Lovely Home
Review Submitted: September 22, 2009
Date of Stay: July 2009
Lovely, well decorated and fully accommodating comfortable home. The pictures need to be updated in many respects, in terms of views, expecially the upstairs bedroom which is an office with a desk and a futon couch, than makes into a bed, rather than a regular queen sized mattress bed as is depicted. This office scenario is probably for business purposes. My brother in law is 6'2 and didn't sleep comfortably on the futon, while planning on a regular bed. The master was wonderful with the king sized bed... Very comfortable. We were upset by the noise level having the hot rods on Silver Lake Sand Dunes...less than a 3/4 mile away. it was extremely loud from 9:30 am until 10 pm at night. Not relaxing in that respect to enjoy coffee in the a.m. or cocktails in the evening. Felt like we had to leave to get that. The beach was a huge walk, over significant sand dunes and this past year, the beach was gone due to high water. We were told a 5 minute walk. No way was that true... The view on the website are misleading. There was no accommodations to eat outside, rather inside for meals. That was disappointing. We rent on Lake Michigan each summer and while this home is large and accommodating, it was very disappointing to us. The pictures they have listed do not fully give you a clear picture of the views or the sand dunes. The last thing that was upsetting was we left the home in immaculate condition, washed and cleaned everything, better than we arrived. We didn't get our security deposit back for over 4 weeks, after having sent it 7 months prior to our visit. Took 4 phone calls to finally get it. Be careful as the rental agreement states no cancellation less than 60 days prior. There is a 20 % fee... that was something that was not shared. All in all, this is a nice place. If you don't mind a lot of noise from the hot rods, and a long walking distance to the beach (which was not there last summer), plus a futon, not a queen bed, and a less than generous cancellation policy, or security deposit within a reasonable time. The pictures online need to be updated.. Honestly, the views are simply not what they depict. My post will probably be deleted, but truthfully, I'm totally honest. Nice place, but never will rent here again. I was not relaxed in this loud environment and didnt' like the very long haul to the beach. Bad experience... all things considered. Pets are no way, even though it says considered. Need updated site.
Owner's Response: Wow. There REALLY is one in every crowd. The one you just can't make happy.
For the record, Tracy's comments will not be deleted. We believe it is important for everyone's opinion to be heard, even if we disagree.
Tracy/Ron have two legitimate concerns. We did temporarily have a futon in the upstairs bedroom. The futon has since been replaced with a queen size bed. It is as it appears in the pictures.
It did take three weeks to return their security deposit. Even though we tell guests it can take up to four (industry standard), we always strive to have them back inside two weeks. As our business interests have experienced rapid growth this year, we have not been as prompt as we like. That was explained to Ron and Tracy, with full apologies, every time they called. Apparently that wasn't good enough.
We're not marathon runners. In my physical condition it takes 5-10 minutes to get from the house to the beach through beautiful, rolling sand dunes. That is exactly what we tell everyone that asks.
We could take more pictures of the view from the house and publish them, but they would look the same.
Never advertised or promised outdoor eating area.
We will consider pets if prior rentals provide a positive referral.
As for security deposit and cancellation terms, if you are uncomfortable with the rental agreement, please do not sign it. Every home we have ever rented from others has required a far more substantial deposit at the time of reservation. These renters were aware of the 20% fee. We have an email trail back and forth with them on this point because they had a change in their financial situation. We made every effort to help them out of the rental if that is what they chose. We offer our home at half what the market demands for homes of our location and caliber. We build a few extra protections in so we can justify doing this. Nothing unreasonable.
For anyone interested, our other guests in 2009 were kind enough to leave wonderful reviews of the property, area and experience in our guest book at the home. Two of them have already re-booked with us in 2010. Bottom line, we made every effort to work with these folks during a difficult time for them. Now we stand as scapegoat. Future renters...take it as you will. We have a book full of wonderful, positive comments from renters spanning years. We rent houses from others all over the world and bring our best experiences back to this home. And...we, too, are honest.
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