Balboa Island Vacation Rentals, House Rentals

I’ve rented 5 times from Vacasa before, including luxury beachfront homes, and this rental felt the most luxurious of them all. It made for a very pleasant and comfortable stay. I enjoyed the great room, which has high ceilings and an open floor plan, providing a wonderful space for everyone to gather. There were also nice gathering spaces in the front patio and rooftop area, which now has a dining table and large seating area. The finishes in the bathrooms and kitchen were nice…this is easily a $4 million house in this area. The house was nicely decorated, too. We found the place to be very clean and well maintained. The location is fantastic, with the Balboa Island ferry just a block away, a cute coffee shop 200 feet away, and downtown Balboa just a 10 minute walk away. You can stroll along the harbor front just down the block. You can also rent a Duffy boat and cruise the harbor from lots of nearby vendors (we took the ferry over to Balboa Fun Zone and rented from Newport Harbor Rentals, which had nice boats at a reasonable cost). We also fished off the public dock at the end of the block. It’s an adorable neighborhood with lots to do! I agree with some of the reviews that you can’t fit as many people as the listing says. It’s really a 3-bedroom house with a loft and a small office (two bunk beds) weirdly connected through a half bathroom. The loft can get really hot, and it’s inconvenient to climb a lot of stairs to use the bathroom (we felt like we had to use the first floor bathroom, since the other bathrooms were inside other bedrooms). I wanted to be a good host and give everyone else the nice bedrooms while we took the loft, but in the end, it was uncomfortable for us because of the bathroom situation. If you don’t have to use the loft or bunks, then it should be a very comfortable stay! The WiFi seemed decent, contrary to past reviews - it seems like they added WiFi boosters throughout the house. The main TV was connected to YouTube TV and had good entertainment options. The laundry room was nice too. Overall, it is a beautiful house in a very nice neighborhood, and it can be uncomfortable for the guests who get stuck in the loft (and also maybe the bunk beds).