2/10 Terrible
Chance S.
26 January 2023
Liked: Cleanliness, location
Disliked: Check-in, communication
Stressful experience
Based on other reviews, this seemed like a great option for my friends and I to meet up with our young kids in San Diego. Unfortunately, we had a very challenging start to our trip and a few BIG concerns.
I was not sent the code to access the house ahead of time. I thought, "well, maybe the host doesn't send it until the day of." So I waited. When I didn't hear anything, I messaged first thing in the morning before leaving on our flight. Our itinerary had us arriving at the property around 9pm. I never heard anything all day. I thought, "surely, I'll hear something by the time my flight lands." Nothing.
I took my chances and just drove from the airport to the property, where I discovered an empty house with no lights on. It was totally dark. I was solo with my two young very overtired kids with me. If you have kids, you know that this is a really stressful situation to be in. The house did have a video doorbell so I rang it hoping to get in touch with the host that way, but unfortunately they didn't respond there either.
At this point I was a thousand miles from home, late at night, with nowhere to stay. I called VRBO customer service and after about an hour of chasing my kids in the dark on a strange neighborhood street, they managed to get in touch with the host, who provided a code to get into the house. After getting settled in I messaged the host to express my disappointment with the situation, and they responded by claiming that they had provided an entry code as soon as they were contacted. Not only is that untrue, but the host should be proactive in providing access information - I shouldn't have to spend a bunch of time tracking them down just to figure out how to get into the property.
The check in process was a giant mess. Then we got in the house. The listing says it sleeps 8. We had 2 adults and 4 kids and it barely worked. They have air mattresses but no extra blankets or linens. Some of the blankets on the beds were more throw sized and didn't work for 2 people, comfortably.
The other MAJOR concern is that the sliding doors open up straight to the un-fenced pool. There are no child safe locks or handles up high to prevent little kids from just opening the door and having access to the pool. It was very scary to sleep in there with a 3 year old, knowing he could wake up without me knowing and get out to the pool. I had to barricade the doors and make makeshift "alarms" so I would hear him if he did decide to explore.
I would not recommend this house to anyone without some major changes and I will definitely not be staying here again.
Chance S.
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2023
