We booked about a month before our mid-May trip and this was the most affordable option that included a kitchen and met our privacy preferences. It was the quintessential "you get what you pay for scenario." It was hard to believe we spent almost $700 for our 3 nights for this level of a space, but I know it was Santa Cruz prices.
Check-in was not smooth. We never saw house address numbers anywhere. And since I was driving, I hadn't seen a message come in from Courtney less than 45 minutes before the check-in window that conflicted with prior information, so we were hunting around for a house and driveway as described in the listing and the check-in instructions. (The driveway ended not being available for our use and was full of other cars parked there that never left.)
Communication - I sent Courtney a question a little over a week before our stay and didn't receive a reply until I followed up a week after my original message. When I messaged her after our first night there, to ask for a lighter blanket since my husband and I were both sweating under the one winter-type down comforter, even with the windows open and it being in the 50s outside, she responded quickly and said she'd try to find something but then never got back to us.
WiFi - was not consistently strong enough for my husband to be able to get his work on his laptop done that he'd needed and planned on doing while I was attending a training for the day.
There was a musty smell inside and a general air of neglect, including exterior door trim missing from the entry door and other small carpentry fails. The sliding screen door for the bedroom was completely torn. Some windows didn't even have screens and the stick that turns the blinds was missing or broken on some windows. The blinds in the bathroom had mildew on them. The patio area that you walk through to enter the unit was full of old leaves (including all over the dusty patio furniture) and even some random trash (plastic fork, etc.). The sliding barn-style door between the kitchen and bathroom did reduce the privacy for the person using the restroom. The showerhead being installed so low was cumbersome (and I'm only 5'4"). I had it barely sitting in the holder so it was flowing somewhat downward but then when I shut off the water, the lack of pressure apparently made the showerhead fall down, right on my bare foot and left a bruise that covered 80% of my foot.
The curtains covering the sliding patio door in the bedroom are white (with stains) and very thin, so we weren't able to sleep past 7:30AM because of the brightness. The mattress was sunken enough in the middle that when I tried sleeping toward the edge, to not crowd my husband, I felt I was battling rolling into the middle. There was no headboard on the bed and the wall that the bed is against is a common wall shared with the main house.
I will say that I heard very little noise from the main house, which we really appreciated!
Noise - Monday morning the garbage trucks come by ... around 6:30AM? 7AM? It seemed like they came around three times for some reason. Obviously, that's completely out of Courtney's control but the combination of the bright light and garbage truck noise made it impossible for us to go back to sleep.
I let her know when we were leaving that the hairdryer didn't work.
In response to others who felt cramped in the space, I agree. I'm 5'4" and 125 pounds and felt cramped in the living room area (the breakfast bar area hangs over into the living area, so I'd have to somewhat lean while I walked between it and the "L" part of the couch) ... and also felt cramped when my 200 pound 6' tall husband and I tried to get ready in the bathroom while the other showered.
It was not a space that felt inviting to relax at in between our other activities. We ended up more comfortable parking at the cliffs down the road and sitting in our car to do work on our laptops instead of doing so at the AirBnB.
If we'd had a more realistic picture of the space before deciding to book, all of these little things wouldn't have felt so disappointing. There were just so many of them ... and compared to other 4.5-star AirBnBs, this space and experience fell short of our expectations. Hopefully, being forewarned and keeping your expectations lower, you'll be pleasantly surprised during your stay!