Heart of Downtown Vista

Alan
Pickering

Host

Hi, I am Alan, My wife Pam and I have lived in Vista for nearly 30 years. Our family, three kids, grew up in Vista and attended the local schools. Our daughter, Emily, graduated from the University of Arizona, Tucson, and completed her master’s degree in special education in Sydney, Australia. Our middle child, Joe, completed his degree in film editing at Cal State San Marcos. Our youngest son, Ben, is working in Mammoth and is renovating a camper van to go traveling.

I am a native of South Africa. After college in South Africa, I left to travel and see the world. I started in England and purchased a camper van, and traveled around Europe with some friends. My next stop was New York, where I bought a cheap, $400 car and drove across the US, ending in San Diego. I planned to travel to South America and then head home to South Africa. This plan changed as I met my future wife, Pam, in Del Mar. Pam is from Orange County. We have been happily married and fortunately chose Vista as our hometown. Pam and I like to travel, the US and internationally, and often frequent Baja, Mexico. (Alan also enjoys pickleball)
Located just seven miles inland from the Pacific Ocean in northern San Diego County, the City of Vista has a perfect mild Mediterranean climate. Downtown Vista is experiencing a major transformation! It has new cool hip restaurants, popular local breweries, coffee shops, and art, all of which completely revamp the look and feel of our downtown area. It has a vibrant, artistic, pedestrian, and pet-friendly atmosphere.

What Our Guests Are Saying

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Joe
August 22, 2023

Great place that is close to everything in downtown Vista. Host was very communicative and friendly.

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Hannah
August 15, 2023

What a cute place and a wonder location. Vista is really lovely — from this location you can walk to great cafes, breweries, and restaurants. I would absolutely recommend to anyone looking to stay in the area.

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Patrick
August 11, 2023

We really enjoyed our stay. Great beach access at a reasonable price. A very comfortable, quiet place!

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David
August 4, 2023

Easy access to shops and restaurants.

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Nicolas
July 28, 2023

I lived in Vista CA as a kid, and being able to walk downtown from the house was great. Plenty of good places to eat, along with a clean environment made for a great stay.

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Brenda
July 22, 2023

Alan’s place was quaint, lovely and so very comfortable. Everything we needed was readily available, specifically in the kitchen. Although it’s on a semi-busy street, you couldn’t hear a thing. Legoland was exactly 18 minutes (with no traffic). It appeared so safe, even late in the evening you can see people walking their dogs. The hosts were very responsive to all my questions and/or my comments of appreciation of the place. We will definitely stay again, if the hosts allow us to stay again 😀. Thanks Alan! We loved our stay.

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Yessi
July 14, 2023

Alan was a great host! Very responsive and accommodating. I was very impressed with the check out process. Fast and easy and didn’t have a long list of things to do for check out which we really appreciated since we were mid cross country move. Great spot to land for a couple of days Thanks ALAN!

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Naiwen
July 6, 2023

It was a great place, our family really enjoyed the stay. Alan responded to my questions very quickly. Thanks for hosting!

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Carl And Linda
July 1, 2023

The house was very cleaned, beds were comfortable and kitchen was well stocked! Communication was excellent with Allan and his team. Alan's place was in an excellent location. We walk to restaurants which was great.

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Taku
June 28, 2023

Everything was great, friendly host, clean room and kitchen, good location to access the LEGOLAND and grocery.

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Mike
June 19, 2023

Great location. House fit our needs perfectly. Would definitely stay there again.

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Mary
June 9, 2023

We had a wonderful stay ! Everything was perfect! Thanks for hosting us during our cross country road trip!

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Daniel
June 7, 2023

We had a great time staying at Alan’s place. My Mom flew in from out of town and needed a local place to stay. We had a great time. Everything is in walking distance. We will be staying here for our next stay-cation

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Donald
May 3, 2023

Great House, Location, Host, thank you Alan.

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Katie
April 22, 2023

Awesome little spot! Great area with restaurants within a short walk!

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Yolanda
April 9, 2023

Alan’s place was awesome! It was a great location and perfect spot for our family! We were very comfortable and would 100% recommend. Happy we found a spot we would like to come back to when visiting family in Vista.

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Jonathan
April 6, 2023

This is in a great location. Comfortable. Great place to stay.

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Theodore
March 27, 2023

great location and great host

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Daneica
March 22, 2023

We had a lovely stay, and I felt right at home.

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Bethany
March 18, 2023

My family of 5 had a wonderful stay at Alan’s Vista home. The house was clean, beds were super comfortable and best of all it was a short walk to the charming downtown area and a quick drive to Carlsbad & the beach (unless the freeway is closed to due to flooding which of course was beyond our host’s control!) Would return in the future.

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William
March 12, 2023

Nice place and great location near historic down town Vista. Alan was helpful and responsive. We enjoyed our stay.

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Karuna
March 7, 2023

Thanks for providing very comfortable stay for our family! The house has everything we needed especially Kitchen. Great place!!

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Christian
March 3, 2023

Cute home that was very accessible from major roadways, and close to quite a bit - varying from local to national stores/restaurants. The home was equipped with everything we needed after we had gone to the grocery store to stock up for the week. The only thing that caught us off guard was finding out the day of our arrival that there's a permanent tenant on the property in a separate building - their door is several feet from this home's backdoor. It ultimately wasn't a problem, but we would have preferred to be more aware of the details regarding the entire property, not just the specific space we rented. The street had some loud cars going by at night every so often, but really it wasn't bad - very light on foot traffic going by. Across the street is a church, and diagonal across is the start of a school property. We brought our dogs and the one enjoyed a walk down towards the shops - nice little town. We would come back in the future if the opportunity came up.

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Lauren
February 27, 2023

Alan and Pam’s place was exactly what we needed for our stay, in visiting nearby family. Everything was exactly as listed. The hosts were responsive and gave clear instructions. The location was fantastic, with ample parking and lots to eat/do in town; we were provided with an in-depth guest book with ideas, which was a nice touch. The only recommendation I’d make is for more towels, please.

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Theresa
February 20, 2023

We were visiting friends and planning a trip to Legoland so decided to book with AirB&B. Came across Alan’s posting and decided to book the place. We were so happy that we booked this place in Vista. Alan’s house was very spacious and had everything we needed from kitchenware, toiletries, toilet paper, paper towels, laundry, and parking! Alan was very prompt with answering our questions. Checking in/ out was easy! Would love to come back some day!

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Dave
February 19, 2023

Great stay, even better service. I lost my car key and we didn’t realize it until we got home. They communicated quickly and helped find it then helped me coordinate with local family to pick it up. I’m very appreciative of them.

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Loris
January 16, 2023

Great little home, it was so well-stocked! They gave a digital guidebook that I’ve never seen from airbnbs and thought it was a unique and helpful option. Lots of things to do in the city but Carlsbad and Oceanside aren’t far drives if that’s where you need to be, 10-20 mins. The place was clean and hosts were kind and quick to respond and get us anything else we needed. We loved that there was parking on the property. It’s right next to Downtown Vista on a somewhat busy street, so sometimes we heard louder cars passing by but we didn’t mind.

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Robert
January 6, 2023

house was as pictured and truly in downtown area. we were able to walk everywhere for meals, coffee, etc. enough space for our family of 4 and dog.

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TramAnh
January 2, 2023

We’re happy to stay here ,feel like home ,very relaxing , recommend 👍

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Daniel
December 28, 2022

The house is in a great location. You can easily walk to nearby stores. My granddaughter especially enjoyed the Foster Freeze with the half chocolate/half vanilla ice cream cones!

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Jeanne
November 26, 2022

We had a great stay at Alan’s AirBnB. The home had everything we needed for a family of four. The house was nice and clean upon arrival. The beds were very comfortable and the location is walkable. We enjoyed walking to local restaurants daily. It was also a short 20 minute drive to Legoland and much more affordable than Carlsbad. Checking in and out was easy and Alan was very quick to answer any questions. We would recommend his home as a great value and comfortable stay. Thank you Alan!

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Joshua
November 21, 2022

Alan's home in Vista is a great place to stay. What stood out to me the most was the location and the overall quality of the space. The plentiful driveway parking was also a nice plus. Nothing negative comes to mind at all!

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Wagner
November 19, 2022

The place is in an excellent location. It is within walking distance from downtown Vista. So many shops and so many restaurants to enjoy. The place is cozy and very clean. Everything looks new and remodeled. We enjoyed our stay and how cute the place is. Check-in was smooth and easy. Parking is great. We definitely recommend staying here.

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Brian
November 6, 2022

Quaint house. Traffic noise was a bit more than expected.

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Matthew
October 28, 2022

Really nice house! There were plenty of restaurants to walk to that Alan recommended. All the beds were comfy! Only regret is not booking for my whole trip in California here. Definitely will be staying here again on my next trip to California

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Courtney And Shon
October 21, 2022

We had a great stay at Alan’s place. Downtown Vista is way cooler than we ever imagined and this place is ideally located to enjoy all of the good food and shops in the area. Plus it has a great little area in the back for dogs 🐕 👍

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Chaelene
October 16, 2022

My family and I were in town for our eldest son’s pre-deployment leave and baby shower. We really only slept and showered there. However, the place was easy to find, beds were comfortable and the house was clean. There is ample parking and a lot within walking distance.

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Maricela
October 2, 2022

amazing stay with a few friends for a wedding! walking distance from tons of food & drink options! there is a church next door that started some loud music around 7:30am on Sunday..other than that, everything was great!

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Esther
September 5, 2022

We enjoyed our stay at Pam and Alan’s lovely home in Vista. It’s perfectly located next to all the fun restaurants and bars in Vista, as well as the freeway and plenty of family friendly attractions. The house was clean and well appointed and perfect for our family.

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Janice
September 3, 2022

Alan's place is great, walking distance to some of the best places Vista has to offer. Peppertree is a stable in Vista. Our home undergoing some repairs and this is just what we needed. Perfect yard for the pup, super location and a great host.

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Aimee
August 29, 2022

Alan is an excellent host! A few things came up during our stay and he was very responsive and did everything to solve the issue. We went to some of his recommended restaurants and they were quite delicious. The place is very walkable, too.

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Yaya
August 26, 2022

Great host and beautiful home!! Wonderful stay!!!

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Rosa
August 23, 2022

Super cute Airbnb! Perfect for my little family. The house was decorated very nicely and it was perfect size for us! Alan was very helpful and a great host! It was super easy to find this house and it was nearby so many cute restaurants! Very close to Lego land too! I can’t wait to stay here again for our future visits to San Diego!

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Emily
August 10, 2022

Great stay with an abundance of activities and local shops a short walk away!

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Lynette
August 3, 2022

Our stay at Alan’s place was perfect. Clean and good location. It was great walking to restaurants, breweries and to get ice cream.

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Taryn
July 31, 2022

Very cute, comfortable place for a family vacay. Was exactly what we needed for our beach/ legoland mini vacay. Highly recommend!

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Jayme
July 25, 2022

The location of this home couldn’t be better! Awesome eating places & breweries in walking distance. We had a great experience staying here!

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Elizabeth
July 22, 2022

It was nice to walk across the street to all the cute shops. Alan was very accommodating and welcoming!

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Griselda
July 20, 2022

Had a great stay at this place. Was exactly as described on the listing. Location is great! A short drive to the beach and Legoland. Alan was quick to answer any questions we had during our stay.

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Mark
July 16, 2022

Im glad that we stayed at Alan place instead of a hotel. This small house is big enought for our family of 5. his place is clean and well organize. Walking distance to places and restaurant.

City Guide

The City of Vista has a perfect mild Mediterranean climate. Downtown Vista has new cool hip restaurants, popular local breweries, coffee shops, and art, all of which completely revamp the look and feel of our downtown area. It has a vibrant, artistic, pedestrian, and pet-friendly atmosphere.
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