There was plenty of space, but this rental was not as advertised. We walked in and were knocked over by the smell of solvents (they had just painted), the gas fireplace had been disconnected, and the air hockey table had no puck. The kitchen supplies were minimal and we had to buy some in order to fix our meals. We have rented have several beach homes in the past and this was, by far, the worst experience. When we called the rental service, they said amenities weren't guaranteed. Hmm. Then why advertise them. People make decisions based on what is listed.
--Message from Manager--
Thank you for your feedback. We are sorry you did not fully enjoy your stay. We have worked with the owners to understand your concerns. Air Hockey pucks have been restocked. The Fireplace has been removed as an Amenity (renters have had challenges with its tricky buttons in the past). The kitchen is fully stocked and this was double-checked after your review just to be sure. Cookware and dishware are well-stocked and ready for big meal preparation for all 8 renters. For future guests reading this response, please note that the owners are happy to answer your questions on house contents or questions on specialty cookware that may be desired.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in this home (ages ranging from 3yrs to 70yrs!)! The quiet street and neighborhood were great for my kids to ride their bikes. Accessibility to the beach was very easy too. One access was a short walk and the other a very short drive (don't even have to get on Hwy 101). The kitchen was very well equipped and we found the house to be very clean. Well stocked with games too! Loved the downstairs laundry and bath for dealing with sandy and wet clothes.

We found the house to be very, very clean, kitchen well stocked (could use a few more bowls) and well priced for the location. The outdoor fire pit was great for s'mores at night and the upper porch was a comfortable place to get some sun, sit and relax, and smell the salty sea breeze. Since the other reviews the management has supplied fans and a free standing air unit in the loft and the place was not hot as the cross breeze along with the fans provided great fresh ventilation. We were two families (children 15,12,11). The upstairs room was great for the kids to hang out, read, talk, listen to music, and play air hockey while adults sat downstairs (A few more chairs in the living area would help the comfort). The large, tall, table could seat 7-8 easily. The walk to the beach is 5-7 minutes and even though the home is closer to 101 than the beach, you do not hear traffic because the backyard is a conifer forest. We wore sunglasses during the evening sunset hours because there are no shades/blinds for the West facing windows, but it does not last long and is tolerable. Overall a great place to stay for the price.

This definitely is a nice property but not without some faults. The loft space gets very warm during the day and barely cools down at night. Although the highs were in the low 70's with lows in the 50's the coolest the loft got was 67 and tended to stay in the low 70's, even with four fans going. Also the TV location above the fireplace projects it's sound nicely into the loft and bedrooms. Dialog was crystal clear in the bedrooms, but hard to hear in the living room with the fans going in the loft. The ping pong and air hockey tables are in some need of repair and equipment replacement (paddle, pucks, etc.). We did enjoy the fire pit in the back, but the small timber fort was filled with plants so our kids stayed out of it. We really enjoyed the deck on the very quiet street. The beach though is a good 6 block walk to a drift wood filled beach. We mostly drove down to Manhattan Beach park which doesn't require you to even get on 101 and could easily had been biked had we brought them. I think this would be a better fit once our kids (5 and 7) are older and maybe want to bring friends to share the loft space with.

Here's our review of Rockaway Retreat listing the positives and negatives from our perspective. POSITIVES: nice newer home, everything as advertised, nice quiet neighborhood, lots of activities in or near the home for a family to do (games, movies, fire pit, beach), front patio nice, beautiful beach, small quiet town, close to Portland, kitchen adequately equipped, loft area for kids to have their own space, NEGATIVES: home sleeps 8 but is a bit small for a group of 8, not enough furniture for 8 people to sit (except around dining table), two main bedrooms are very small with no dressers to unpack luggage, house cleaning did an ok job (tidy and surface clean, but remnant pet hair and crumbs found around house), not enough paper products when we arrived but they did bring extra when we asked, there were double size flat sheets on a queen bed, home was closer to a 10 minute walk to the beach, the house has one main living area facing West with lots of windows - there are no blinds on the windows so we were hot and blinded by the sun in the evening (we went in July), loft area is great for kids but main TV room is open to loft and can disturb sleeping children. OVERALL: despite the fact that the list of negatives above is longer than the positives our overall experience was positive. For the right size and mix of people, this place is very nice and fairly priced. We have small children who were sleeping in the loft area (and go to bed before the adults) so the openness of the loft and the proximity of the TV and living room made evening TV/movie watching for the adults a bit more challenging. This is just something you need to keep in mind if you also have small children. The west facing windows without blinds were quite a pain in the afternoon when the sun was out. It made sitting on the couch unbearably bright and made the house (especially the loft) quite warm in the afternoons/evenings. This could easily be remedied if the owners added some blinds.