First impression was amazement. This was pretty much the fanciest house I think we've ever rented on VRBO. Eye popping views, lots of windows and natural light, very roomy, great kitchen and outdoor grill. As an added bonus, the two wings of the house are well separated, meaning lots of privacy on both ends. The house sits on a golf course, which aids in the feeling of openness, but surprisingly (for me anyway) it felt pretty private being outside. They even have a TV next to the jacuzzi!
At first we were worried a bit about the fact that it isn't right downtown Sedona, because we are big believers in walkability, but in the end it turned out to be a really great thing because downtown Sedona is a zoo, and the house is off the beaten path a bit, meaning that everything was easily accessible with minimal hassle (parking, lines, etc.) and quiet. Plus, it turns out that a lot of our favorite hikes were pretty close to the house so we hardly ever even went through Sedona the week we were there. And you can walk to a cafe (Oak Creek Espresso was the best local cafe in our opinion), or grocery store, restaurant, etc. The local vibe is pretty SoCal but very bike friendly - everywhere we went there were bike lanes. Oh, and did I mention that the house came with two bikes (though no locks, so you can't leave your bike anywhere unattendend!).
Nikki was super friendly and gave us some great tips but was also as invisible as we needed her to be, so thank you Nikki!
Some tips: we love to hike and Nikki suggested going to the Hike House on the first day. That was really great advice. It's a business, and yet they spent a good half hour with us making several tips for hikes, restaurants, etc. and all we bought was a map! We told them what sort of places we wanted to see and how long and vigorous of a hike we wanted, and they gave us more than enough ideas and all of the ideas were fantastic and generally the less popular places. We have so many great photos! Another tip: if you like local beer and BBQ at very reasonable prices and a place with a lot of local color, check out the Oak Creek Brewing Company on Yavapai Drive. It's very quiet, you can sit outside, but you have to get there pretty early because they stop serving BBQ at around 8pm. Hardly anyone goes there but locals. This is NOT to be confused with the brew pub on 179, which is probably more crowded but may have better food. Schoolhouse Restaurant is a unique place walking distance from the house.