Let's start with the positives:
Great location! Bay is just one row behind the house. Bay is great for the little ones and so close. Beach is just across Balboa Blvd. Balboa Blvd. is busy, but there are tons of crosswalks so that wasn't a problem. Beach and bay are so beautiful, clean and family friendly. We walked to the pier on Bay Ave. which cuts over to Edgewater. About a 15-20 minute walk. Beautiful and easy walk to the pier and the ferry to Balboa Island. Pier is typically touristy but rides are fun for the kiddos.
House is a duplex which is not connected on the inside. The outside stairs are a bit treacherous for the little ones, but great garage space, and generally, good parking out front if you have more than 2 cars. Bikes are provided as well as beach chairs, some toys and towels. Beach chairs and towels are very shabby, but they work. One umbrella was at the house (we were a group of 13), luckily we brought our own umbrella and tents since the one umbrella was broken. Not nearly enough bath towels, hand towels and no washcloths provided. We called the management company and they brought over more linens and 2 more umbrellas. Unfortunately the umbrellas were very cheap and didn't screw into the sand and we didn't have a hammer or anything to get the umbrella to stay. Only one hand towel provided per bathroom! We had 5 people using one of the bathrooms....ugh! Using the same hand towel is just gross. Also, one dishtowel was provided in each kitchen. More were brought over. In the kitchen in the upstairs unit one of the brackets on the kitchen shelf was missing and the whole shelf fell out and dishes broke all over my head. More dishes were brought and the missing bracket turned out to be on the kitchen counter behind the coffee maker. That should have been taken care of before we checked in. Plenty of fans were provided for each room since there's no air conditioning. Upstairs unit stays really cool and pleasant, downstairs unit is definitely warmer with not as much air flow. All in all the rental was good, a little like a Monet painting....when you first walk in it's great but when you look closer it's a little bit of a mess. For the money it should have been equipped a bit nicer, but we had a great time and I don't think it would stop us from renting again, if only for the location!