I booked this location because of the pool. There were better cheaper options without a pool but I wanted my team to be able to relax by the pool. The location is very close to a not so great area in Hollywood where there are a lot of sketchy characters but just deep enough into the neighborhood where you don't feel so affected by it. From the listing I didn't realize this was a duplex with a shared pool. The parking sucks. You have to pull back into a grass alley behind the complex, and with the way the alley is situated it can be difficult for larger vehicles to navigate. You also have to dodge a trash pile that they have lined up against the wall with boxes and debris. The trees drop all kinds of gunk onto your car which was a pain to clean off.
Check in was fine, and I was easily able to access the unit with the keypad. When you walk in you are punched in the face with an old house mildew smell. It was pretty nauseating and they definitely could use a dehumidifier or something to clear out the smell, but I suspect the smell is deep into the walls. There was a huge dead dragonfly on the floor as we entered, and the living area was very small. There was a small three seat couch and one chair at the back of the dining area, which wasn't adequate for five guests. The treadmill seemed pointless, as it took up space where more seating could've been added. For this house the pictures were much nicer than the actual property presented. The room with the attached bath, was an attempt at a basketball themed room. There were a couple cheesy basketball pictures and a tacky dollar store toy hoop on the wall. Why?!? The other rooms were pretty nice and the beds were comfortable, but none of us were able to sleep comfortably because the fan on the AC was the most aggressive I have ever experienced in life. It blows so loud and hard, shooting directly at your head while you sleep, and even after we all took a shot at adjusting it, it still blew aggressively but with less cooling when the temperature was increased.
There were no bath mats provided, and just enough towels for each person. The main bathroom shower had a poorly designed door less setup, and after my guests showered, there was a pool of water that came from the bathroom, across the hallway, and into the tacky basketball room. The floors were a glossy finish and you couldn't really see the water until you slipped on it, which is exactly what happened to my senior citizen mother. She could've really hurt herself. Again, no bath mats to soak up any of the water so we had to use up the few wash cloths provided.
The pool was absolutely disgusting upon arrival. There was green algae in it as well as lots of debris floating on top. I never spoke to Lizabeth during my entire stay. My contact was a person named Hucoo, and they advised me that they were doing maintenance on the pool and someone would be by to clean it. Why they would list a pool house when it needed maintenance was beyond me. The person came and removed the debris and brushed the algae, but the water was very cloudy and you couldn't see to the bottom. Definitely wasn't safe for use. The next day, same thing. The pool had green algae which I took pictures of, and it was still cloudy. The pool was never usable even after Airbnb was involved and on the last day, there was just as much algae as the first day.
On the second evening after a long day of work, we just wanted to get inside and eat. The keypad was completely unresponsive. No lights....nothing. We stood outside trying to figure it out while getting eaten up by mosquitoes. I contacted Hucoo, and his response was, "Are you at the right door?" We had already slept there and been in and out several times, did he think that all five of us were dumb enough to be standing in front of the wrong door? He even asked me to take a picture of the door to ensure we were standing in front of the correct door. I've never felt so disrespected. He said he was going to try to unlock it remotely. You could hear the door faintly beeping, but he said the system wouldn't allow him to do it and said someone would be there in 30 minutes to open the door. There should be a backup keypad on another door or a hidden key for situations like this. This was after 11pm and we were exhausted and hungry and decided to go get food instead of waiting with the mosquitoes. I guess on the bright side, we finally discovered where the half bath and washer/dryer was. No one ever mentioned that it was attached to the back of the building by the pool and had its own separate entrance. When we returned from eating, we were able to open the door with the keypad. Hucoo, tried to gaslight me and say that the door was working fine as if I didn't have several minutes of recording it being completely unresponsive, and as if I wasn't standing there while he unsuccessfully attempted to open it remotely.
I wanted to leave after that. Between the shady lock, the gross pool, the mildew smell, and the gaslighting host, I was over it and wanted to leave. Unfortunately, the next day we had a pretty tight schedule, and wouldn't have time to pack up and move elsewhere. To top it off, one of my guests was transferring hot eggs from the stove to the counter behind it (3ft), and the handle of their cheap pot broke off and