Very comfortable convenient home

Shandiin (San Antonio, TX)
Review submitted: July 9, 2011   Date of arrival: May 20, 2011

We really enjoyed our stay in this vacation home. It was very comfortable, and convenient to everything in ABQ. The art work made it very special. We hope to rent it again next year.

Recommended for: age 55+, families with young children, people with disabilities, pet-friendly, sight seeing

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We loved it! A great base for sightseeing.

Ed5756 (Arlington, VA)
Review submitted: May 24, 2011   Date of arrival: May 13, 2011

The house was all we expected from the ad and more. Clean, bright, and new. Roomy kitchen - we hosted a dinner for 12! Near I-40, it's ten minutes from Downtown Albuquerque. Favorite Albuquerque restaurant: El Pinto. Sightseeing: Take the tram or drive and hike to Sandia peak. Don't miss Acoma Pueblo about an hour West. Charming Santa Fe, an hour North on I-25 is also worth the trip. Highly recommended.

Recommended for: age 55+, families with young children, people with disabilities, families with teenagers, girls getaway, sight seeing, romantic getaway

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Wonderful Home

Snowboarders (Dallas, Texas)
Review submitted: January 9, 2011   Date of arrival: December 27, 2010

Dear Joie and Kevin,
Thank you for opening your lovely home to our family. We came to Albuquerque to spend our Christmas with my brother and his family who live there. Your home was absolutely wonderful. Very warm, well kept and accommodating for our entire family (us four, my mother and sister). We enjoyed all of your art work and the beautiful colors throughout. It felt like home! We loved the spectacular views of the city at night, the balloons at sunrise and the close proximity to everything Albuquerque has to offer. Our 22 and 15 year old sons enjoyed snowboarding at Sandia Peak. As Texans we don't get the opportunity to do this much so when the opportunity arises - they take it. While the boys snowboarded, the rest of us enjoyed spending time visiting, cooking, playing card games and hiking around the Petroglyphs. Albuquerque is a place we visit with family living there and we hope to stay in your home again in the future. Thanks again and God Bless you.

David, Melinda, Jon, Michael, Donna and Jennifer
Dec. 27 thru Dec. 31, 2011
Dallas, Texas

Recommended for: adventure seekers, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers, girls getaway, sight seeing

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Helpful votes: 1 / 1

great home

87109 (texas)
Review submitted: December 4, 2010   Date of arrival: November 22, 2010

our family of parents, children and grandchild spent a marvelous week at this almost new home on the west side with a great view of the sandias. we had previously lived on the east side where the view is not the same.

Albuquerque is a fabulous city and almost everything on the west side is NEW. My daughter and her husband climbed the volcanoes (as she had done as a child) twice. there are museums and lots of things to do. We didn
t ride the tram this time but it is always a favorite. Santa fe is just an hour away. We had our daughters wedding in santa fe in 2009 but Albuquerque is a far better place to stay with a trip to sana fe.

I would definitely highly recommend this excellent rental property!!

Recommended for: adventure seekers, age 55+, people with disabilities, girls getaway, pet-friendly, sight seeing

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Helpful votes: 1 / 1

Excellent holiday accommodations!

Dave (Lindsay, Ontario, Canada)
Review submitted: November 26, 2010   Date of arrival: November 7, 2010

My wife and I are seniors from central Canada. This attractive new house with a great "southwest" atmosphere has everything that we needed for our holiday in ABQ, including a washer, dryer, and DVD player.

We didn't have our cell phone with us, so we went to Walgreens and purchased a mobile phone ($15), a 400 minute/90 day plan ($20) for local calls, and an international phone card ($25) which uses an 800 number to access (which counts as a local call). We made calls back to Ontario every day and only used a fraction of the time available. We also used the wireless internet access to send and receive e-mails on a little netbook that we use when travelling.

Others have described the convenience of the location and the many local attractions. The Museum of Natural History, petroglyphs, aquarium and zoo each constitute a day's activity. I-40 runs through the south end of ABQ, and I-25 goes right up through the center. Although it is in a new subdivision in the west end of the city, the house is only 5 minutes from I-40, so most points of interest are reached easily in 15 or 20 minutes. For the same reason, getting out of town for a day trip is also very easy. We enjoyed a drive down to Roswell (UFO Museum just for fun) then went over to Ruidoso (Billy the Kid territory) for the night. We also made an overnight trip up to Los Alamos, approaching it from the south west on highway 4 ... what stunning scenery, then toured around Santa Fe on the way back the next morning.

The November days were clear and sunny, cool at night and warm during the day, what we call "sweater weather" back home (fresh, dry and great for arthritis). This location has an elevation of about 5,300 feet compared to Toronto, Ontario at only 300 feet. Nearby Sandia Peak has an elevation of 10,300 feet. You can just drive to the top (or take the tram) to see the panoramic view of ABQ (nice easy little day trip ... good road with many switchbacks).

There is a new little mall to the south at 98th Street and Central Avenue. The food store there caters to the local Spanish speaking population and has some wonderful Mexican style offerings. Roberta prepared a new dish using prickly pear cactus which turned out to be a bit like okra ... mild and quite tasty.

As you can tell, we had an exciting and relaxing holiday, with a lovely home as a base. We hope to return to this very location again some time soon, and continue to explore the city and the surrounding area.

Recommended for: adventure seekers, age 55+, families with young children, people with disabilities, families with teenagers, girls getaway, sight seeing, romantic getaway

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Helpful votes: 1 / 1

Fabulous home, great location, wonderful owners

Review submitted: January 8, 2010   Date of arrival: June 7, 2009

Rating 5 out of 5 This was the first time my husband and I rented a vacation home, and we would do it again. We were here for five months on sabbatical leave from my college, and this house became our home. I spent most of my time here writing and otherwise working from home. There were two things about the house that were especially useful in this regard: internet access is speedy and very reliable, and the view of the sky and mountains out the back was never anything short of magnificent - very inspiring.

The description of the house was accurate in terms of location, layout, amenities, and so on - except that it's hard to convey how breathtaking the main living space is! When we first saw it, we couldn't believe how lucky we were to find this house!

The owners were simply great. Over 5 months we interacted numerous times, and they were exceptionally considerate, timely in their responses, and good both at managing details and keeping track of big-picture matters.

I would recommend this property to a friend - especially if we could come stay with them!

What activities, attractions, and restaurants did we like? Where to start? I guess the best place to start is to mention that this house is about 20 minutes' drive to anywhere in Albuquerque.

If you're going to the grocery store (our favorite was the Albertson's at the corner of Montano and Coors), it's 15 minutes.

If you're going to trail heads on the west or south sides of the Sandia's, it's about 20 minutes. If it's not rush hour you can get to the lower Tram on the west side of the Sandia's or Tree Spring Trail head near Sandia Crest on the east side in about 25 minutes. Otherwise it's about 35 minutes.

The world's best Starbucks is 20 minutes from the house, just west of Carlisle on Central. It has fantastic views of the mountains, and the people watching in the Nob Hill district is great. UNM is 3/4 mile west of that on Central; it has beautiful architecture, lots of trees, and very accessible libraries.

For restaurants, Gardunios never fails to please. The food is New Mexican (lots of addictive green chile), but you can get Mexican standards too, like fajitas - which aren't spicy. Get a margarita and table-side guacamole and you're set.

And don't miss hiking in Riconanda Canyon - 10 minutes away on Unser. It's a 2.5 mile, fairly flat hike through part of Petroglyphs National Monument. Go when it's not hot.

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Helpful votes: 3 / 3

Fabulous Place!!!!

Review submitted: January 8, 2010   Date of arrival: December 19, 2009

"I highly recommend this property to anyone looking for a fabulous vacation house in Albuquerque! The house is spacious with easy single level access, open floor plan, and layout. The kitchen is fully stocked with all appliances, beautiful dishes, and cookware. The gas stove is wonderful to cook on!!! The house was very clean with fresh towels and bed linens on the already made beds! The beds are very comfortable and the bedrooms are decorated with beautiful art work done personally by the owner. The house is very convienly located to EVERYTHING!!! It's just a couple of minutes to I-40. In 5-10 minutes you can get to the mall, Old Town, Botanic Gardens, Downtown Albuquerque, UNM, there are several stores available close by for groceries. The owner was so easy to work with. We needed a 2 week rental at the last minute and this owner made it all happen. We exchanged phone calls and information and were able to start renting the house the very next day!!!! I would recomend checking out all of the owner's artwork in the house each piece is unique and beautiful! Also, the view of the city lights and stars at night from the backyard, it makes you feel like you're on top of the world!!! This house may be right in the middle of everything but the neighborhood is so quiet you feel like you are far away from all the hustle and bustle! For an experience in shopping I suggest Pro's Ranch Market they have the BEST tamales I have ever had!!! And of course, Old Town is just the best place to hang out, shop, eat ,or people watch. We had the opportunity to be in Albuquerque over the Christmas holiday, if you ever get that chance do not miss the Lummanarias on Christmas Eve, what a truly wonderful site to behold! Albuquerque is a beautiful city with very friendly people. Living in this house for two weeks gave us the opportunity to feel the real local flare. I can't wait for my next visit!!!"

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Helpful votes: 2 / 2

It was hard to leave your beautiful home!!!

Review submitted: January 4, 2010   Date of arrival: December 16, 2009

Hi Joie!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family!!! We have returned home to Cheyenne, but it was hard to leave your beautiful home!!!! We had the most relaxing, no-stress vacation ever!!! My Grandmother is doing well, she loved the house and she was able to recuperate in such a wonderful place!
Thank you again so much for renting us your house on such short notice! The whole experience was great!!!
Take Care, Keep in touch, and I hope we will do business together again some time!!

Gratefully,

Stacy

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Helpful votes: 1 / 1