"Eclectic and fun," but caution...
At first glance, Dome Asylum comes across as a charming little self-sufficient homestead. Dawn met us at the gate, let us in, and gave us the tour of the eclectic property. Everything seemed to be as advertised. We went to sleep that first night, around 9 PM. It was pretty cold for SoCal, dipping into the low 40s, but the bed was relatively comfortable and between us we managed to stay warm enough to get to sleep. "Well... it was on a site called HipCamp, anyway, so we might as well embrace it. At least we aren't sleeping on the ground," we told ourselves. If you look at the property description, Dawn makes brief mention of waking to the sound of a rooster, and indeed we did... at 3:27 AM, by the rooster crowing right behind our cabana. Then the other on-site rooster crowed, and a neighboring rooster, and another, and another... This went on ALL NIGHT and EVERY NIGHT. We pushed through the madness, getting 15-20 minutes of sleep between rooster concerts. And let's not forget the feral cat (we assume) that joined us in bed around 1:00, which hissed and took a swing at us when we tried to shoo it away. Once the sun was up, we staggered to the shower (one of the pleasantries, even with the cobwebs - it was nice and hot). I would say that the bathroom facilities were decent and had very little to nothing to complain about there. After we got ready for the day, we started to make the bed. I think we counted 4 earwigs snuggled up in the covers that morning.
Multiply this by 3 nights (we had reserved 4), and you could probably estimate the level of near insanity we had reached. Needless to say, we booked other accommodations for night #4.
I should also mention the condition of the "natural pool." Natural would be a good description, for sure. When we booked this trip, we thought it would be great to cool our feet in after a long day on the trails. But at first sight of this algae filled, glorified fish tank, we wanted nothing to do with it. Combine that with three semesters of microbiology classes, and there was no way I was letting either of us get any exposed skin near that thing. The fish did seem healthy, though.
And, look... I get it... it is called the "Hippie Homestead." It isn't supposed to be a Hilton., right? I absolutely agree. But you are hosting people that are paying you, with their money, to stay on your property. At least TRY to make your guests more comfortable. Make them want to come back. Be a little more forthcoming and detailed with information about crowing roosters and possible creepy-crawlies sharing a bed with you. If you notice it's cold at night (or has the potential to be), have some extra blankets available for your guests; and maybe not wait until after they've already shivered for two nights. A mini-fridge costs maybe $80-100, and would serve guests well, should they want to use the grill but might happen to need a place to keep their food and drink cold.
I think that, overall, the toughest part of this experience to swallow was the brilliant potential this place has, that isn't being realized. As my partner and I lay in bed that 4th night, in our clean white-sheeted bed, with fluffy pillows, full kitchen, and flat screen TV, in a place that we paid only $20 more per night for, that was our main topic of discussion. Had I only paid $25-35 per night for this, I would gladly thought of it more as a campsite, and have been way more understanding.