First the good: Convenient location, large house with lots of room, clean pool.
Now the bad: Not enough towels or bedding for all guests or beds, no pool towels, kitchen is moderately appointed, surveillance cameras on outside gathering areas.
The neighborhood clearly does not appreciate the vacation rental being there, and therefore unwarranted complaints were made. How the landlord responded to the complaints was highly inappropriate, as she showed up on-site several times unannounced.
The house was not very clean or well-maintained, certainly not sanitized to COVID standards – dirty, used sponges in the sink intended for us to use, mildew and dirt around tubs, no drain covers in bathroom sinks, broken blinds, etc.
The ad promoted the home as a good spot for “bridal showers, birthday parties, 20 year college reunions, and more”. I made it very clear to the host that we would be having an 80th birthday party for my mother on Saturday afternoon – a small, outdoor family event with approx. 25 people. Although “the house has 7 bedrooms and sleeps 19”, only 7 adults and 3 children stayed there, but several family members in the area came by each day to swim and visit.
The first night we got there, the owner showed up unannounced while we were eating dinner and expressed concern about the birthday party we had already planned because she had gotten complaints from the neighbors about the previous tenants having loud parties and she “could not get any more complaints on VRBO”. I assured her we would be a quiet group – how wild does an 80th birthday party get?
The day of the party, she showed up again around 3:00 pm and was very agitated because the neighbors complained about our “loud party”. My niece had hired a bagpiper to walk up the street as a surprise and play a few songs for my mom in honor of her Nova Scotia heritage, then wander away playing the bagpipes. This did not seem to be an unpleasant disruption to the afternoon, but apparently it was to someone.
She was very confrontational with me and the other guests and really spoiled the whole party for us. She kept wanting to go inside the house to “fix the wifi” because the cameras were not working – apparently there are surveillance cameras all around the house so they can watch our every move.
Bottom line is that the owner promotes this large house as a gathering spot and quasi-event venue, but the neighbors to not seem to agree and it was not a pleasant experience.