Positives:
Place was exactly as described/shown
Cottage was spotless
You cannot beat the location – 50 steps to a beautiful beach, 5 min walk to a cute, beachy downtown area with great restaurants and gift shops.
Lots of dishware, other utensils etc., needed for cooking, making meals
We went for our honeymoon and they left us a sweet card, a rose and some treats, which was a really nice touch
The bed is super comfy and the sheets are insanely soft
Lots of cute décor touches around the cottage – it is clear they take a lot of pride in their property
The owners are kind, responsive and helpful. It is obvious that they are passionate about their property and truly want their guests to have a wonderful time. We had a minor issue with the garage door opener and the owner was over, right away (they live quite close), trying to get it sorted and offering other solutions for us. He even brought us delicious blueberry bread for the inconvenience
Things to consider:
If you are looking for total privacy, this may not be the best fit for you. Cottage is on the same property as owner’s other rental Shared patio, laundry, garage. The units are not attached and do have separate entrances. This being said – we are private people and none of this was an issue for us. We only saw the other renters once.
Owner greets you when you arrive to do check in/grant access to the cottage and garage. Very nice to meet the owner face to face – he is super friendly and pleasant. He provided us with recommendations of things to do, but after a long day of travel, it would have been nice to have the option to come in on our own and receive virtual access.
Lot of rules and we found two sides to this – you know what is expected of you straight off the bat. None of the rules were an issue for us – we were respectful and cared for the cottage like we would our own, however, we did find ourselves a bit on edge, as we were concerned about forgetting to do/not do something etc.
The shower is small but fine for our needs. My husband is 6’1” and found it uncomfortable to shower as the shower head was too low for him.
Overall, we had a fantastic experience and would highly recommend it to anyone looking to stay in this area. Seal Beach itself is beautiful and the people are friendly. The owners were attentive, helpful, friendly and put a lot of effort into making sure we had the best time. We would 10/10 stay here again!! Thanks Elena and Kye for everything!