clean and comfortable. There are a few subtle stains on the carpet- but just normal wear and tear that is expected in a “by the beach” rental. I found the master bed very comfortable, though my husband would have preferred a harder mattress. There were some ants in the kitchen, but again, not unexpected given the proximity to beach/water/nature.
The only thing that was really worn was the sliding glass doors are the original aluminum and come off the tracks a bit and require a strong shove to open and close, but this did not bother us or make it any harder to use the balconies.
The backyard was unlandscaped, but there is a good fence, which makes the yard ideal for anyone bringing a dog, and this is one of very few listings on Airbnb that allow dogs, so it is a very reasonable trade-off to not have fancy landscaping. It looked like they were maybe in the process of adding some landscape features.
In summary, there may be more updated/remodeled listings in Santa Cruz for a similar price, but the convenience, well stocked kitchen and access to boogie boards, surf boards etc.., grill, hot tub, and proximity to the beach, boardwalk, and nature trails all in walking distance made this a five star accommodation in our opinion.