I was a little torn on not giving 5 stars as the apartment and owner were great which is all they can control, but the location is not on my list of places to return to. The owner Travis was incredibly responsive and friendly to deal with and the apartment is large with surprisingly comfortable beds. There is an interestingly diverse selection of VHS tapes, decent wifi included, and I felt it was clean and well maintained as well. Full kitchen and the jet tub was nice as well.
My issues were with the locals and it kind of ruined the experience for my family and I. 3 separate instances of what I assume to be locals (given that they all were driving large trucks that had seen better days) slowing down on an empty street to yell something we will say pejorative at me or my family, and one guy actually came to a stop with his tailpipe in front of me so he could rev his engine and kick out a cloud of diesel exhaust on me before slowly driving away on an empty street. If this is happening to a cookie cutter white dude then apparently locals dont actually want tourists there. I grew up in a small town in the midwest and have seen many idiots like these but it was unfortunate to have repeat occurrences while on vacation. Long story short, maybe my experience will be unique, the apartment and owner are great, but Portola isnt a destination for me ever again.