Beautiful & Near Everything! Downtown, Airport, Beaches, Zoo

• we loved this house

  we loved this house

  • Guest FHill
  • Date of stay 02/15/13
  • Review Submitted 02/20/13
  We are sad to go and can't say enough good things. Nice bedrooms. Perfect location. Great kitchen. Lots of space. The only negative I had, or rather note to any future guests, is the bedrooms are all upstairs. This was great for entertaining (we had 7 people staying but hosted a few others for a reception after our daughters wedding) since everyone could visit on the ground floor and back yard. But we had my 86 year old mother-in-law who didn't like walking up the stairs to the bedroom. Luckily there is a half bath downstairs so our guests had no reason to go upstairs to the bedroom floor. The house was the ultimate "base camp" for our family for everything we wanted to do in San Diego. And it was nice to be in a house surrounded by so many other nice homes. The property looks to stay full often but if there is a spot in the calendar I strongly suggest locking this place down.

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

  Owner response: Thank you for the kind words Frank. As a note to anyone reading: Upstairs are three bedrooms. A large master with it's own spa tub, stand up shower, walk in closet, etc. Also upstairs are two other bedrooms and a full bath. The laundry room is upstairs as well. Downstairs is all the "common area", such as the entry, living room, dining room, family room, kitchen, and half bath. So it is nice that when guests come over, everyone can visit downstairs -- and use the restroom -- without going upstairs to where the bedrooms are. However, the downside is there are stairs to get to the bedrooms. That said, in the living room (where the fireplace is) we have two futons that can be used for sleeping if someone wants to avoid stairs.

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• Honestly the best VRBO stay I've had

  Honestly the best VRBO stay I've had

  • Guest Greg Davis
  • Date of stay 02/04/13
  • Review Submitted 02/16/13
  My wife and I have stayed at over a dozen VRBO properties in the last few years. This one was the best. From the reservation process to the responsiveness of the owner. Typically when we arrive the photos are better than what we get, but in this case the property was much better than the photos (we took photos of the property and sent them to the owner to use since we think he's underselling :). The rooms were well furnished. The house was much larger than expected (EASILY holding our family of 5). The property was truly close to everything. It was clean and stocked with everything we needed. There were unexpected nice things like a desk and office chair in the master bedroom. It even had a large monitor to connect to. My wife forgot the power cord for her laptop and to our surprise there was even a charger in the desk! I wanted to be fair and come up with one negative but I cant.

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

  Owner response: Thanks for the kind words, and thank you for the photos. Some of them are much better than what I have, and I'll try to swap them in when I have some time. I took the photos for this site on my cell phone a few years ago and am not the best photographer :) We look forward to having you back soon!

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• Definitely close to everything....too close to some...

  Definitely close to everything....too close to some...

  • Guest Likes to feel at home
  • Date of stay 12/19/12
  • Review Submitted 12/27/12
  This house is a good size. It was clean, and for the most part looked to be well kept. Here are my pros and cons: Pros: * Close to Freeway - easy access * Large house * Clean * Comfortable * Good lighting in kitchen and master bath * Responded to problem with the heat * Had plenty of seating for everyone * TV worked fine...Cable company not the best...signal poor. Cons: * Noise - too close to airport and train--very noisy especially from master bedroom * Lighting in most of the house sucked--bring a headlamp * Kitchen needs basic items, i.e., serving dishes, hand mixer, blender, mixing bowls * Can't use the master bedroom closet--locked--no place to hang clothes * Master bath tub needs new valves, requires both hands to turn on/off---and they leak * Toilets need to stoppers--run all the time * Stove has a problem---needs some professional work...actually dangerous. * Carpenter ant problem. Wastes a lot of energy through wide openings that have not been repaired. There are a lot of stairs in this house. All the bedrooms and tubs/showers are upstairs. If you can't do stairs, this house is not for you. Overall the house itself was fine. I definitely would not pay any more than I did to stay here. I would consider this house again, but will leave my options open. If the owner wants a 5-star rating, he is going to need to spend some money and time on this place, and open a few things up to allow people to feel like they are at home. The reason most people stay in places like this instad of a hotel.

  Recommended for: Sightseeing, families with teenagers, tourists without a car, girls getaway.

  Owner response: Thanks for the reply and I appreciated the kind words and feedback. Regarding the closet: The upstairs master bedroom has a huge walk in closet that was unfortunately locked by the guest before you. I've since removed that lock and replaced it with a non-locking hall and closet knob. Regarding the lighting: That isn't something I've had brought up before but I've just got back from my twice a year visit to the property and added additional lamps and recessed lights. Regarding the sound: While you have the pros of being close to everything, we understand that comes with some trade-offs. I quite like the sounds of the city and all of that. Plus, the trains and planes don't operate late at night .

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 1/1

• Great Location and Spacious!

  Great Location and Spacious!

  • Guest Lacey D.
  • Date of stay 10/06/12
  • Review Submitted 10/16/12
  We came to San Diego with a group of friends for a 30th birthday trip, and this house was just perfect. The beds were SOOOO COMFORTABLE! The furniture was nice, the place was clean, and the kitchen was well-stocked with dishes and pans, etc. They even had a BBQ available that we were able to take with us to the beach and grill! The location was incredible. It was literally 3 blocks from a main interstate Exit and so close to all of the great beaches and parks. The conversation of how convenient the location was came up almost every day on our trip because we couldn't believe how central it was to everything we wanted to do! Great experience as a first-time VRBO user! Apparently shortly before we arrived, they had to replace the TV, and the sound wasn't working yet when we got there. Slightly dissappointing for some of our group, but I was OK with it since I wasn't there to watch TV anyway! :) The owner and manager were responsive when we called them about it and worked to resolve the issue. We have a working TV before we left at the end of our week. They were so nice and helpful, and turned a potential problem into a chance for customer service. My husband and I are already talking about who we could go with on our next trip here! Thanks, Cody and Dan!!!

  Recommended for: Sightseeing, families with teenagers, romantic getaway, adventure seekers, families with young children, girls getaway, age 55+.

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• As advertised, however....

  As advertised, however....

  • Guest Barb
  • Date of stay 08/23/12
  • Review Submitted 10/03/12
  My husband and I stayed at this house for five nights. It was as represented on VRBO, close to everything...so close to the airport that we could see and hear the planes taking off all night. Luckily weren't around during the day. We stayed in the master bedroom, in which there was a lamp next to the bed thati had a shade which appeared to have been burned or melted. There was a nice shower in that bedroom, and a whirlpool tub. Water ran constantly from the tub and the toilet, a waste. There was a washer and dryer upstairs. However, there was mildew and soap caked on the washer, and the dryer was full of towels that we folded and left on the bed in a room we weren't using. Although we'd been on the road for a week, we only used the washer to do towels and sheets on our last day, per the owner's agreement we'd been required to sign. Not what we expected to have to do on our vacation. The kitchen was well-equipped, but we didn't eat at the house. The oven was dirty and there were gnats flying everywhere. The side door, which was our entrance, was chewed up at the bottom. The carpeting inside of the house was so filthy, I wouldn't take my shoes off inside. There was a large screen TV, as advertised, but it didn't work. There was a list of contacts on the refigerator (which was clean). I called the cleaning person about the washer, and the manager listed, about the non-working TV on our first night. It was clear, per the owner's website and list on the refrigerator, that he did not want to be bothered with problem. However, after having to leave voicemails with both parties that I'd called, I also had to leave a message with the owner. No one ever called me back. The owner wrote back to my husband the following day, and provided a new cleaning person's name to contact about the TV. She didn't know anything about it, so my husband sat on the phone with the cable provider. Apparently, a DVD player had been added and settings not changed. Still couldn't see a picture because of all of the white dots on the screen. There was plenty of parking on the street even though there was a driveway. Why chance getting hit? Because, a BMW convertible was parked sideways so we couldn't use the driveway. We did not expect to have to deal with an absentee owner's issues with his home and staff on our vacation. Lessons learned, never to rent from a party having requirements outside of VRBO, and, of course, you get what you pay for.

  Owner response: I don't recall your stay or having spoken to you about any issues but all guests have access to three phone numbers: My personal cell which stays on 24/7. I'm often on the phone so I don't always pick up but I'll always call back. I also have the phone number of my cleaning team and my maintenance (as well as my brother, who lives in the area). Basically I try to make sure any issues have plenty of people (me included) to be covered. The reason for people other than me on the list is I don't live in San Diego anymore so for many things, the only thing I can do is call to get my other team members involved. I'm unsure how providing as many contacts as I could is a sign I don't want to be bothered, but either way, I'm sorry that (if this is a legit review) that you had these issues. We do ask that guests toss in a single load of laundry when they leave as our house stays pretty booked and this gives our cleaning team the time they need between guests. We don't ask, but we hope people clean up a bit before they leave as well as we are VRBO guests ourselves and we try to treat homes like we'd want our own treated. This was my first home I bought and it was mine to live in for about 6 years. I still fly back twice a year (delayed last year due to the birth of our first daughter). I'll be back in February 2013 to check up on additional upgrades and fixes I can do. I take price in my house and would never let a known issue sit unresolved.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 4/4

• Average at best. Poor communication

  Average at best. Poor communication

  • Guest Jon S.
  • Date of stay 09/29/12
  • Review Submitted 10/03/12
  Had high hopes for this rental after reading the reviews. Here's my summary: Positives * Location - very close to airport and easy access to freeway. Easy to get to attractions around the city. Pretty quiet area despite having a train and airport nearby. Can't notice the outside noise when you're inside. * Spacious - lots of space, big rooms and spacious inside/out. * WIFI - easy access and fast * Clean Negatives * TV didn't work the whole time. TV not compatible with cable box/DVD player * Lots of plumbing issues (running toilets, dripping faucets, no water from fridge dispenser, garbage disposal didn't work, loose faucets/handles) * Ants. Lots of them. Seemed to be confined to the living room mainly, but they would end up crawling on us all over the house * Had to buy shower puffs to use for bathing. House rules stated there would be enough towels for all in our party, but there wasn't enough wash cloths (only 1) Finally, I was disappointed in the absolutely terrible communication by all involved in managing this property. I called the owner, listed manager, and maintenance guy about the TV and left messages. I also text messaged and emailed the owner. I didn't get one response back from him or the manager. The maintenance guy Dan answered the first day I called him and he was friendly. I mentioned some of the issues listed above and he said he would stop by to take care of some of them. He never did and then never responded to future calls/text messages as well. I know people are busy and things happen, but the lack of even acknowledgement of the problems was extremely unprofessional in my opinion. Also note, there is a set of rules for the house posted on the fridge. The number for the maintenance guy is covered by a new cleaning person's name/number. If you need his number, you'll need to get it from the online version of the rules of the house. The maintenance guy also mentioned that we are NOT supposed to dead bolt the front door. Just yse the bottom lock. I guess the front door is how the maintenance and cleaners access the house. This wasn't stated anywhere in the rules, so just putting this in there so future renters know. Overall it seems this might have been a great rental property in the beginning. But the owner not being in the area or something has caused the quality of it and the response to problems to go south. The owner and his rules state they want to earn a 5 star review. He sure has a funny way of showing it.

  Owner response: Thank you for the feedback. We're sorry for the issue with the TV but it was quickly replaced. We haven't had or heard of any ant issues before or after your stay but we've had someone come out and spray the exterior of the property anyway. The reason the cleaning person put her name over the name of the maintenance person on the fridge is most of the calls we get are more often than not things for her to address and if something is actually broken, she'll try to get the maintenance person involved directly Regarding the towels... Sadly they often walk off. Our cleaning lead now takes inventory and every few months if we drop below our set number, she'll go and buy more. We should have tons of them now.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 1/1

• Stay here!

  Stay here!

  • Guest Adam
  • Date of stay 12/21/11
  • Review Submitted 02/29/12
  My wife and I stayed here over the holidays with our two teenage children.. It had everything we wanted in a VRBO and more. The place is a short trip from everything we wanted to do. Although it's very walkable to close by fun, you still want to rent a car unless you want to be reliant on taxi's or where your feet (or trolly) can take you. Our only initial issue was there were a few items missing (DVD player and cutting board - the rest of the house is pretty well stocked) so we called the owner to ask where they might be. He happened to be in San Diego as well for the holidays and said he didn't have those in the house but would buy some and bring them to us the next day. And he did. WOW. We got there about an hour before check-in and his cleaning guy was still there but he let us put our stuff in. He gave us a little tour of where everything was and we walked down for a snack while he finished up. The owner has his own booking system that made it fast and easy. We noticed comments about painting that was going to be done to a few rooms which was our initial worry and it must have been done before we got there because the rooms were all clean and stylish. We were not expecting this level of house or service for the price we paid. We have already booked our next trip out and it'll be the only place we stay in San Diego from now on. I wish I could give this place 6 stars

  Recommended for: Sightseeing, families with teenagers, romantic getaway, adventure seekers, families with young children, girls getaway, age 55+.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 1/1

• Best VRBO experience in years!

  Best VRBO experience in years!

  • Guest Michigan Steve
  • Date of stay 02/08/12
  • Review Submitted 02/28/12
  I just stayed last week in this wonderful home. From the booking experience to home itself, this has been the best property my family has stayed at. The house was perfectly located and very large (we had 6 people and were fine). Downstairs has tons of areas to visit. The kitchen and living room was very bright and cheerful with nice furnishings. All the rooms were well decorated. The master bedroom had a bed I did not want to get out of and a spa tub with great view. We were able to walk to some great dining and coffee (and gelato!) . The downstairs was bright and clean with what looked to be all new furnishings. The only negative was the large TV downstairs had a few white spots on it. The little touches like wifi at the property, large TV with lots of channels, a desk to use in the spacious master bedroom with large monitor and speakers to plug a computer into, little soaps/shampoos, and other little items made this place even better. We got much more than we paid for and will sure have this property on the top of our list for future vacations!

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

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 1/1

• We loved it and have already booked our next trip

  We loved it and have already booked our next trip

  • Guest Lisa K
  • Date of stay 10/30/11
  • Review Submitted 11/07/11
  We just checked out and are sad to leave. Both from San Diego, and our wonderful (temporary) home. The owner was very accommodating with our request for a late checkout. He confirmed with the next guest that they would be coming in late and got his cleaning team to show up several hours later than their normal time. He also took our call at 10pm his time (Sorry Cody) about some general questions we had about the home. The owner said he would be raising his rates next year and I understand why. We stayed at a VRBO home last year that was quite a bit more, not nearly as nice, and not anywhere close to the center of everything. Since its San Diego a car is very handy to have but we were still able to walk down and get coffee and later lunch and dinner from a few of the places Cody had suggested. They're on his map and we second his suggestion. Note that his house is on top of a hill so it's a 2-3 minutes of a steep walk to get up (but the view makes it worth it!). The house was pretty large with all bedroom upstairs and plenty of room downstairs for entertaining and relaxing. The master bed is sooooo comfortable its very hard to get up in the morning. It did seem like all rooms but the kitchen/dining area were repainted so if we struggle to find a fault it's that the kitchen and dining area could be spruced up to the same level. We can't wait to come back next year and have already made our booking with Cody.

  Recommended for: Sightseeing, families with teenagers, tourists without a car, romantic getaway, adventure seekers, families with young children, girls getaway, pet owners, age 55+.

  Owner response: I'm glad you had a good time! Yes, I need to repaint the kitchen. That room has some odd yellow color that was the same as when I bough it. I'll be going home over Christmas so that's on my list :)

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 2/2

• Great place for the money!

  Great place for the money!

  • Guest Terry
  • Date of stay 08/20/11
  • Review Submitted 09/28/11
  I stayed here for a week with two of my girlfriends to celebrate one of our 30th birthdays. We loved San Diego and we loved this place. Cody makes some great local recommendations- particularly regarding coffee and tacos. We also enjoyed the Regal Beagle nearby. We were able to walk to Old Town (it was a little bit of a hike) and take a quick cab downtown. And it's right by the airport. (Renting a car is a breeze.) Our only complaint was that we felt it was a little dirty upon arrival. We called Cody and he answered immediately. Because it was the weekend, it was necessary to pay top dollar for a follow up cleaning service and he was willing to cover the cost without any argument. [He has taken care of the reimbursement.] It doesn't sound like that's been an issue before but at least you know you're taken care of if there are any problems. The place itself is very spacious. It will comfortably house four singles (the futon in the den is pretty separate and has a half bath right off of it) and several couples would be comfortable, too, with the large living room and kitchen. Eight would be do-able. It's not paradise, but come on, it's by far the best price on VRBO! I am talking to another friend right now about renting it this winter so maybe I should tone down this review so it doesn't get fully booked.............

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

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 4/4

Fees:

• Cleaning fee: $100
• Taxes Included

Cancellation policy:

* The side door has a key code. The code will be set by our cleaning team to be the last four digits of your phone number * Check in is at 3pm. Check out is at 11am. If you need to leave later or come in earlier, we might be able to accommodate depending on the check in / out times/dates of the guests before or after you. * If your plans change and you need to cancel, we will re-list the property. If the property is taken, you will get a refund of all or part of what was paid (depending if all or part of the dates are taken). The more advance notice we have of a cancellation, the better chance we can provide a full or partial refund.

If you have any questions please contact the owner.