Weekend retreat

Guest: Gordon G (Orange County)
Date of Stay: 01/06/12 Review Submitted: 01/09/12

Very clean, well decorated, excellent beds. The views are wonderful from the master bedroom or especially from the large wrap around porch. I'll be coming back.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, sightseeing, pet owners, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children.

Best views around

Guest: kcherry (San Diego, California)
Date of Stay: 08/27/11 Review Submitted: 08/31/11

We loved our stay over two nights. The views (day and night) are outstanding. The house is very comfortable. Don't let the 2 bedrooms put you off. The second bedroom is huge, with two twin beds. Plenty of room for an added airbed if you want (or 2). The living room has both a futon and a couch. AND there's an unfinished basement for kids to play in if you need more room.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, sightseeing, pet owners, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

P & G & Family

Guest: Pat & Gloria (Lakewood, CA)
Date of Stay: 07/31/11 Review Submitted: 08/06/11

Our family has stayed two times at this house. We spent 5 nights in August of 2010, and we just got back from 5 nights this August (2011). Our family and two dogs thoroughly enjoyed our experiences at the Julian-Cuyamaca House both visits! The views, fresh air, and tranquility of the house helped make our stays enjoyable and relaxing. The house was clean and well equipped. All of us slept soundly and comfortably with the breezes that cool the mountainside down in the evening hours. We made two trips down to the lake daily for walks around the lake. My wife and I enjoyed slowing down, and soaking in the peacefulness of the surroundings. Our college-aged kids relaxed too, and found that the drive down to San Diego for a Padre game or dinner didn't take that long. We do recommend this house for people of all ages. We have found that the owner is available and responsive to questions/concerns. We plan to return again next year.

Recommended for:Pet owners, adventure seekers, age 55+, families with teenagers.

Great views and relaxing atmosphere BUT...

Guest: evd (San Diego, CA)
Date of Stay: 07/11/11 Review Submitted: 07/14/11

I understand the great reviews of this place. The views are gorgeous, it's relaxing and nice and quiet. My review isn't so much about the location or the house but the state the house was in, how virtually nothing was done about it and how we were treated by one of the employees. To start off the house was dirty when we got in. Two of the kitchen chairs were broken and the fridge was filthy. The carpets upstairs were stained and dirty, we could not find extra towels, dishes and other kitchen accoutrements to clean with, there were no extra garbage bags and after some looking around we found all the dishes were in the dish washer and all the towels were in the dryer in the basement. There were other things that were dirty and broken as well. If it were just a couple of these issues that we had problems with I would not have even said anything, it's the fact that there were MANY issues that has caused us to have a problem with it. My husband had to fix the Directv himself because nothing was done about it. After a call to our contact, we learned there had been other complaints about the cleanliness of the house. Our contact stopped by the house to drop off an almost empty bottle of dish washing detergent and small sandwich bags. We showed her the carpets upstairs and gave her a list of things were were dirty or broken. Once again, it's not that a few things were forgotten about it's that multiple things were messed up. She said we could stay in the house free for one night but we had to decline because we needed to get back home. She also mentioned that she would bring our issues up to the broker. She seemed concerned but in a hurry to get to whatever she was doing next. After her visit we heard nothing more from her or the realty company that she works for. When my husband called them to confirm we had left the house and the keys were where they were supposed to be the lady on the phone attacked him saying, "Who goes on vacation to pick apart a house?!" and "I don't know what you're trying to get out of this." My husband told her it's not that we're trying to get something from the company, it's the level of customer service was low. I do not believe our expectations in coming to the house for our first year anniversary were unrealistic. When you go on vacation you expect where you're staying is clean and necessities are available to you. The house itself was nice and again, the views are great but what happened to us was very disappointing.

Owner response:Although we appreciate, and even encourage, good, honest feedback made in good faith, we strongly question this one. The owner has now personally inspected the House in order to confirm the various items about which the renter complained. This was a back-to-back booking, and the renter had arrived before the 4 p.m. check-in time, so the cleaning crew had not yet completed its work. The DirecTv unit works great, and simply had to be "re-set" as we sometimes have to do at out own homes. The wall-to-wall carpets were in fact overdue for a steam clean, and this has now been accomplished. We have had nearly 300 bookings over the past 4 years, and this is the first major complaint we have received. Rest assured that had all of the complaints been true as represented, we would have swiftly replaced not only the cleaning service, but our property managment complany as well. If in the future if you as a renter perceive a problem upon check-in, please email me or call me directly, and I will make it right for you. My email address is kgreenfield@gjblaw.com, and my office tele number is 858.675.0301. Thank you to the hundreds of people who have enjoyed the Julian-Cuyamaca House over the years and the many who love it so much that they have re-booked several times each!

Recommended for:Sightseeing, age 55+.

Beautiful Place

Guest: Jazz (Menifee, Riverside)
Date of Stay: 07/12/10 Review Submitted: 07/19/10

This is the most phenominal house. It's the first place I've stayed in that made me feel "at home"; like it was my own place. It was so peaceful and relaxing we booked it right away for next Thanksgiving to have my whole faily there. I never wanted to leave and dealing with Ken, the owner, at the time, was so easy and very pleasant. I know we'll be back there many times. Thanks Ken for making your beautifu; home available to us.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, tourists without a car, people with disabilities, sightseeing, adventure seekers, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Beautiful Private Home!

Guest: Happy Campers! (Chula Vista, CA)
Date of Stay: 07/07/10 Review Submitted: 07/12/10

My husband and I truly enjoyed this lovely home. The view is amazing, with lots of star gazing at night. We saw deer right on the property! The fishing was great, and the Cuyamaca Lake Restaurant has a great all you can eat fish fry every Friday night. The home was very clean and well maintained. Ken, the owner was extremely nice, and very helpful. We look forward to coming back. Thanks again!

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, sightseeing, adventure seekers, girls getaway, age 55+, families with teenagers.

Guest: Anonymous
Date of Stay: 11/10/09 Review Submitted: 11/10/09

My wife, the dog and I loved the Julian-Cuyamaca home. Perched on a hillside, above the lake this home offers up many absolutely incredible views. Set on a private road this peaceful getaway was just what the doctor ordered. Thank you Ken for making it so easy to stay at your wonderful home. Three nights was not enough so we hope to stay a week next time.

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Guest: Rick Krahenbuhl (-)
Date of Stay: 11/02/09 Review Submitted: 11/02/09

This is an AWESOME house! We had such a nice, relaxing weekend!!! Went hiking around the lake on Saturday & drove into Julian for Pie..returned & enjoyed the amazing sunset from the porch. We plan to make it our getaway house every fall!!!

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Guest: Genie D. (United States)
Date of Stay: 10/27/09 Review Submitted: 10/27/09

Beautiful porch, birds, sunsets, stars at night.

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Guest: Anita & Larry Stewardson (El Cajon, CA)
Date of Stay: 08/13/09 Review Submitted: 08/13/09

We had a wonderful stay. So quiet and relaxing. The sunsets were awesome. We had a full moon that weekend. So glad we stayed 4 nights. Close enough to the lake that the teenagers camped down there. I will try to post some pictures. Very nice home Ken. Thank you.

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