A stunning home in the scenic canal district, just a few minutes walk to a quiet section of Venice Beach, and a thoughtful and accommodating host. We hope to return.

Ben was extremely accommodating, we had ran into some issues with booking, Ben went above and beyond to ensure my stay was booked. Ben communicated amazingly and the house was IMPECCABLE! My fiancé and I were lost for words, the photos do not do the home any justice. It was fully stocked with pots, pans and toiletries. Overall 5/5 stay, highly recommend. Hands down one of the best home rentals I have ever stayed in.

The main problem is the owner, Ben, who is incompetent and dishonest: We booked the house through Vrbo. Later, I received an email from Ben saying he’d “accidentally” cancelled our booking - but we were "welcome to rebook" if we’d like. I immediately tried rebooking but suddenly the price was about $1000 more than what we originally booked it for! I queried this with Ben who told me the price had gone up. Normally, we’d have run a mile from this kind of scam, but it was so soon before our flights that we had little other choice of accommodation. The hot tub was filthy. I emailed Ben and he said it had been cleaned the previous day (an obvious lie). He sent his ‘maintenance man’ (who later turned out to be his dad) to clean it. The tub appeared to be clean that night, but when we went to use it again two days later, it was again filthy. Ben did offer to clean it again, but the moments had passed for us wanting to use it. I emailed Ben to check that the bikes would be available and he assured me that 2 new bikes would be there. There were 3 bikes, all of which were more or less unrideable. One appeared to be new, while the others were rust buckets. We ended up hiring bikes. The property has a Nespresso coffee machine. I emailed Ben before arriving after if the property had a French press. He said he’d get one. When we arrived, there wasn’t one. I emailed Ben and he said that he’d put it there the day before (which he clearly hadn’t). However, the next day, one was delivered (along with coffee and a bottle of champagne). the cushions on the patio were soaking when we arrived so we could not use them. we couldn’t turn the fire pit on. More emails sent to Ben to ask for instructions. It would have been so much easier to have some brief instructions, rather than my holiday being wasted with emailing Ben. one of the Alexas didn’t work. I emailed Ben about this, who told me (wrongly) they were working. Other smaller problems: the house is noisy, with little privacy. The main bedroom has an open window onto the sitting room, so noise carries between the 2 rooms. there are hardly any blinds in the bedrooms, so it is very light in the mornings, waking us up. the boat was so filthy we didn’t use it. why only 4 coffee mugs in a house of this size? it would have been nice to put some pepper in the pepper pot. Positives: the house is in a good location, the living space is good and the beds are comfortable.