Best Modern House at Beach! Spectacular Ocean Views- $300K remodel for Summer!

I'm not a review writer. However I felt the owner had an opportunity to make things right regarding our stay and that did not happen. I felt that some very important details were left undisclosed regarding this property. At the end of the day I felt that what I got was not what I paid for. When I brought it to the owners attention, I was offered a token that was quite frankly a bit insulting, and at that point I felt slighted which is why I write this. The property is nice and it's a great location. This goes without saying. I'll try and be brief. There is a full scale tear down of the home directly in front of this rental (the first thing you see when viewing the ocean from the home). When you are standing on the deck you are overlooking a big rectangular pit with big rig equipment and construction workers working throughout the day. Our vacation day would begin at 7:15 AM sharp with the loud beeps that heavy equipment make when they are backing up (the warning siren). The noise and work continue for the following 8 hour work day. This tear down next door has just begun and by the looks of it probably won't be complete until sometime in 2019. I can say unequivocally that it ruined our planned peaceful time that we envisioned. My single one complaint is that this construction site was not disclosed in the listing or to us once we made the reservation. When I expressed my disappointment to the owner I was in general told the following in a very nice way.

1. That this home normally rents for a lot more money so I should be happy that I was able to get it for less.

2. She offered me another stay at the same price that I paid and not the normal higher rent they normally get.

My point to the owner is this. I would have paid you higher rent per night for the peace and quite I was looking for. If your listing would have disclosed the construction site I would have booked elsewhere. But you did not disclose it and therefore I did not have the chance to make that decision for myself and family. Instead I was surprised by it upon arrival and then told to essentially be happy that I got a good deal in the first place. Well that doesn't work for me. The money is not the issue. It was missing out on the experience my wife and I were anticipating. Frankly the owner should have offered me a partial refund which would have made things right in my opinion. Offering me the home again came off a tad rich.

This is our family of 14’s 7th summer renting homes through Home Away. We are not newbies at renting and I have never been so disappointed in a home before. The location of this property is beautiful. Steps away from the very crowded Moonlight Beach.

Inside, this was not a luxury rental. It is filled with broken down deck chairs, flattened out lumpy beds and pillows and skimpy kitchen equipment. The kitchen had no blender, no martini shaker, not 1 platter! Want hot water to shower? You must let the water run 5-10 minutes before showering. Really. The upstairs cooktop is Induction & tricky to use. You must only use special pots & eggs & everything sticks, nothing is easy. The first morning, the coffee pot was broken. We bought a new one at Costco and the owner did reimburse us. The owner responds to issues, we just had so many. Broken fridge, broken garage door and thats not counting the so many quirks peculiar to this house.

Not enough bath towels. There should be at least 2 lg towels per person. There were not. The six beach towels supplied cannot leave the property & be used at the beach. We used them to supplement the bath towel situation.

There were 4 broken down, rusting beach chairs for 14 people. All other beach houses we have rented had tons of chairs. We had to borrow some from relatives & purchase 4 which we left with our relatives. Estee says you can rent equipment on the beach. We rented this beach house for 14 days. It is absurd to rent 14 chairs for 14 days plus pay for this so called “luxury beach rental” If you advertise your beach home as sleeping 14, it needs to be equipped for 14.

The most distressing thing was the condition of ALL the outside furniture. The upstairs deck has woven wicker chairs. On every chair the wicker was dirty & UNRAVELING & catches on your clothes. AWFUL! This was the space we wanted to gather because you have the beach view from here. The downstairs circular sofa that looks so pretty in the pictures, has huge tears in the cushions, is dirty & there is no view or breeze from down there.

The topper though is that the home next door was demolished & you overlook a HUGE dirt pit construction site. On day 10 of our stay a massive drill was delivered & noise began at 7AM.

Estee seems nice but this house needs TLC before it can be labeled “luxury”. Location alone does not make a home luxurious. It’s a combo of ease & beauty that creates luxury. This house is way too pricey for a very unluxurious rental

We used this home for a family reunion for people coming from distant places. First and foremost, its SoCal destination speaks volumes for its attractiveness. Moonlight Beach couldn't be more darling, or more fun. A really nice place to vacation, and the house is just so close.

The house itself is wonderful for large groups: so many bedrooms/sleeping arrangements, with enough bathrooms to accommodate. We comfortably used every space offered: the decks, the dining spaces, both kitchens (cooked an amazing Thanksgiving dinner for 14!), and even the outdoor seating spaces. The house was wonderfully appointed, and the owner very responsive to our questions and needs. While I do not have much VRBO experience, I loved this house and give it, the location and the owner very high marks.

My family of 7 adults snd 4 children spent a great week here. The house is spacious and well appointed. We enjoyed eating many meals out on the upper deck.

The location is perfect for walking to the beach, restaurants and coffee shops.

This is our third VRBO experience with a California beach home. This looked like a very nice place and we were not disappointed. The unit is finished and decorated in a very European style. Fixtures, flooring, and furnishings were all as nice as the pictures in the VRBO catalog. One of the pictures is the view from the upstairs dining room area of the beach and that view we enjoyed every daylight minute. It is 3-4 minutes and you are on the beach. We had 4 families and 4 cars and for once we didn't have to search the streets for a parking space. the garage (1) and drive (3) accommodated our transportation. It is a short walk to a coffee shop with great pastries. An equally short walk to the famous Handel's ice cream shop. (40 flavors!) It was also close walk to downtown Encinitas which has a number of shops and restaurants (Great Pizza). We had several small grandchildren and there was a nice park with playground equipment 2 minutes from the home. Our host Estee was accommodating and very responsive. Every element was 5 star. We will stay here again if we return to the Southern California coast. Thank you for accommodating our 2017 family reunion.