Kimlin was a “fantabulous” host!

My wife and I stayed with Kimlin over Christmas holidays with the intent to spend the entire week at a local spa, Kiva. Kimlin was attentive and thorough from the moment we set foot at her front door. She greeted us with a warm welcome and immediately proceeded to walk us through her property inside and out. She spent a short 15min giving us the tour and left us alone knowing we came to Santa Cruz with the intent of escaping from the busy life of work and people. However, she didn’t walk away without sharing her cell number and let us know that we are always a text / phone call away from reaching her if there is anything we needed.

The AirBnB place we stayed at was, in essence, the back half of Kimlin’s house with a complete separate entrance and privacy. She, her husband, John, and a little dog named Heidi lives in the front half of the house. There is a door that divides the two halves of the house and the door remained locked over our entire stay. On Kimlin’s side of the divider door, she has a white noise generator to avoid Heidi from barking at unfamiliar movements in the house (aka, us). The white noise is not loud at all, and we barely noticed over our entire stay. She stocked our AirBnB with a bottle of red wine, cheese, bread and jam to get us started of our stay. She also offered us a gift card to the Buttery, a bakery/breakfast place I wish they have in SF.

Her AirBnB place is decorated in bohemian style, which my wife and I loved, and it is much more beautiful than what was portrayed in the pictures posted on AirBnB website. There are plenty of books, including a free library section, and board games in addition to the TV with full cable lineup to keep us entertained while indoor. There are also plenty of resources such as maps and places to explore outdoor (i.e., national parks, hike trails, etc.) while in Santa Cruz. She also has a beautiful garden in her backyard with a chicken coup, which we can take advantage of if needed when cooking. Unfortunately, the chickens don’t lay eggs, but good news is they don’t make any noise.

On the last day of our stay, we visited Kimlin, John and Heidi at their place over coffee and pastries in the morning. She had made us freshly baked apple strudels that morning to enjoy over a pleasant dialog exchange. She did not let us leave without giving us the remaining apple strudels which we both loved, and some dried persimmons as we embarked our drive along highway 1 back home to SF.

Overall, I would recommend Kimlin’s AirBnB to anyone who is looking for a relaxing stay in Santa Cruz.