The good:
Amazing view of the pacific in private setting
Hot tub worked and was clean
Home fully stocked with pots/pans/silverware/etc, bathroom supplies, towels, beach towels (beach chairs in rough shape)
Walking into town was extremely convenient
Late check out offered
Grill worked and was nice to use
The bad:
Gate was broken and could not be locked from inside. Sliding door on the property but was tricky to lock when leaving.. gate being open gave us some nerves the first night or two
Hot tub is next to the home by the gate, not on the patio by the ocean. The furniture on the patio at the ocean was not nearly as nice as in the pictures
The AC did NOT work… at least not safely. The duct work to the outside was ripped from the wall so the exhaust and hot air stayed in the room.. we used them as fans. It was 85 during the day and 75 at night in September. The bedrooms never got under 80 even during the night. Sleep was possible but uncomfortable. The ocean breeze worked in the living room but not the bedrooms **I asked the property manager to correct this, even just one of them as soon as we got there but didn’t get a response on the matter
The ugly:
MICE. There were mice droppings in the kitchen all over the shelf when we got there. They were eating coffee grinds from previous guests. I cleaned that up and hoped for the best. The next 2 nights they got into all food we had out. I let the property manager know this, I asked to hold off on traps until we left. We stored our food in sealed containers and didn’t have a problem the last night. The exterminator was there setting traps as we left and spotted a few unaddressed holes for easy access in the living room. Dealing with this added a ton of anxiety to the trip.
Overall:
This is a property with so much potential, but it needs some TLC. Mice, gate issues and AC are unacceptable.. if the AC wasn’t in the description, sure it was manageable living without it. I would not have booked a place with no AC. If you are used to roughing it a bit, this place has charm and incredible sunsets.. For us, this place just added too much stress with the issues. I’m going with 3* because obviously this is not advertised as resort living.. and it certainly was not. Give this Honl’s beach hale the makeover it desperately needs!
