I rented this house because it’s listed as 3 bedrooms and has a nice-looking yard. We (2 adults, a 5 year old and a crawling 11-month old) were looking forward to the space and being near our family in Santa Monica.
The location is great and the yard is pleasant. Check in was easy. Plenty of soap, shampoo, towels, dishes, laundry machines. The master shower has amazing water pressure and is roomy and relaxing.
A few things that could use some work:
1. One of the bedrooms had a very musty smell. We didn’t even use it. Instead, we put the baby’s pack and play in the large closet in the master bedroom. So we got use of two bedrooms and a closet for the price of a three bedroom house.
2. The place is advertised as “very clean.” Because we have a crawling baby, and because of Covid, we are pretty sensitive to cleanliness. I didn’t feel comfortable having the baby on the floors until after I had mopped/swiffered/Clorox-wiped them. I used about a dozen Clorox wipes on the living room floor…the first few were definitely coming out gray and dirty. There was also quite a bit of sand/dust under the sofa and furniture. So, cleanliness could be better.
3. The place was probably renovated about 10 years ago and I’m not sure about the upkeep that has been done. For example, the floorboards have cracks. And, there was a spacer missing between the wood planks in the living room and the tile in the kitchen, exposing a row of nails. We notified the owner of this issue as soon as we checked in on Thursday (because of the safety hazard for our crawling baby) and it took him more than 48 hours to respond. He finally got back to us late Saturday evening saying that it would be a “tough fix” and his handyman wouldn’t be able to take care of it until after we checked out on Monday. We made-do by lying a towel over the crack/nails. Not impressed given what we were paying.
4. There’s some sort of water moisture issue around the showers - the paint is bubbling and peeling. Not sure how long it’s been going on for, but given the extent of the damage, it’s not a new issue.
Overall, house is well located and nicely outfitted, but suffering from wear and tear and needs better maintenance. Hopefully, the issues we raised with the host/owner will be resolved. And hopefully, he will be more prompt in responding to issues, particularly safety issues, for future guests.
