Things to Know

Instructions & Things to Know

Arrival & Deparature

Upon arrival and departure, there are a few things to do to help us easily and affordably share our place with you and others:

To help prevent burst pipes and misc. leaks when nobody is home, we installed a whole-home water shutoff valve. The shutoff is under a small utility cover just outside the home. Look out the front door to the parking space on the right. In the rocks, you will see three small steel utility covers. Our shutoff is in the middle one. Remove the cover and:

Turn on: Gently turn the blue valve so that the handle is in line with the meter line (pointing in the same direction as the meter).

When you made your reservation, we issued a time-based access code for the Lockly digital lock at the front door. To open the door, place your hand in front of the screen to wake it up then enter the code we provided you. Touch the small round OK button in the bottom center of the screen to open the door. The door tends to stick a little so you may need to push it a bit.

Given that we are an Asian household, we ask that you remove your shoes when in our home. There is a shoe rack cabinet just inside the home where you can place your shoes. If you have returned from a hike or otherwise have very dirty shoes, we ask that you keep them outside, either in the closet or somewhere on the porch.

The home has guest WiFi. There is a QR code and/or login credentials on the shoe rack in the hallway.  

This should be a rare occurance but if we have back-to-back guests and we don’t have the opportunity to get up there between stays, you may need to place new sheets on the beds and towels in the bathrooms. The previous guests may have also left dirty sheets and towels infront of the laundry so we ask that you wash them for us as well.

We know this is a bit unconventional and not everyone will be comfortable with this but it should be rare and it helps us keep things affordable. Please remember that we only rent to our friends and family.

We do not hire cleaners between visitors, so to keep things affordable, we do ask our guests to do a bit of cleaning before they depart.

Please remove all used bedsheets, pillow cases, and towels and place them on the ground in front of the washing machine. We will come by at some point to wash everything.

If you have enjoyed your stay and are feeling particularly generous (and the timing works out for you) feel free to wash and dry all the sheets and towels. Be sure to let us know you are doing this! This helps us out a lot!

There are sanitizing wipes and disposable toilet wand cleaners under the bathroom sinks. We ask that you use them to wipe down vanity counter tops, toilet bowls/rims, and the kitchen counters (Simple Green cleaner [green bottle] is under the kitchen sink). If course, please wipe down any spills or food debris you may have left in the kitchen and dining room. Finally, please be sure all toilets have been flushed completely.

Please remove all used trash bags and dump them in the community dumpster just north of the building. Please replace any trash bags with the extras found in the pantry or under the sinks.

To help prevent burst pipes and misc. leaks when nobody is home, we installed a whole-home water shutoff valve. The shutoff is under a small utility cover just outside the home. Look out the front door to the parking space on the right. In the rocks, you will see three small steel utility covers. Our shutoff is in the middle one. Remove the cover and:

Turn off: Gently turn the blue valve so that the handle is perpendicular to the meter line (it should point to the house).

General Questions & Guidance

As you can tell, our home is a bit on the older side. It was built in 1980 and as such, it has a few quirks that you should be aware of. This section covers some of those and provides some general whole-home info and guidance to make your stay the best it can be. Overall, the interior has had a few upgrades over the years and we continue to update things as we can. Some of the more “quirky” things are:

These are the original cabinets and drawers and they are very old and need to be replaced. In the meantime, please open and close them carefully as the drawers, in particular, have some structural problems when pulled open too quickly, especially the heavy ones (utensil drawer in particular).

While the Prestige front security door is fantastic, the main front door has a tenency to stick and needs a little extra push to open. This door also has a Lockly digital lock that will auto-lock when closed after 30sec. This is a security feature but if the door is not completely closed (half closed) the lock will fail to engage and it will beep annoyingly at you. You simply have to open the lock, push the door completely closed, then lock it.

The rear sliding doors can be tricky to lock. You need to push the sliding door closed while engaging the lock. Be sure to try opening the door after you lock it to be sure the lock has engaged. We also provide a thin wooden dowel to be placed in the tracks for extra security.

There is front and back porch lockable storage for keeping bikes, hiking gear, and whatever else that might be dirty or need to be kept outside. Both doors have a deadbolt with keys in the key basket on top of the shoe rack in the hallway. We ask that you keep the keys in the house and do not take them with you on your adventures.

The front and back porch lighting are controlled by home automation and will turn on/off automatically. If you need to override it, just use the associated switch and the automation will take it back over at the right time.

Both areas also have Ring security cameras. We have no interest in watching you and will turn off notifications on our phones but there are lights that will turn on when motion is detected. If you will be hanging out outside and it becomes annoying, just send us a message and we’ll turn off the auto lights.

Unfortunately, we cannot allow pets in the home. We’d hate for there to be a problem that causes drama between friends, so it’s easiest for us to just avoid it all together.

Should you be in need of any kind of tools, for whatever reason (screwdrivers, hammer, etc.), they are located in a small cabinet under the breakfast bar next to the coffee & tea bar. There is a vacuum In the hallway coat closet.

Cleaning products are generally located under sinks. Under the kitchen sink is a green bottle of Simple Green, a general purpose cleaning spray. There is also a disinfecting spray there for cleaning up raw meat spills and anything that needs germs killed. There are disinfecting wipes under the bathroom sinks as well as disposable toilet scrubbers. Paper towels, tissue paper, and toilet paper are either under the sinks, in the pantry, or above the washing machine. 

Check out this video to learn how to use the Nest Thermostat

If you accidentally trip a breaker (it happens in this older home), the box is located outside on the front porch next to the closet. We recommend not using a hair dryer if you have any of the space heaters on (ask us how we know :). 

Sedona and the Village of Oak Creek are very safe places. However, as with any tourist-heavy destination, things can happen. The Village of Oak Creek is covered by the Yavapi Country Sheriff’s Department which has a substation about a 3min walk away:

Non-Emergency:

6446 Highway 179, Suite 217
Sedona, AZ 86351
928-649-6449

The Sedona Fire Distrct Station #3 is a 5min walk away:

125 Slide Rock Rd, Sedona, AZ 86351

Kitchen & Laundry

All the appliances in the kitchen are brand new as of late 2024. Most folks know how to operate common appliances but there are a few things to note:

The induction stove can be a little tricky to operate if you have never used one before.

At the kitchen sink, you will find a small water faucet to the right of the main sink faucet. This is connected to a tankless reverse osmosis filtration system offering very high-quality water for cooking and drinking.

Feel free to do any laundry that you may need. Detergent and dryer sheets are located in the cabinets above the washer and dryer. 

The pantry is loaded with staples like pasta, rice, spices, some canned goods, extra napkins/paper towels/trash bags, a first aid kit, and small kitchen appliances. While we do request that you buy your own food, if you find yourself in a pinch, feel free to use what is needed from here. Please clean and store appliances after use.

Just right of the pantry is the hot water heater, broom/dust pan, and a step ladder should you need it.

The home is well stocked with everything you might need for cooking, baking, food storage, serving, etc. Explore the kitchen and use what you need. All we ask is that you clean whatever you use and return it to its proper place when you are done. Dishwasher detergent, sponges, soaps/disinfecting wipes, etc. can be found under the kitchen sink. 

The refrigerator is stocked with a few essentials like butter, some sauces, and some drinks. The freezer has some other misc. things like frozen fruit, burritos, cheese, etc. There are also three kinds of ice including whiskey balls! As mentioned above, please buy your own main foods but feel free to use any condiments (butter, etc.) or freezer items if you are in a jam. We are very conscious about expired and stale foods so everything in the fridge should be recently opened or not bad. Of course, use your judgement.

Some of the knives you may use have a tendency to rust so we ask that you hand wash and dry them immediately after use. Please do not let them soak in water nor put them in the dishwasher. Also, the cutting boards are not dishwasher safe, so please hand wash them.

Help yourself to the provided tea and coffee bar! There is more coffee and tea in the cabinet above the coffee maker. Make use of the electric kettle and coffee maker and filters. Sugar is there and honey can be found in the pantry.

Bedrooms & Bathrooms

Both bedrooms have a fan and a space heater in the closet if needed. The fan is quite powerful and thus a little loud, but it makes for good white noise. Feel free to move either into into the living room if needed. Both closets have a basic organizer with shelving, hangers, and closet rods.

The floor lamps in each room have remotes and are plugged into the switch-controlled outlet so be sure that’s turned on first. There can be a slight delay from when you turn on the switch to when the light comes on. Intensity and color temperature are adjustable on the remote. Toilet cleaning supplies are under each sink with most under the master bath sink.

Living Room & TVs

The living room is a cozy little place to relax after a long day out. Get warm by the fireplace in the cooler months, watch a movie on the big 65″ QLED TV, or plug into the 34″ ultra-wide curved gaming monitor to get some work done. 

Both the living room and second bedroom TVs are setup the same. Both have Google TV on them logged into our guest family Google account. This provides you with YouTube Premium and YouTube Music. Feel free to temporarily login to any subscription services you already have (Netflix, Hulu, etc.). This is a local media server that has several movies and TV series on it. In the living room entertainment center drawer, we have extra cables and adapters (HDMI, USB, etc.) that you can use to plugin things like a laptop or gaming console (Switch, etc.).

Both TVs have a sound bar and subwoofer; with the living room having surround sound as well. Both sound bars have Bluetooth capabilities, so feel free to pair your own devices.

On both TVs, you will see an app called Jellyfin. This is a local media server that we have running on a small mini-PC next to the router. We have placed several popular movies on this for you to watch. Sometimes, the audio on these movies isn’t the greatest so you may need to bump up the volume.

At the workstation, you can use the HDMI (simply unplug it from the PC) or USB-C plug (on the desk) to connect your own laptop and get some work done. The monitor can sometimes be slow to detect input devices so give it a little time. You can also manually select the input using the controls behind the monitor in the bottom right corner. 

Feel free to use the fireplace in the cooler months. We usually stock some wood and started sticks next to the fireplace. The most important thing before starting a fire is to ensure the chimney flue is open. You will find a small handle just inside and up the chimney. Pulling that handle towards you (away from the wall) will open the flue. Pushing it away from you (towards the wall) will close it. Also, keep the ember screen in front of the fireplace at all times so embers don’t jump out. If you have used the fireplace during your stay, we ask that you please close the flue before you leave so cool air does not flow into the home.

There are black gloves near the ash can that you can use for opening/closing the flue and to handle logs. If you find that there is a lot of ash on the bottom of the fireplace, you can use the ash shovel to place the ash into the ash bucket.

In the entertainment center are a few board and card games. Feel free to play!

The light switch for the dining room chandelier is a smart switch with dimmer functionality. To change the brightness, click the switch on then hold the up or down button until the desired brightness is reached.

On the entertainment center there is a salt rock lamp. Feel free to leave this on overnight as a nice little living room light.