Santa Barbara Escape

Great "escape" is right on!. My wife, I and our 3 year old son just returned from a wonderful week in SB and quite enjoyed staying at this property. I find when reading reviews to read the pros, cons and sum review, so here you go: PROS: Great interactions from the owner from the start and throughout our stay. Drew quickly responded via texts when we had a few minor questions during our stay. Home is beautiful; great kitchen and living room, decent sized rooms for three couples. Front and back yards very usable, especially the back with pagoda, heating lamp, bluetooth speakers, grill and fun "game" garage/room and ping pong. I think I wore out the Tempest arcade game. Location is a bit of a walk from the beach/harbor/zoo (we drove) but easy walking to a few great eateries, State Street and the best kid park in the city. CONS: We were okay with it, but with two or three couples, the 1 and 1/2 bathrooms would get cramped quickly. The home is not on the quietest of streets, not loudest, but not the quietest. Incidental but notable was that 4 out 5 light blubs in the living room/kitchen were out. I bought replacements which Drew reimbursed and was thankful, so it is what it is. The TV is a pro and con. The main pro is hundreds of free movies (but a bit complicated to figure out; Drew quickly responded to our query text with a solution). However the basic cable is really, really basic. We were excited to watch the Women's World cup on ESPN but were disappointed to see that that typically standard channel wasn't offered. Finally, there is a $50 charge for the use of the bikes in the garage. We've stayed in other VRBO homes in SB and had beach cruisers "included" so it felt a little nickle and diming, but just my opinion. IN SUM: There were a few minor issues that added up to just under a 5 star place but this really is a fantastic place, and I'd like to give 4.5 stars if VRBO let me. Management is very solid and responsive and I'd certainly recommend to friends and family.