recent stay
Submitted: August 12, 2008
Stayed: July 2008
The beach was lovely and pets are allowed. Both bathrooms are in pretty good shape and there is plenty of room.
Sadly to access the cottage you must walk through a construction site filled with paint cans, cigarette butts, sawdust, wood pieces and the like. They are updating property within maybe 3 feet of the cottage and promptly at 9:00am sawing and hammering begin. The neighborhood access runs immediately beside the cottage and the beach is not private, (reminded me of the opening scene in "Jaws" it is so packed on weekend withing 10 feet of your steps), so all day you hear people coming and going plus the ice cream truck with it's lovely music arrives 2-3 times daily.
Probably the worst issue is parking. You are allowed 2 spaces both under trees filled with birds who's droppings drop on your car - not just a few droppings either - your car will be totally covered. The owners believe this is ok and looked at me funny when I complained and made no effort to switch their ';clean' spot with me.
The furnishings are below par. Many of the prices broken. The master bed closet had no door but it did have a piece of plywood and a single mattres leaning up against the wall.
I rent in different locations annually and I can assure you I will never rent here again nor recommend the cottage to a friend. Other cottages have been nicer, less expensive, the furniture newer and nicer, the beach private, no construction sites to navigate through to the door, no massive bird droppings, no sawing and hammering going on, no neighborhood kids screaming and crying on the beach - I had hoped for peace and quiet on a lovely private beach and was sadly disappointed.
Recommended for:
Pet-friendly
Owner's Response: It’s certainly frustrating to receive a review like this, because it’s our wish that everyone have a good time while vacationing here. But, we can't be responsible for unrealistic expectations. This guest’s final sentence says a lot about why she was unhappy "I had hoped for peace and quiet on a lovely private beach and was sadly disappointed." If she had ever said anything remotely like that in our exchanges, prior to booking, I would have steered her away. She asked few, if any questions.
We can't diaper the birds, my brothers and my car were parked right beside hers. Neither my carpenter nor I smoke. Unhappily, we couldn’t control the starting time of an addition being framed across the street or work going on in the house behind us, but I can promise that my carpenter never started a saw, or swung a hammer prior to 10:00 am. In our welcome note we ask to be notified of anything found broken, or that breaks while they are there, this guest offered nothing while present.
She would obviously have been happier in one of the many houses advertised with matching curtains, bedspreads and towels, and furniture bought in "bedroom sets".
Our target market is a family or a couple of families together with a group of kids coming to play on the beach, outside, in the water on the rocks, wanting a relaxed atmosphere, not worrying about bathing suits on the deck furniture and sand in the house. Adult guests can sit in the shade of the porch watching their kids play on the beach all day if they like, one of our stronger drawing cards. Unlike many owners, we "almost" do not care how many are in the group as long as you are having a good time, creating fine family memories.
This cottage, in our family since the turn of the last century, was a replacement for one that disappeared entirely in the Blizzard of 1978. Much of the furniture is older, slightly worn Victorian, bought new in our family a century or more ago. Some of the filagree might be missing after all this time, but we make sure every thing has legs and handles.
This cottage is meant to be kid proof and distracted tenant proof, not a candidate for Better Homes and Gardens. It, and its predecessor, have been beach rentals for the past 90 years. My mother, now 85, sits out front on nice days is regularly visited by folks walking up off the beach to tell her about renting from my Grandfather, or Great Grandmother before her and sharing happy memories of vacations spent there.
Helpful votes: 21/23
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