Not all it was cracked up to be
Review Submitted: July 8, 2009
Date of Stay: June 2009
I was very disappointed with my stay at this property. We arrived to find the place very dirty, dirty dishes in the dishwasher and under the couch, ants everywhere, the couches had sticky stuff on them so we had to cover them with a sheet, propane on the grill ran out after 2-3 minutes of lighting with no spare, hot tub was not working, propane fireplace would not stay lit, grass/weeds were over a foot tall, just generally not taken care of. The hot tub was fixed on Thursday, and this is not necessarily the owners fault. I think someone mowed the grass/weeds on Friday, we left Saturday morning. It is a shame because with some simple maintenance and a really good cleaning this place would be very nice. The boat dock was good, and there is a very small shared sandy beach. To me one of the worst things is that you are expected to clean the place yourself before you leave, or you get charged for it. In my 10+ years of renting in the lakes region I have never heard of such a thing. And to make matters worse, when we did try to clean, the vacuum cleaner did not work, it left more dirt on the floor than was there was before we started. The realtor handling this property did not seem to think that this warranted any sort of refund, and in fact indicated that they were doing me a favor by returning my deposit and not charging me for the cleaning it required. I found this rather insulting as it was dirty when we arrived and we tried to clean it before we left. Other than the floors, the place was cleaner when we left than when we arrived. If these things have been addressed, then this property would be a nice place to stay. Otherwise I found it rather frustrating.
Owner's Response: I certainly agree with renter that one has a right to expect to arrive to a spotlessly clean home. We contracted with a cleaning service that is well known to my property manager for a complete house cleaning on the same day and just prior to renter's arrival. Confirmed records show that the cleaners did arrive and spent 3.5 hours cleaning the house. The cleaning supervisor acknowledges that it is possible, but not probable, that they overlooked dishes under the sofa and/or neglected to push the start button on the dishwasher. This will not happen again.
The hot tub was working fine on the previous Friday, because I used it myself. I found out about the problem on Monday. It was fixed on Thursday. In a resort area, I don't think you can do much better than that. I am a charcoal man, myself, so I overlooked the state of the propane tank. From now on, a spare tank will be on the site, as well as a Weber kettle for charcoal lovers . Renter was given a substantial rebate for the hot tub and propane issues. Comparable properties in this area rent for the same price without a working outside hot tub, which I consider to be a bonus amenity and a sometimes troublesome one. I do the best I can with it, but make no guarantees.
My leather sofas were professionally leather cleaned only two months prior to renter's arrival. Every lake country rental requires a cleaning deposit. You could not do business without it. This renter received an 80% refund of his cleaning deposit, primarily because of his complaints about the cleaning.
Renter arrived during a period of heavy rains. That always and everywhere brings some ants out of the ground and into the house. I have since had the foundation sprayed with ant repellant. But in heavy rains, a few will still come up. My observation during this period was that there were a few ants around the kitchen during the rain. Easily controlled by not leaving food out.
The landscapers come every two weeks. I had a major brush clearing done, and the view is beautiful. This was the first pre-season rental, and all the landscaping work had not yet been completed. The high season does not start until the 4th of July. The vacuum cleaner was clogged with pollen from a previous renter. I have cleared and tested it.
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