We had a wonderful week at Jeff's house! I didn't realize when booking that the master bedroom is really a master suite, but it was a nice surprise. In addition to plenty of closet space there is a large dresser and dressing area, and a lovely, light and airy bathroom with two corner windows and a high skylight that light up the whole room. The bedroom has sliding glass doors that open up to the lush side yard and a private section of the wraparound porch. It was the first Airbnb place I've stayed that was nicer than my own home!
There were lots of helpful notes around the house to keep guests from having to wonder how things work or where they are. (I did suggest to Jeff adding a reminder note about putting the garbage and recycling bins out for pickup - we completely overlooked it, and I think the guests before us did as well.)
The neighborhood is safe, friendly and pretty conveniently located; if you avoid heavy traffic times you can drive to Santa Cruz in about 10 minutes.
Rio Del Mar beach is kind of meh, but there is a map in the kitchen for getting to Hidden Beach, which is pretty nice. There is a 1-mile paved trail along the beach, and you could probably walk the beach itself all the way to Monterey.
Cafe Rio, right on the beach, has live music and a happy hour menu out on the patio on Wednesday night - but get there early to claim a table! We had breakfast at the Pixie Deli, which gets rave reviews everywhere, but found it totally underwelming.
Jeff was available, easy to reach and overall a wonderful host. He gave us a heads up that his dad, Steve, was going to be stopping by to do some needed yard work; he was not at all intrusive and if I hadn't needed to run an errand I would have missed the chance to have a chat with this very nice gentleman.
The only possible complaint anyone could have about the house is that due to the geography of its location - in a kind of bowl, surrounded by hills - cell phone coverage is very, very spotty. This isn't a problem if you're looking to get away from it all, but it's frustrating when you want to make a call and can't get any service. That's a pretty small price to pay for a house that is otherwise perfect!