RIVERSIDE RETREAT RIGHT ON THE FRENCH BROAD RIVER

We were particularly drawn to the riverfront retreat due to the kitchen amenities. Since we were staying over a holiday weekend we knew we would have to rely on cooking at the property as the few businesses in town would likely be closed over the weekend. Unfortunately, we were unable to use the oven since it appeared to have the gas shut off. I tried for some time to light the pilot based on the instructions printed on the stove to no avail. This was a major problem and dissapointment. It was evening of Christmas eve when we found out and I'm not sure we would have been able to find anywhere open in town to call about it. Neither of our cell phones worked in town as expected, but we were led to believe there would be an emergency phone on the premises. We searched the entire house and found nothing. Fortunately nothing bad happened like a fire for instance, since the batteries were dead in both of the smoke detectors and the fire extinguisher had not been serviced since 1995. There were also 10 or so burned out light bulbs throughout the house and not enough hot water to remotely fill the jacuzzi tub. The outdoor fire pit had no propane tank rendering it also inoperable. There were no matches or utility lighter in the house to light the pilot on the stove. Luckily we had matches in our car trunk.

Perhaps the property gets more use during the warmer months, but this left us feeling like very little attention was being paid to maintaining the premises to a standard acceptable and safe for renters. It also seemed strange to us that no instructions were left at the house to explain basic things, like how to operate the oven, stereo, or jacuzzi tub, and where the emergency phone can be found for example. This could help to aleviate much confusion. This house is not safe for rental in its current state, and we hope this situation is remedied for future tenants.