Before this guest house became Posh, it was a hotel for “bears” (large and hairy gay men). It was not very successful, and was rundown and went into receivership in 2009. This was when the new owners came across it, bought it and did major work to create a very pleasant, bright and comfortable guest house.
The name POSH, according to the materials in the room, was inspired by the old nautical practice in days before jet travel when those with money would book cabins on Port side on the way out and starboard on the home run: Port Out, Starboard Home (so you got the most sun). The aim of the owners is to create a place that feels up-market.
The overall look and feel is good. They have done a good job at making it bright, clean and looking good. There are 10 guest rooms, including larger suites with their own kitchen (like room 6 which we stayed in).
POSH is in a good location, down a quiet suburb street. It is also very accessible to the main centre of town and also to attractions like the Aerial Tramway that takes you up to the Jacinto State Park. You do need a car though as not really walkable, especially when in the heat of summer.
The overall attitude and approach is relaxed from the owners, and they are available if you need them – but largely make things informal.
When we arrived they were out, but left envelopes on the door for arriving guests with the code and some instructions. So we settled ourselves in, which was fine. The informal approach runs through, including even not having to check in formally at any point.
Positives
Rooms. They have done a good job at creating a “wow” factor in the rooms. I suspect they did not have a huge budget but have used imagination and style to create slightly quirky, but appealing looks. The Room 6 we stayed in was especially good as slightly away from the pool, and large with a dining area and kitchen. The rooms by the pool seemed small and compact. Breakfast. There is a big breakfast spread from 9am to 10am. There is always fruit, bacon, sausage and then a special of the day. Pool The pool is a good size, and has a nice deep end (about 8 feet deep) and is kept at a constant temperature, so nice and cool. We have stayed at another guest house at the same time of the year (mid summer) and the pool was too warm. Here it is nice and refreshing all day. Drinks. There are free sodas, water and in the evening they have a cocktail hour where they make a signature Posh Cocktail. You can also have wine, and they have some snacks and cheese. Free wifi. This is a plus, and is fairly fast. It did seem a bit directional, and we did not have a signal in our room and noticed that most people would sit outside their room on their laptops/ iPads to get the signal.
Negatives (hard to find any….) People! As it is an intimate small resort, there is a risk (like at any guest house) that there may be rowdy weekender group or Hen party that hog the pool and get a bit loud. When we were there we had a bit of that on the Saturday, but only after the owners left at around 4pm. But they all headed out and so things were quiet after that. Rooms are very bright as thin curtains or blinds (and of course lots of bright sun!), so if that troubles you bring along eyeshades (and maybe earplugs if you worried about the point above!)
We had a great time here and enjoyed the resort and informality. Luckily for us on our 3 nights, we just had the one late afternoon/ evening where we had slightly rowdy guests versus the more laid back time the rest of the stay. But is always a risk at guest houses when you are up close and in a smaller environment.
We enjoyed it and preferred it to the other guest house we stayed at on our last trip
I grew up in Zimbabwe, but I have been based in London since 1987. My travel life spans more than three decades and that includes more than 95 cruises. In 2005, I launched Tips for Travellers to make it easy and fun for people to discover, plan and enjoy incredible cruise vacations. And the rest, as they say, is history. I have the largest cruise vlogger channel currently on YouTube, with more than 3 million video views per month.
