Strandfronthaus (H98)

Last year we book a wine country home through HomeAway and it was perfect. Therefore we were very disappointed in the condition of this house. I hope makes its way to the owners, HomeAway and the property managers.

First of all I want to say that Justin and company in building #3 were very helpful and courteous. The 5 of us really loved the location, the peacefulness, the view, and the high surf. We plan to make Pajaro Dunes a regular vacation spot.

#98 was a well thought out house with plenty of room for us. I am disabled and it was comfortable for me though I didn’t want to attempt the walk to the parking lot more than once a day. We have a number of constructive criticisms that we hope you will think about. Besides just being worn out and shabby, which we didn’t object too loudly, it had a number of issues. We also didn’t object to the place needing painting, especially the kitchen which was down to the wood.

Kitchen - dishwasher was filthy and didn’t drain

cabinets were not lined and also dirty

needs bottle opener

kitchen counter cutting boards are unsanitary

coffee pot took an extraordinarily long time to fill which means it needs to be cleaned

Living room - needs 2 new upholstered chairs. The ones there were dirty and very worn.

needs binoculars that aren’t missing an eye piece

Bathrooms - towels were stained, thin, and terrible. Also no washcloths or bath mats. We bought kleenex for a couple of the bathrooms because there was only 1 in the house. We ran out of toilet paper which is really inexcusable. There were 5 of us in a place that sleeps 8.

Bedrooms - pillows, comforter and blankets need to be replaced. They were stained and very very old.

I was also resentful of the excessive fees. We paid over $700 for cleaning, tax, property damage protection, service fee and booking. That is almost half of the total. This is ridiculous and will lead me away from HomeAway in the future.

I have had a rental house in Tahoe for 30 years and I certainly understand how hard it is to keep a place like that in shape especially when things disappear or are damaged. However the above are common necessities. We use VACASA which isn’t perfect, but doesn’t charge these huge fees.

I/we hope this will help and again we love the location of Pajaro Dunes and the house.

We spend 6 nights at house H 98 with my sister and her family from Germany and we had overall a fabulous time. The location of the house could not be any better. I miss falling asleep at night listening to the waves and waking up in the morning looking at the ocean. The location was absolutely perfect! Besides being right on the beach it was also only a short walk to the tennis courts which we also used frequently. The house has plenty of room and has a perfect lay out to accommodate 2 families. It is quite dated, but we didn't mind that. The only thing that we wouldn't rate 5 star is the kitchen. We had to clean the dishwasher on the first day as the dishes wouldn't clean properly. We also missed more glasses and silver ware. I think overall the kitchen needs to be stocked and organized a little better. Still, overall a very relaxing and enjoyable stay.

We are looking forward to our next beach vacation in Pajaro Dunes!

The Pros: The view was amazing, definitely beach front. It was great to be able to watch the kids play on the beach from the warmth of the home. The beds were newer and very comfortable. We enjoyed the tennis and basketball court. Nice to have a bathroom with each bedroom.

The cons: house had a musty old smell. House is very dated. Kitchen was old. It seemed like they stripped cabinet paint but never repainted. A lot of cooking utensils but they were worn and gross. Seating in living room could be updated as well. 4th bedroom in back of house connects off an internal patio - not ideal with little ones.

I have emailed comments to VRBO, perhaps not in this format, but they should be available. I put time and effort into it and hope it was helpful.

Peter Lawrence

What a fantastic home. View of the beach is terrific. As well as access! It was so nice having 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms We loved it! The kids (7-16) went in the ocean every day even though it was cold Everyone loved the house and beach