PORTO BODEGA – SERENITY BY THE SEA “3BR/2BA AMAZING VIEW'

This house was perfect - so perfect that we hated to leave. It was very clean and very comfortable and had everything we needed. We loved the views from the living room, dining room and kitchen. We loved being so close to the marina where we could tie up our kayaks. We had so much fun hiking and kayaking and saw lots of wildlife including an up close and long view of a young grey whale. Everything worked in this house and the property managers could not have been any nicer. They were very responsive. We loved it and would absolutely stay again. We loved the sound of the whistle buoy - it added to the ambience and did not disturb us at all.

Positives:

Good location, central to day tripping
Nice furnishings
Quiet area (important caveat mentioned below)
Reasonably priced for the area

Negatives:

The fog horn in the bay that blows every 10 seconds-12 hours a day sunny or foggy
Bathrooms need a deep cleaning
House comes with no 'directions' on use of heat, stove, location of trash receptacle, etc.
No staples or supplies beyond paper towels, salt and pepper

There should be a disclaimer for this property regarding the foghorn in the bay. It blew every 10 seconds for about half of the day/night, every day--fog or not. It is like water torture. The beautiful wraparound porch has no chairs. There are two wooden, straight back chairs that could be taken outside to sit but are not designed for this use and would not be comfortable for more than a few minutes. The house is nice but could use a deep cleaning, more than a surface cleaning is warranted. The furnishings are nice and the house is in a quiet area if not for the incessant fog horn.

After signing the rental agreement, I did not hear from the landlord again regarding directions, the keys, or instructions of any sort regarding the house. When I emailed the landlord a week or so prior to arrival, I was given directions to the house and info on the key. No other info was provided, no instructions regarding anything in the house were ever provided--heating, stove, trash (could not find a large trash container to toss our trash), etc. The house is chilly this time of year. We attempted multiple times to turn up the heat but the thermostat must be pre-programmed and we could not override it. In fairness to the landlord, we never called to inquire, just bundled up the in the two blankets that were available. There were zero staple supplies (most VRBO houses will have a few things such as aluminum foil, sugar, or items left by previous renters but this house appears to be thoroughly emptied between renters), so stock up. You will want to buy your food/groceries in Sebastapol or Santa Rosa as the prices in Bodega Bay are extremely high.

We have rented many times via VRBO, and while this house is by no means a disaster, it is below the expectations we had based on the pictures and the description. Again, in fairness to the landlord we never called to complain, it just was not worth it to us to cause an issue while we were at the house and the issues were not such that much could be done about them anyway, other than the heat situation.

My wife and I, from Atlanta, GA, were out visiting our two sons, daughter-in-law and grandson and spent a terrific Memorial Day weekend at Serenity by the Sea, Bodega Bay. It was a wonderful base from which to visit Sonoma County wine country. I would recommend it to anyone.