My family and I booked Thursday through Sunday. We tried for an early check in due to some of us were arriving earlier in the day. Colm did his best to accommodate our request, but the quests checking out the same day we arrived meant the cleaning crew needed time to properly clean the home before our arrival. When we arrived to the quiet beach neighborhood under the cypress trees, the outside of the house was clean. There is space for 4 cars tightly parked. The house was indeed clean and dust free. The cleaning service seems to be doing a thorough job. The large kitchen was great for our party of six. All the appliances we could have wanted were available: coffee maker, microwave, oven/stove, rice cooker, large sink with disposal and dish washer. The beds are comfortable -we found an additional foam sleeping pad under a bed when cleaning before check-out.
The neighborhood is quiet. One needs to be mindful that in the small-town community of Aptos, home owners generally prefer peace and quiet. Because the home did not have air conditioning we opted to keep the windows open to allow fresh beach-air into the house. Although we were quiet and considerate of the neighbors, the acoustics/sound inside the home project outside the home and may bother neighbors at lower volume than expected. Colm was friendly in communicating with me about the quiet hours (10pm-8am.) Our party was asleep by 9pm so this was no factor for us.
The house was a perfect location from the beach and mountains. We walked to the beach and local parks and rode our bikes into Nisene Marks up to San Point. Everything you may want to do in Santa Cruz/Aptos is a very short drive. This house is centrally located with grocery stores and restaurants within walking distance, or 5-10 minute drive. The "house binder" includes many things to do in Santa Cruz, including the best local restaurants and menus. Gayles Bakery is a must, although plan in advance for paying for their delicious quality food. I bough lunch for 4 and the tab was nearly $100 (including 4 pastries and 2 cookies.)
Upon checkout I noticed how quiet the washer/dryer are. This was great because the units are located outside the house. We checked out at 6am on Sunday morning and loaded all the dirty laundry and started it before leaving. We felt confident that we were not disturbing the neighbors with the sounds of the washer/dryer.
Excellent experience. We appreciate Colm allowing us to stay. We would certainly come back again.