It feels strange to write a review for Julie when I don't know who Julie is as I communicated with Melanie, the off-site property manager. Melanie was a fantastic property manager, but it was a bit odd for me as the guest as she had to be the liaison between me and the owners who live on the property and speak English -- it would make more sense if they didn't speak or understand English, but they did. Melanie deserves five stars and I wish I could leave a review for her separately. She was extremely quick to respond, helpful, nice, and was very easy to work with even when there were issues.
Entering the guest house was no problem and it looked bigger than its size as it is set up very well and makes good use of its space. There were some issues with my stay, however. Upon check-in I noticed the air conditioning wasn't working. I had to communicate with Melanie about it, then she had to contact the owner who then walked from his main house to the guest house to try to sort it. He was a bit rude when he said the previous guest didn't complain about it, as if I didn't have a right to bring to their attention the ac wasn't working during the summer with heatwaves. The reason I booked there was for the ac. I even gave him batteries just in case it was a display issue, but he didn't seem too gracious about it and seemed more annoyed than anything. Then Melanie suggested he check the air filter (brilliant thinking on her part) and of course the air filter was filthy so the owner replaced it and the ac finally worked.
The other issue with check-in was the heavily stained bedspread that was pretty shocking to see since it looked like such a nice guest house. The dining chairs and the chair in the bedroom (part of the same set) were all stained as well, which wasn't an issue since I could sit on a towel, but the dirty bedspread was disappointing.
There were ant traps on the kitchen counter which is good that they had them since the heat brings out the ants but the main issue was the missing or heavily cracked caulk around the kitchen counter so if that was just taken care of, the ant problem would be as well. I noticed some ants on the floor of the bathroom coming from the crack in the door frame. Again, perfectly normal during the heat but simple solutions could have been taken to prevent them.
I also had issues with the Internet. The first time it happened, Melanie suggested I unplug and plug back in which took two tries but worked. Unfortunately, the Internet went out many more times during my stay -- at least 20 times -- so I spent a lot of time unplugging and plugging back in and being patient. Ironically it worked very well during the county's power outages and I was impressed and glad the area where the rental is did not lose power.
They did have a lovely bowl of fruit including grapefruit from their front yard tree which were delicious. I did not sit on the couch but did sit on the cushioned chair which was comfortable. Though I used my own supplies, the kitchen was very well stocked with items many don't think of such as aluminum foil. They had plenty of toilet paper and paper towels and even had gentle laundry detergent which was a huge plus for me. It was great having an in-unit washer/dryer which were a good size. The closet was also a decent size and there was a dresser as well for extra storage. Space was not an issue at all.
Unfortunately, I was there during the heatwave the ac stopped working or the display stopped communicating with the compressor my last night there. Fortunately, I had an oscillating fan with me. I suspect the HVAC system needs the ducts cleaned and someone to service it.
Guests can park on a small portion of the driveway which is a very tight space and not appropriate for more than one person to get out of the vehicle if you have a small SUV. It was a tight squeeze for me. I didn't see how it would be possible to have them bring their trash bins past my vehicle while I parked there, so I often parked on the street which was no problem as there was plenty of parking and the area was safe. It would be nice however if guests could park further back when unloading their car instead of walking the long driveway with a lot of heavy luggage. I was there for two weeks and had a lot of stuff I had to take out of my car; most will probably not have as much.
The other oddity was when the owners moved their trash bins during my stay so I couldn't access them which was very passive aggressive. I had to basically lean over onto their property to lift the lids which were now facing their private backyard with a little fence. They could have easily moved the bins but had the lids facing outward so I could reach them.
The other passive aggressive thing they did was lock the gate from the inside when I left. The gate lock needed to be oiled and it had to be lifted and moved at the same time which wasn't convenient for unloading/loading. I left the gate open while unloading and unfortunately their sweet dog took advantage and got out. I made sure that didn't happen again and always closed the gate but once they locked me out, I figured that's what they wanted me to do but didn't say anything to me or to Melanie, so I locked it from the exterior that point forward which was a bit awkward (hand-wise)