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Big Bear is very popular among Angelenos as it’s a place to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life and to breathe in the fresh mountain air. Finding comfortable and affordable lodging can be tricky to find during the high-season but if you are able to visit during the weekday, you definitely have more options with lower rates.

FIRST IMPRESSION

Check-in was at 4 PM and a bit confusing as I did not receive the access code to the lock until I actually arrived on the property. I’ve stayed at several Airbnb’s and typically the access code is provided prior to check-in. Luckily, I had cell reception and was able to message the host for the access code which they provided within minutes. Being up in the mountains, I always worry about the spotty cell signal, so not having the code beforehand stressed me out a little bit.

Parking was a breeze as there was a dedicated parking spot right in front. I believe two cars could fit in this parking spot if need be. The entrance has a cute sign that says, “Welcome to the Tree Top” and the porch had a nice seating area if you wanted to enjoy the views out front.

We were welcomed with a bottle of wine that was placed in front of the kitchen window. There were three wine glasses next to the wine bottle, but they were all cracked. This was a little disappointing especially since this stay was an Airbnb Plus, which is known to have exceptional attention to detail.

DOWNSTAIRS

The downstairs has a large living space and an open kitchen with a very unique dining table. Right next to the table is a door that leads to the wrap-around deck outdoors. The deck is among the trees and equipped with a grill and picnic table. It’s a gorgeous deck and it also had those pretty globe string lights.

Kitchen

The kitchen was stocked with the basic necessities including pots and pans, glasses, dishes, silverware, cooking utensils, toaster, Keurig coffee machine, and more.

I utilized the kitchen throughout my stay and there were some things that I found a little frustrating. I’ll start with the pros first. I loved the gas stove and large refrigerator. There was a variety of different pots and pans to accommodate a variety of cooking recipes. I cooked breakfast, lunch, and dinner on both nights without any huge obstacles.

And now for the cons. I couldn’t find a cutting board, so I had to purchase one from the local market. I also noticed that whenever I went to grab a dish or pan, there were some remnants of food so I had to wash everything before I used it. There wasn’t a dishwasher, so hand washing everything was a bit time-consuming. I hand wash dishes at home, so I’m used to this, but the hot water did not work that well and the water pressure was weak.

Living Room

The living room was spacious and there were two very comfortable couches. The larger one was a sleeper sofa so if you are staying with a group, there is plenty of room to walk around even if you pulled out the sleeper sofa.

There was a Smart TV, but we could not locate the remote to the TV. We looked everywhere and couldn’t find it, so I grabbed a remote from the bedroom upstairs. The first remote I grabbed was out of batteries, so I grabbed another one from the second bathroom, and luckily that one still had some battery life.

We watched some shows but had to sign in to our own account if we wanted to watch something. We just had to remember to log out of the app when we checked out. Since we didn’t want to mess with signing in and out of multiple apps (I can’t even remember my passwords to some of them) on both the upstairs and downstairs TV, we only watched TV in the living room.

There was a gorgeous blue colored vintage cast iron wood burning stove in the living room that we wanted to use, but we had to purchase our own firewood. Since there was central heating, we decided to skip buying and having to clean out the wood stove afterward.

Bathroom

The main bathroom was located downstairs next to the kitchen. It’s a fairly small bathroom with a ginormous rain shower head. This shower-head was awkwardly large and wasn’t tightened very well and on the first night, the head came undone and spewed water everywhere. It was an easy fix, but it was not fun cleaning up the water that had gone all over the floor.

There were plenty of towels and washcloths as well as toilet paper. However, I was pretty disappointed that there was no body soap. I messaged the host and they apologized and offered to reimburse me for the body soap I would have to purchase myself. I wasn’t looking forward to driving to the local grocery store after having just spent 2.5 hours driving to the Airbnb, but there was nothing I could do.

The shampoo was also a very inexpensive brand as well as the hand soap. The hand soap was nearly empty, but there was plenty of lotion. I am usually not so picky about this stuff, but since this was an Airbnb Plus, the amenities are supposed to be of higher quality since these listings come with a higher price tag. A perfect example of an Airbnb Plus home would be the Mesa rental my sister and I stayed at.

There is no counter space in this bathroom, so having a hanging toiletry bag will be super handy. The water doesn’t stay hot the entire time, so it’s best not to take showers back to back. After the first person takes a shower, wait a little bit before jumping in so that the water heats back up.

UPSTAIRS

Bedrooms

FRISCO Textured Plush Squeaking Fox Dog Toy from Chewy.Com — FRISCO Textured Plush Squeaking Fox Dog Toy from **Chewy.Com**

There are two bedrooms located upstairs. The master bedroom has a queen-size bed, but we were expecting a king-size bed since that is what was advertised on the site. The bed was comfy and both sides of the bed had a log nightstand that complimented the room beautifully. The room had a ton of natural light and a small balcony with chairs to enjoy the lovely views outdoors. The master bedroom also had a nice size TV situated right in front of the bed.

The second bedroom has a full and single bed with a log nightstand in the middle to share. This room had a larger dresser with a TV sitting on it. We mainly used this room to store our luggage and used the dresser to place our toiletries, since there wasn’t any counter space in the bathroom to place things.

When I tried to close the curtains at night in the second bedroom, the curtain rod fell off. Again, it was an easy fix, but it definitely wasn’t secured on there properly and luckily nothing was damaged when it fell on top of the lamp.

1/2 Bathroom

The 1/2 bathroom is located upstairs between the two bedrooms and it is very small, so much so, that the door won’t open all the way since it gets blocked by the toilet. With that being said, I’d rather have a 1/2 bath than none at all. There was a large mirror in there with plenty of toilet paper and extra towels.

LOCATION

The location was fantastic. We were in a gorgeous neighborhood where I felt safe walking Zooey in the early morning and at night by myself. Big Bear Village, grocery stores, trails, and even the visitor’s center were all within a 10 minute drive. If you are in Big Bear to ski or snowboard, you are less than 10 minutes away from the Snow Summit, which is super convenient if you need to make multiple trips throughout the day.

Zooey running around at Big Bear Lake, California

PET-FRIENDLINESS

This Airbnb is listed as pet-friendly and is one of the reasons why I booked it. Zooey absolutely loved running around in the snow and had a blast as this was only her second time experiencing snow.

I wish I would have paid more close attention to the house rules regarding pets since they didn’t allow pets on any of the furniture including the bed. I’ve stayed at a handful of pet-friendly Airbnbs and this was the first time I encountered a house rule like this. Zooey is an extreme cuddle bug, so this was disappointing for both of us.

A dog bed is provided; however, it was in a closet that I couldn’t get open as the handle kept coming off. Luckily, I brought Zooey’s blankets and made her bed this way. There was one food bowl under the kitchen sink but no dog waste bags, so make sure to pack those and other dog necessities. Luckily, I always travel with Zooey’s dog travel bag so I had all those things with me. I would say the property is pet tolerant more than pet friendly.

Zooey in the Backyard wearing her Eddie Bauer coat

FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall, The Tree Top was comfortable and the location was terrific. However, I was not impressed by the lack of attention to detail since this was an Airbnb Plus. Having to purchase my own body soap and cleaning dirty pots and pans before I use them was not something I was expecting.

I have experienced stays at other Airbnb Plus properties and they really do go above and beyond for an exceptional stay. This Airbnb, however, was not a Plus stay in my opinion. There were way too many hiccups that I encountered. I would rate this rental a normal Airbnb accommodation.