MIXED REVIEW
Review Submitted: March 8, 2009
Date of Stay: September 2008
Beautiful house, setting, and location to village, however, there were also many disappointments.
1. Not told that the 4th bedroom is located in the basement accessed by a steep metal spiral staircase. It was very difficult to block access to the stairs so the toddlers would not climb over and fall down the stairs. The stairs should have been mentioned in the description of the hose.
2. Bedrooms had valances but no drapes to draw. The house sits on the edge of the road used by neighbors, not a busy road but there is traffic. It is especially disconcerting at night when the lights are turned on and there is no privacy.
3. In three out of the four bedrooms, towels and bedding smelled very musty and had to be laundered before use.
4. Checkout time is at 10 a.m. We had a party of eight and knew it would be very difficult to vacuum, mop, and wash all of the linens by checkout time. Contact by e-mail was made with the owner during our stay re: cleaning procedures and if there was someone who came in to do the linen (the dryer is old and it took a very lengthy time to throughly dry full loads) and was told "that the house was not a hotel and we were expected to leave it as we found it." We absolutely had no intention of not cleaning it and I was offended by the tone of the owner's e--mail reply. More information should be provided about the available cleaning service.
5. We will definitely use Home Away in the future but will definitely not recommend houses owned by or rent from the present owner again.
Owner's Response: As an owner who tries to provide the best possible lodging to his guests, I feel obligated to respond to this review. I will follow the same order.
1. In the description of the house it is mentioned that one of the bedrooms is on a lower floor. The type of stairs is not mentioned and perhaps I should add that.
2. There is only one house on the road beyond ours so there is very little traffic. The two bedrooms on the road side have venetian blinds. The two bedrooms with "no drapes to draw" do have curtains to mid-window and look into a forest.
3. I will certainly check with my cleaning lady; however, it is a fact that all linens are washed as a matter of course after each guest's stay.
4. This was a one week rental of our second home which is thoroughly cleaned before and after it is occupied. Much time has passed, but as I recall, I was contacted by this guest the day she arrived asking if there would be daily maid service. I was somewhat surprised by the request and I may have responded that our home was not a hotel and I may have responded that, generally speaking, the house was expected to be left the way it was found. By that I meant, that there should be no unusual wear, tear or dirt. I did not mean that the guests were expected to clean the house. This was a serious misunderstanding which I regret but had little opportunity to rectify because the first time I am hearing of it is in this review. Unquestionably, all the cleaning that the guests did before they left I have carried out by my staff after every guest departs. I regret that misunderstanding.
5. I am sorry the clothes dryer was slow. It is certainly not old. It is a two-year-old General Electric.
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