Blissful Balboa

We enjoyed walking around Balboa Island. Rented a golf cart which made it convenient to go to restaurants and shopping and fun to take it on the ferry over to Balboa coast where you need to go to be on a nice beach.The unit was good for our group of 3 adults and two children. We contacted the management company in advance with 3 questions about kitchen appliances, beach towels/gear and pet fees. In each case they gave us a completely wrong answer resulting in our bringing stuff with us unnecessarily. They need to be more familiar with the unit. We had a couple questions after arrival and we did get an immediate call back from the company. Beds and linens were good. The kitchen is nice and very well stocked with pans, small appliances, and dishes. Our major complaint was the lack of lighting. The one bedroom with the en suite bath had a very weak overhead light and no nightstands or tabletop lights. It was impossible to see much of anything but less read at night. Similarly the lighting in the family room was very weak. We asked the management company about it and all they said was it didn’t work and didn’t offer to do anything about it. They had placed some floor lights in the space but they really didn’t light the place up. The only outside light is from one sliding glass door so limited light came in. The unit seemed a little pricey to us but at least something should be done to fix the lights.

I can’t say enough great things about Balboa Island. The town looks like it’s out of some movie set somewhere. The rental is located very close to the ferry and we were surprised to have the Cantina (Mexican restaurant) right behind the property. If I knew some of these issues below, I wouldn’t have rented this place. 1)There is a unit above you. The guests upstairs wore heels and walked around every morning (12AM-1AM) and would wake us up. 2) There are roaches in the property. Big giant ones! 3) The bathrooms are old. Paint peeling off tubs and toilet seat old. 4) The couch had dog hair. I didn’t know the unit was dog friendly until after I received information about my booking. Totally my fault as I was too busy to read the confirmation email earlier.

I have stayed a few times on Balboa Island and love being near the ferry and the quieter end of the Island. This rental ticked those boxes but was disappointing for the price. Only two of us were staying at the property so there was a spare bedroom which was totally unsuitable for anyone anyway because there were three beds crammed in with no bedside tables or chest of drawers. The master bedroom was good but the second bedroom also didn’t have a chest of drawers. I had to live out of my suitcase which I put on the second bed. There was a closet but not everything can be hung. Beds very comfortable with good linens. The living room was less spacious than suggested by the photos. There were no provisions in the kitchen cupboards (not even salt or pepper) so we didn’t do any cooking. Other rentals have had these. Then there was the construction next door. The workers were very considerate but we didn’t feel able to make much use of the front patio.