Redwood Hollow Cottages — Attraction in San Diego

I made prior arrangements with Redwood Hollow for early check in. Since I wasn't comfortable sharing my ID or credit card on line I was told in-person check in was OK as long as I checked in between 4 and 5 which is the only time their office is open.

However, a week before my arrival I was advised things had changed and their office would be closed on Sunday, beginning the Sunday of my arrival. So I needed to fill out either the rental agreement or provide copy of picture ID on line. I chose the rental agreement. Then I received a request for a picture ID as well. I sent back my driver's license with numbers crossed out. Redwood Hollow said they never received this, but not to worry, everything was in order and I could just provide picture ID on Monday, the day after my arrival.

On the morning of 6/8, on my way from Yuma to La Jolla with my daughter and her 3 young kids, we still had not gotten the promised code to access our Redwood Hollow rental. I began leaving messages on their voice mail (which no one picked up) and made numerous calls to Booking for help.

Once getting past AI robot on Booking, I was put on hold after asking to speak to a human for so long that I lost my connection going thru the mountains. After finally getting thru to Booking I was informed that Redwood Hollow office would be open at 4 since that's what it says on there website. But, if no one was there by 5, I should call Booking back. Telling him that I knew for a fact NO ONE would be in the office to let us in fell on dead ears. He refused numerous pleas to speak with a supervisor.

We arrived in La Jolla at 2 without access to our room with one child having a tantrum and the other 2 in tears, probably from listening to me screaming my confirmation code and password into the phone to a robot and a call center in India to an unhelpful customer representative.

Fortunately, we discovered an emergency contact number on the office door and within an hour we had the code. Needless to stay this was far from the smooth check in we were promised. Why I wasn't given to emergency number in advance I'll never know.

Two days later I received an email from Booking telling me they were unable to get in touch with Redwood Hollow and advised me to call the Redwood Hollow office number or send a message to them. Did they think we were living on the streets for 2 days?

That same night my daughter woke up to a sewer roach trailing an egg sack in her room. An employee killed it the next day, but our sleep was disturbed. Also, the bedroom curtains dont block the outdoor light, some of which we're flashing.

My family has stayed at Redwood Hollow on and off for over 20 years. Unfortunately, their reliance on technology vs having humans to contact readily in a mix ups is bad business. I will...

I wanted to love these cottages in person as much as I did when looking online for a place to stay. My first face to face with an employee happened yesterday as we arrived to check in. I’ve never felt so unwelcome as a customer. There was no greeting at all. Check in is at 4:00. We arrived at 2:30 and was prepared for our cottage to possibly not be ready yet. But we arrived at the airport and took an Uber to the cottages and happened to arrive at 2:30. Other hotels, when arriving before checkin, will greet you and put your luggage in a safe place until check in. This was not the case with Redwood Hollow. I was belittled for arriving at 2:30 and was told a dozen times or more check in was at 4:00. I was told I should have read the email better. I apologized many times. Explained we had just flown into to town and would be happy to come back later. Another worker finally checked the cottage and found that it was ready and we could check in.

After getting settled, we found that the AC was not working. Even though the temperature outside was pleasant, it was warm, still, and muggy inside. I explained the situation to the worker in the office and she said she would see if she could fix it. She also explained there was a fan in each bedroom. We left for a few hours and when we returned the AC was still not working.

This morning I woke up and when I put on my glasses they fogged up. Everything has a dampness to it. I went to the office again and asked about the AC and I was told it hasn’t worked for some time and it’s not a priority. But she would see what could he done. That was 12 hours ago and I haven’t heard anything from the office.

The deck is lovely and very well taken care of and clean. Except for the smell when you sit on the chair cushions. There is a strong odor of mildew.

The cottage itself is clean and would be enjoyable except for the disappointing AC and dampness issue.

For $475 a night I really expected to be treated better by the staff.

Edit after our 4 night stay: We have never been so uncomfortable or dissatisfied with a property. We dreaded returning to our cottage every evening and could not wait to check out on our last day. Our concerns were brought up with the office staff shortly after arriving our first day and addressed again the following day. Nothing was done to remedy the concern and we then posted the above review. I stopped by the office several times after their response and the office was closed and no one was inside any of the times. Management's response stated they go above and beyond; however nothing was done at all.

This property has so much potential. It is a shame that the management isn't active in acknowledging and remedying...

I really wanted to love this place. Beautiful location. Cool vintage cottages. However the one we stayed in was a bit tired. Plastic IKEA plants full of dust, cobwebs, off kilter cheap kitchen cupboards. The mattress was old, at least it had a big valley in the middle. The sheets were not very nice, in fact, I bought some decent ones and used them! Could have used a small shelf or a headboard to put my glasses on near the bed. The bed was very tight, picture a camper bed. Difficult to make and hard to get in and out of. There’s a fireplace but we couldn’t use it. The towels were old and faded. The place is quite small and less plastic plants and kitsch would have been an improvement. The tired fur pieces that were placed on the couch and a chair were weird and just looked like they were trying to draw your eyes away from the worn furniture. Not cool old vintage furniture, just cheap old stuff. There was a nice rocker that looked vintage and was sturdy, but the coffee table felt like it would collapse at any moment. There was 1 very thin kitchen towel and 2 cheap tiny IKEA coffee mugs in the kitchen. There were some nice vintage looking platters and serving bowls, but the plates were mismatched, not cute mismatched, just jumbled. Not well appointed for any real cooking so we ate out mostly. Cute vintage reproduction fridge and microwave and a Keurig coffee maker. But the tile floor could have used a good scrubbing. ||About that Keurig, I don’t care for them and I didn’t want to buy pods for it. I am one of those people who must have coffee before I get dressed so I called ahead and was ASSURED that I would be supplied with as many pods as I needed for my stay. However, the lady in the office was only there a short time each day. She kept the blinds closed and the door locked, as though she was afraid. It was odd because it’s a lovely neighborhood. Anyway, we had to buy coffee as it was kept in that office and was not ever available to us. ||It was a quiet and lovely spot, but the room could use less clutter and some really deep cleaning. I might stay there again, but I would never be able to convince my husband to. However it’s...