Very disappointing - do not stay here
Review Submitted: August 28, 2009
Date of Stay: August 2009
Our stay in this home was very disappointing. We have rented other vacation homes in the past and have never had an experience like we had here. This was a family trip with 6 adults and 2 kids. I was drawn to this house because of the descriptions of the yard, creek out back, hot tub and fire ring. The owner also described over the phone a secluded location with mountain views and 5 bicycles that would be available for our use. My kids were very excited about all of these things, as was the rest of our family. Upon our arrival, we found an overgrown yard, a creek that was totally inaccessible and a fire ring area also overgrown. There were no bicycles. The hot tub was very unappealing because of the yard area surrounding it and the debris around it. There was a limited mountain view from one side of the house, and houses behind and on the other side. The house is very close to the road and traffic is heard from the upstairs bedroom throughout the night. I notified the owner upon our arrival that we could not find the bikes. She was going to call the previous renters and call me back, but never did. I called again on 2 occasions while we there and left messages. My calls were not returned. The home itself was dirty and many items were not in working condition. Handwritten notes were taped on the master shower concerning a leak and also on a stove burner saying not to use. The kitchen is lacking in cooking utensils, cutting knives and containers for food serving and storage. Many lightbulbs were burned out and doors did not close properly. While the physical layout of the house was as described and definately met our needs, it is in need of major maintainance and up-keep. We have rented other vacation homes and have never experienced a property in such poor condition.
Contact was made with the owner upon returning home. A request of one night's rental fee was requested. The owner issued a return far less than that amount, which only covered the cost of the bicycles that we rented for one day. No compensation was offered for any of the other problems. Subsequent attempts to contact the owner by phone and email have gone unreturned.
Do not rent from these owners. This property is not as described, is not well-maintained and the owners do not provide good customer service. What they do provide is excuses for everything.
Owner's Response: If you will notice once a year we get a bad review from one renter out of the whole year that we have it rented out. This is definitely our one.
I received a phone call from this renter during the day and I heard her mention the bicycles and unable to find more toilet tissue, she was on Trail Ridge Road and we lost connection. Later that night or the she called and she asked about refunding the cost of the bicycle rental. I told her I would speak to my husband about this. That night I was heading out of town to meet my family in San Diego and we received a call that a family member committed suicide. This was very traggic for our family and YES, I did not get to call her back and honestly she was the last thing on my mind and I apologize. I'm sorry she thought this was an excuse.
We found out that the lawn maintenance crew hadn't been there for two weeks so yes it was grown up some. Estes doesn't have manicured lawns because of the wildlife that eat everything. Some people aren't used to this. She sent us a picture of one weed that was on the patio by the hot tub but it was by no means obstructing any views. The lawn was taken care of.
As for the house being dirty....over the past year we have had nothing but praise from renters about how clean it is kept. The renters the week before and afterwards commented on how clean it was to us. There may have been some light bulbs up on the 23 foot ceilings that were out and we have to call someone else in to change that besides our cleaning crew. Our kitchen is stocked with everything. I spoke with the renters the following week making sure they had everything they needed in there and they were very satisfied. Our knives may not be as sharp as some maybe used too.
We have a sign in the master bath asking renters not to use the four body jets because the back wall is log, the house has settled. They have a tendency to aim them directly at the log wall and it leaks in the garage. The shower head works beautifully, large shower and doesn't hit that wall. Sign on stove said to light the right side with a lighter because the igniter was out but works now.
Screen doors on the outside don't fit snuggly due to settling of the house and warm temperatures.
Log homes take a lot of adjustments throughout the year. All doors with locks work well.
I did email her and explained this to her and refunded her $200 which was more than the rental.
We can provide letters from renters who are extremely happy.
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Helpful votes: 5/5
