IMAGINE WOODSTOCK HISTORIC MILL HOUSE

My wife and I came up with some friends over the Columbus Day weekend. Had a fantastic time. The cabin was exactly what we were looking for and Michael was extremely easy to get in touch with for answering questions, and taking care of any needs we had. The cabin is on a busy road, but you basically can't see it, and the sound of the river easily blocks it out. Would definitely come back again.

My wife and I rented the Millhouse in Woodstock for a week in August. We both work hard, and our vacation time is precious. We decided to stay fairly local this year to keep it easy and low-cost. Since we didn't buy airline tickets, we splurged a little on the rental to ensure we had a rejuvenating break.

What a disappointment. The Millhouse does not even come close to how it is presented. It is right on a busy road--something we inquired about, but were reassured by the owner, Michael, that we would only hear traffic from the front room. Untrue. The property is not maintained at all - garbage, rusty yard equipment, cigarette butts and dead plants abound.

But it is the interior of the house that ultimately forced us to check out after day two of our week-long booking.

The air quality in the house is horrendous - musty does not begin to describe it. The house is in deplorable condition. Rodent droppings were on the cutlery, mildew and mold were growing around the tub/shower, which is filthy and barely usable. The house is poorly appointed and completely unsanitary.

My wife has mild asthma - it is maintained, and she brought her inhaler. She was wheezing throughout our truncated stay, and was coughing for days after our departure.

The biggest let down was Michael's response to our issues. After checking in I called and emailed him to seek his advice for addressing the cleanliness and air quality issue. No answer, no returned call or email. After a restless night (my wife was wheezing and I was awoken by a pungent odor emanating from the mattress), I called again. By that time we had purchased cleaning supplies and spent half a day cleaning his property. When we did reach Michael, he became very defensive and combative. He suggested we were the problem, and that we needed to "get outside" more, and implied that we weren't accustomed to the "rural" experience. We are avid campers and hikers and have traveled in developing countries. We asked him for a vacuum cleaner. He said he'd find one at another house and drop it off by our car. I let him know we were at the property and would wait for him to drop it off in person. He left it by the car - while we were just a few feet away - and didn't event bother to see the condition the house was in for himself. We left him another message to say we were checking out early. He never called us back. We followed HomeAway's formal complaint process, and one month later have still not heard from Michael.

We searched weeks for the perfect place, which ended up being a waste of time. I talked to Michael and stressed that we wanted privacy and to be away from people. He said there were neighbors but we wouldn't see them and it was very private. Wrong! It was very noisy - right on the highway. Not much privacy - neighbors beside and across the stream with only a small piece of privacy fence and a stand of trees between. The house is dark and damp smelling. Spiders and webs throughout the house - especially upstairs. I specifically asked about water pressure and enough hot water for 4 people, and was told we would have no problem - not so. The shower is horrific! Very little water pressure, and the shower curtains were disgustingly nasty with mold and scum. The tub is hard to stand in and there is no way to keep the curtains from touching you. The ad states there are showers in both bathrooms, but there is only one. We were told the kitchen had everything we'd need to cook with, but there were limited pans and only one very small skillet. No matches - no trash bags. Being very neat adults, we left everything clean and in its place. However, we were asked to strip the sheets from the beds and gather all towels before we left, which seems like it should have been covered under the cleaning fee. The stream and deck was nice, and the beds/pillows were pretty comfortable. Aside from that, this is the worst place we have ever stayed.