Fantastic Place to Stay, But....

Guest: James and Diane (Cincinnati, OH)
Date of Stay: 11/23/11 Review Submitted: 12/22/11

I doubt there could be a better place to stay for a week in San Francisco: all the charm of a Victorian home with great, luxurious finishes and all the latest conveniences, electronics, and gadgets. And, it's in a great location: a couple of blocks to a bus stop, and within minutes, you're anywhere you want to be. Search "VRBO - Celebrating Themeless Discontinuity" for some great pictures and commentary for this great place. Now the "but." Don't use the garbage disposer! We should have known better because the renter notes included a warning not to put unusual things like egg shells in the disposer. A moderate amount of cooked broccoli did it in, so we had to pay for a plumber's visit.

Recommended for:Tourists without a car, sightseeing, age 55+, families with teenagers.

Halloween in SF

Guest: ER Doc LA (Los Angeles)
Date of Stay: 11/25/10 Review Submitted: 11/17/11

Had a great week. Will definitely be back. Great home, very comfortable. Didn't want to leave every day because the place was so nice. TV's need updating, but only minor inconvenience. Highly recommend!!!

Recommended for:Sightseeing, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Everything we Expected and More - March 2011

Guest: Paint Lady Fan (Toronto, Canada)
Date of Stay: 03/19/11 Review Submitted: 04/10/11

My wife and I and our 3 children (15, 13 and 3 1/2 year old) had a wonderful time staying at this very clean, immaculately kept and appointed Painted Lady. The layout was spacious, bright and comfortable. We all felt we had our own space. We appreciated all the amenities, the decor, quality and how things were kept new like. The location was also ideal. Essential amenities were close by and easy to walk to in a few minutes...Whole Foods, Safeway, Starbucks, and other treasures… Transportation was easily accessible. Everywhere we went took no more than 20 minutes to get to, whether we walked, used the bus, took a taxi or drove there in the van we rented from Seattle. The van fit in the garage, which was a plus. I completely understand why Deborah cares for her place the way she does. She has homeowners pride and wants her guests to enjoy the same comforts she would want for herself, if she were in her guests' shoes. This is also a home she lived in with her family, so it means something to her. The fixtures, the furniture, the appliances and the amenities are ALL top quality, and like I said already, in new like condition. My wife and I both loved the kitchen. It was so refreshing to have all the essential tools and top-notch appliances. I love to cook and this made it all the more pleasurable. It truly was like being in our own kitchen. We were on the road for the week prior to San Francisco, driving down from Settle and were tired of eating out all the time so it was nice to eat wholesome home cooked meals. We loved the fact that we had the option to still eat out but knowing we had accessibility to a fully equipped kitchen. It was the first time we were in San Francisco. It’s a great city and plan to be back. We will certainly rent this place again when we do. Thanks Deborah, for sharing your place with us.

Recommended for:Tourists without a car, sightseeing, adventure seekers, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Great base in San Francisco.

Guest: Ozzy travellers. (Ninderry, Queensland, Australia. )
Date of Stay: 12/07/10 Review Submitted: 12/25/10

Our family enjoyed our stay in San Francisco in December 2010. The Victorian flat has been beautifully restored and the fact is has three bedrooms suited the five of us. Although amenities are within walking distance, we opted to retain our rental car as all the sights were some distance to travel. Some criticism's, there is an iron but no ironing board. No shoe policy meant we had a pile of shoes inside the front door. A shoe rack would help. Garage will not fit a large vehicle (4wd). OK for shorter vehicle. All in all, it was a great unit and we would stay again.

Recommended for:Sightseeing, girls getaway, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Guest Review from Nov 20th.

Guest: Marguerite Southard (-)
Date of Stay: 11/20/10 Review Submitted: 11/29/10

We really enjoyed the time we spent at 1408 Post St.......you put a lot of thought into redoing it and we felt very comfortable there. We loved San Francisco and would certainly stay with you again if we return................Marguerite Southard

Recommended for:

Nice Unit

Guest: Shar (Delray Beach, Florida, USA)
Date of Stay: 09/20/10 Review Submitted: 10/23/10

We enjoyed our stay in SF at this Victorian flat. Positives: 1) Nice location 2) Modern, well-appointed, unit with large kitchen 3) Comfortable beds Drawbacks to consider: 1) There are signs posted all over the unit telling you what you may not do. According to the signs disobeying any of the rules will result in forfeiture of your security deposit. 2) The light in the living room is not strong enough for reading. 3) The sofa in the living room faces the fireplace and not the TV. Because moving furniture is not allowed, if more than 3 people want to watch TV or a DVD they must sit on the floor. 4) There is no TV in the kitchen as illustrated in the photo. 5) The computer shown in the photo of the 3rd bedroom may not be used. 6) There were no cereal or soup bowls; we managed with disposables. 7) The description under the photo of the master bedroom says “adjoining bathroom and office.” The “office” is a closet. 8) There is a nice deck off the kitchen; chairs would have been nice. 9) Trash is picked up once a week. The trash room serves 2 units and is very small. It was overflowing when we arrived on a Monday and still overflowing when we left the next week. When inspecting the unit before we left Deborah warned us she would dock our security deposit if we left any trash outside the room. 10) Probably the most serious issue: The fire escape leads to a locked garage.

Owner response: Some of this review is just not having an understanding San Francisco building ordinances, our trash can allowances(that's all we get) and that this is a home -- not a hotel. This is a traditional, beautifully restored and preserved Victorian built in the late 1800's. They were built with parlor rooms, which modern day is now called the living room. In those days, optimal positioning of viewing the TV just didn't come to mind when they built it. The adjoining office, is called a fainting room, and is not the closet. We keep the computer in there for a hardwire connection but clearly say its not for usage. (that didn't stop them from doing it though). I can't change the fire escape...its just how these old Painted Ladies are built next to each other. But, there are definitely other ways to exit the building in the event of a problem. We do maintain the flat for all guests to enjoy and have expectations that others will too. We do have 6 signs in the home to provide instructions. Rather than read them though, I was just called over and over. For instance we have a page in our instructions on how to access internet but they called me mad saying they didn't have the codes which are in the instruction manual. Bowls and lighting are there but I am guessing it didn't meet expectations. When I realized our flat was never going to make her happy, I offered to refund her the unused portion of her stay and let her out of her contract so she could find other more suitable accomodations. Trash- 30 large bags of trash & boxes for 10 nights strewn in the garage on departure, flooding the dishwasher by not operating properly, and just not following the directions were examples of the ongoing problems during the stay. Their security deposit was sent to her the same day of departure.

Recommended for:Sightseeing.

Best Flat in the City

Guest: Jen (Cincinnati, OH)
Date of Stay: 09/17/10 Review Submitted: 10/04/10

Excellent flat in a wonderful neighborhood! Would definitely recommend for future vacationers. A group of 6 college friends stayed for a long weekend and the accommodations were everything we needed and more. We loved exploring the local coffee shops, dinner in Japantown and proximity to all the city has to offer. The space is beautiful, clean and very nicely furnished - down to the linens. Loved the bottle of wine from the owner. Can't wait to visit again!

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, tourists without a car, sightseeing, adventure seekers, girls getaway, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Wonderful. Luxurious Flat Very Centrally Located

Guest: Chris (Austin, TX)
Date of Stay: 05/22/10 Review Submitted: 06/21/10

Beautiful, centrally located flat makes it easy to get all over San Francisco and beyond. It's walking distance from restaurants and shopping on Fillmore and Japantown. We took our two year old and rented a crib there from littleluggage.com (they deliver and set it up - great recommendation from Deborah). She had plenty of room to play at the house and walk with us up to some of the great parks in the area. Alta Plaza is a little longer trek up hill, but it's an amazing park with spectacular views. Beds were very comfortable and the kitchen was very nice. You don't need to have a car in San Francisco, but if you do, a garage space is key in the city. Parking in the area is better than other parts of the city so if you have visitors, it won't be too bad for them to stop by. It's an easy walk to public transportation that will get you anywhere in the city if you want to leave the car behind or didn't bring one. There is also a good stream of taxis in the area. We were able to walk out and flag one in under 10 minutes every time we needed one. Deborah is extremely responsive and helpful before, during and after our stay. Arranging the reservation through her was a painless process. Highly recommended all around!

Recommended for:Tourists without a car, sightseeing, families with young children.

Elegant and well-equipped

Guest: London Mm (London, England)
Date of Stay: 04/10/10 Review Submitted: 04/26/10

My husband and I with our two boys (aged 12 and 9) rented this lovely appartment for a week in April. It was very well furnished and tastefully decorated. We had absolutely everything we could possibly have needed (including an amazingly soft and comfortable leather recliner and sofa) and very comfortable beds. The appartment was impressively clean and it was easy to control the temperature. The kitchen and bathrooms were excellent. The plumbing was in perfect working order. My boys loved the tv in the third bedroom. The location was convenient for getting around the major attractions although Post Street itself was a bit uninspiring. The appartment was so much better than staying in a hotel. Indeed we had to spend a couple of nights in a very pricey "boutique" style hotel in Pacific Heights due to the "volcano ash problems". This hotel was more expensive than the appartment and nowhere near as nice! We have rented many appartments/houses in Canada, the US, Australia, Britain and continental Europe for holidays as we loathe hotels. This appartment has definitely been the best that we have rented so far in this price range. We would highly recommend it to anyone wishing to experience San Francisco (which was also wonderful) and we would definitely stay here again.

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

Convenient and Elegant

Guest: WWY (New York, NY)
Date of Stay: 03/20/10 Review Submitted: 03/27/10

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in SF at this wonderful Victorian flat. Key positives: 1) Walk to Whole Foods 2) Garage in the unit for our rental car 3) Interior finish out is excellent and rivals 4-5 star hotels: Grohe shower heads, Viking stove - you get the picture 4) Clean and organized unit flows well and perfect for a family of 4. The kids rooms are toward the back of the unit while the Master is up front. 5) Health club across the street available on a pay-per-visit basis Minor drawbacks to consider: 1) Steep entry stairs may be difficult for less mobile individuals (we enjoyed the exercise!) 2) If you're a big TV person (we are not) only basic channels available 3) No garage door opener so you have to get out and punch in the code For us, none of the negatives were a big deal. We had a great time in SF and really enjoyed staying in this lovely Victorian flat.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, tourists without a car, girls getaway, age 55+, families with teenagers.