Whenever I can, I filter our choices to only Superhost ones. Because, a great host can make all the difference. This stay proved my case with emphasis.
The house had several great reviews, the only negtive ones concerned the fact there is only one bathroom, so we were mentally prepared and managed to stay 2 adults and 5 kids for 3 nights without any bathroom fights.
The house is in a neighborhood that could look a little rough depending on where you come from, but it was quiet and peaceful. I struck up conversations with neighours and they were nice people. You will hear trains signalling and passing realtively nearby also at night, but we didn't have any problems sleeping through that.
When we arrived, Cecilio and his lovely wife who live in the same building but separated from the rental, came out and greeted us. They are a great, older couple. Cecilio speaks OK English, his wife mostly spanish. They helped show us how things like the industrial grade washer machine (operates like a laundromat, bring quarters, $1.75 per program) worked, and made sure we found the beach mat, umbrella and chairs, etc.
The second morning, I couldn't get the coffee machine to work properly, and texted Oscar. BOOM - within an hour, Cecilio was at the door with a brand new replacement machine. They were so nice every time we saw them. Needless to say he got a decent tip for helping us, when we left, which I definitely don't think he expected.
The house is a cool mix of low-cost and fancy. The interior decoration, with glass paintings, sculptures, light grey walls and new tiled floors looks very very stylish, as does the patio with the tiki hut and the large amorphous pool. If you look closer you will see some worn down details, broken tiles and a little bit of tape here and there to keep things together, but those were all just cosmetic flaws, everything worked very nicely. Considering the unusually low rate we paid per night, I think those small issues (and single bathroom) were more than handsomely compensated.
I recommend the house for families and groups of friends alike. It's a lot of bang for the buck!