reviews for: listing #83921 - San Diego, California House rental
- bedrooms 5
- pool no
- type House
- baths 3½
- hot tub yes
- community
- sleeps 14
- pets allowed no
-
rates (USD)
$375
-
$500
/nt
$2,625 - $3,500 /wk
$10,000 - $12,000 /mth
Sprawling, spacious, lovely house
kh
(Auburn, WA)
Review submitted: May 7, 2013
Date of arrival: April 13, 2013
Our two families (each with two adults, two toddlers and two preschoolers) stayed at the house. We all had different sleep patterns, but the house was big enough that one family could be awake playing, eating breakfast and puttering in one wing of the house without disturbing the other (sleeping) family. We wished we'd had more time to just relax on the little decks outside each master bedroom. All the rooms were spacious and clean. Backyard was gorgeous (the hot tub was great). Neighborhood is gorgeous, with very cool architecture, and the walk to Presidio Park was short enough for the toddlers to manage. We did scurry around child-proofing when we first got there, like lifting fragile items out of reach and stashing a wood-and-fabric screen before little hands could tip it over, but the house was otherwise pretty kid-friendly. Within 15 minutes of the airport, zoo and Sea World.
Recommended for: adventure seekers, families with young children, families with teenagers, girls getaway, sight seeing
Owners response: Thanks for staying with us. We are glad you enjoyed the home as much as we have.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes No
Helpful votes: 0 / 0
House is good, but......
oagtype
(Ontario)
Review submitted: April 20, 2013
Date of arrival: March 28, 2013
The house is fine and as described. If we were rating only that, our rating would be good or excellent. It is a lovely place in a nice neighborhood. There are nice flower arrangements and interesting art. (not a good place for rambunctious children!) (Thank goodness ours were well behaved!) It worked perfectly for us since it literally had 3 private spaces. (But bring earplugs especially for the top floor bedroom if you are a light sleeper -- there is, as in much of San Diego, highway and airplane noise). Our only complaint about the house itself -- relatively minor -- was that the bbq was too rusty and did not work. The disappointment and negative for us derived from the fact that it is not owner operated as it says on this website but is operated by Pacific Coast Vacation Properties who have some trouble communicating with renters. We were literally forced to buy deposit insurance (so be warned that it will be an additional cost) and heavily pressured to buy cancellation insurance. Emails about these issues were not answered promptly before arrival which led to unnecessary stress on our part. Our early check in at 1:30 PM, that had been confirmed in an email was not communicated to cleaning staff and we were only able to get in because they very kindly allowed us in, warning us that we might be charged an extra day (which we were not). Its really too bad that we experienced these unnecessarily unpleasant interactions because if we had not, we would recommend the place more enthusiastically. It certainly deserves a higher rating than we give it, if one considers only the accommodations.
Owners response:
This is the email we sent to the guest after their review of our home.
I wanted an opportunity to address the concerns which led to your less than favorable review of our home and service. In your review, you mentioned you were ‘forced’ to buy damage insurance. I know my reservationist spent a great deal of time explaining why we require the $39 security deposit insurance. She sent you the details of the insurance both from our website and from our insurance carrier. You exchanged multiple emails with her as well. We were never able to satisfy your objection to the charges, which are standard for our company and all our guests, and yet you rented the home anyway. Personally, when I don’t agree with a company’s policies, I simply don’t use their product. I certainly don’t expect them to change their policies for me. You were under no obligation to reserve the home if you were dissatisfied with the policies we use to protect our owners and our guests.
In regards to an early check-in, yes, we did go above and beyond and issued you an early check-in even though we rarely do so. I do apologize that the cleaners were still there when you arrived, but they were doing extra cleaning for you because you had concerns about your allergies. At your request, we purchased and provided you with hypoallergenic pillows. This is something we normally don’t provide, but in our attempt to go above and beyond to make our clients (you) happy, we accommodated your request. Furthermore, we took all the linens offsite and washed them in machines with a steam setting to kill/destroy any allergens you might be allergic too. Both this additional cleaning and the pillows cost us quite a bit of extra time and money. If you had other concerns, we would have liked to have addressed them during your stay, but we weren’t made aware that you were dissatisfied until recently even though we contacted you while you were in the home.
Given the level of effort we put into making your stay a success, I feel your review of our performance was less than fair. We have only 5 star reviews on our site and work extremely hard to make sure each customer has a stellar experience with us. Consequently, our properties and company have been featured in news articles and on TV. The hospitality business is extremely challenging, given the variety of customers we service, and while we strive to do our very best to meet all their expectations, we know we will never make everyone happy.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes No
Helpful votes: 3 / 3
AMAZING home!!!
MARISA B.
()
Review submitted: April 15, 2013
Date of arrival: April 2, 2013
My family and I had a total of 11 people stay in this home for a week and it was great!! There was plenty of room for everyone to feel like they had enough of their own space. The location was fantastic. It was basically 15 minutes away from anything and everything we wanted to do. We visited The Zoo, Sea World, Coronado Island, the beach, Safari Land. It was literally the perfect location.
The company was great to deal with. They were a lot of help with anything and everything that came up. The property manager even stopped by personally to welcome us to the home and see if we had any issues or questions about the home.
Again, I can't say enough good things about this place. Can't wait til our next stay!!
Recommended for: adventure seekers, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers, girls getaway, sight seeing, tourists without a car, romantic getaway
Owners response: We are so glad you loved our home! This is a beautiful, one of a kind property and we take a lot of pride in giving our guests an incredible experience. It was also just featured on 'Sweet Retreats', a reality show about vacation rentals. Thanks again for staying with us!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes No
Helpful votes: 0 / 0
Marvelous Home and Great Location
Kathy
(Tucson, Arizona)
Review submitted: October 29, 2012
Date of arrival: September 30, 2012
We celebrated our 50th anniversary with family and friends at the Hickory House location and had a lovely stay. The property manager and the owner, both, came to welcome us and that was very nice. The property is beautifully kept and very clean. We would not hesitate to recommend this wonderful home to anyone. Hopefully, we can return in the not too distant future. Best of luck on your continued success with this property.
Recommended for: age 55+, families with young children, girls getaway
Owners response:
Thanks Kathy,
We work hard to make sure all of our guests have a wonderful experience at each of our properties. We look forward to having you back at one of our homes again soon!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes No
Helpful votes: 2 / 2
Beautiful and Perfect!
hsabera
(Hershey, PA)
Review submitted: June 1, 2012
Date of arrival: May 20, 2012
We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Hickory Home! We had a full house of 14 family members for the week and everything was perfect. The property was well-maintained, clean and fully equipped for a good time.
The home is located in a very nice neighborhood and just minutes away from all the local attractions (Zoo, Balboa Park, Old Towne, Gaslamp District, etc.) and of course the beaches. I would highly recommend this property to anyone looking for a pleasant stay in SD.
Owners response: Thanks so much for the kind words. We work hard to provide all the comforts of home for all of our travelers.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes No
Helpful votes: 4 / 4
Quite a surprise
David
(Topeka, Kansas)
Review submitted: October 18, 2011
Date of arrival: October 6, 2011
The first thing we noticed was the pictures do not do this house justice. It is simply beautiful. We had 12 in our party and everyone was very comfortable. The views from the upper deck are spectacular. We even had a wedding in the back yard. It was perfect. The neighborhood is very quiet. We found getting around to be quite easy. We had a great time. The next trip to San Diego will be booked thru Greg. We had a couple questions before booking and he called on the phone to help. Great service. Thank you again for the hospitality. David
Do you find this review helpful? Yes No
Helpful votes: 26 / 26
Amazing - Don't hesitate.. book this house
Review submitted: May 18, 2011 Date of arrival: May 13, 2011
We were the first people to stay at this house and were blown away. The drive up the hill was unbelievable with multi-million dollar homes and incredible views of the bay and skyline. The house was very spacious with hardwood floors and raised ceilings in almost every room. All the bedrooms were spacious and most had views of the bay and/or backyard. We spent most of our time in the gorgeous backyard which had a firepit, BBQ, a waterfall, and hot tub. Even though this house wasn't right on the beach, it was close to almost all of the popular SD attractions including Presidio PArk, Old Town, Sea World, Balboa Park, and the SD zoo. The owner was always quick to answer any questions and had lots of suggestions on things to do and see. Quiet, spacious, clean, and well equipped, you will not regret renting this home.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes No
Helpful votes: 40 / 41
Reviews are the subjective opinions of VacationRentals.com travelers and not of VacationRentals.com, Inc.