BEWARE BEFORE RENTING. When it comes to safety, it behooves me to warn others.
Our first evening of our 3-night stay, I notified Jordy that the garage door opener was not where she said it would be (I had to hunt for it as soon as I came in); that the lights were out in both the master bedroom (1) and upstairs (1); that there was no bath mat for the first floor guest bathroom; that the lock/latch for the sliding glass door to the master bedroom patio doesn’t work; that the window to the master bathroom doesn’t close (so showers are cold if you take them at night) and the air mattress wouldn’t blow up properly. It was clear that she did not check after the cleaners had left to make sure the place was in the shape that she claimed it would be and wholly relied on her cleaners’ words that everything would be in their correct places. I had told Jordy these things since I did not want to be blamed for their malfunction or absence. I didn’t ask for the light bulbs to get replaced, but she offered to do so the next day when she came to try to blow up the air mattress.
The next day, when I came back after a long day, there was a bath mat, the air mattress was inflated, and the master bath window was shut, all of which I appreciated. However, I turned on the bedroom lights. Soon, I started to detect the smell of smoke that intensified quickly. After searching frantically to find the source, I found out that it was coming from the light bulb that was replaced by Jordy’s husband that day. It was rapidly smoking and obviously burning, just short of turning into a full-fledged fire. We frantically turned off that light switch and opened all the doors and windows. I called Jordy, but no answer. So I texted her to inform her that this new bulb almost caught her house on fire. But it was her response that left me feeling awful. Without so much as an apology for putting in the wrong bulb and causing this mayhem (inhaling smoke, fanning cold air from outside to clear the smoke, which prevented all of us from going to bed and left us cold, with the fire alarm having come on then off) she told me to just use the other lights and asked “So what do you want me to do?”. Frankly, I was appalled at her nonchalance with the situation, and when I let her know that it was a fire hazard to have this light bulb remain in the socket (in case another person turned on the light switch; and keep in mind that I couldn’t take out the light bulb without a tall ladder because of how high the ceiling was), and that her house could have burned down (!), she was very quick to respond that I should leave since I was unhappy. Not exactly the response I expected when something that SHE did could have burned her own house down (and everyone in it) and when WE were the ones that discovered this and alerted her about it. Frankly, I expected at least some concern about our safety, a constructive plan of action, an apology for the undue stress and smoke inhalation, and maybe a thank you for saving her house from burning down! Eventually, after about a half hour, her husband came with a ladder to remove the light bulb. She then texted me after he left that he will come back tomorrow to replace the other bulb in the kid’s room (I don’t know why he couldn’t remove that one when he was there?). I declined due to my schedule, and she told me not to turn that room light on since the same thing could happen again. I did not feel comfortable there at all, not only because of compromised safety to all of us (which included young children) but for her uncaring and rude response to the situation.
So, there appears to either be an electrical wiring problem in this house, or a lack of knowledge of the appropriate and safe bulbs to use. Either way, quite concerning. I shudder to think of what would have happened if the light was left on when we left the house or went to bed…
Other significant issues with the house that made the stay unpleasant:
- Sounds like a torrential downpour in the kids bedroom when the next door bathroom faucet goes on or the toilet is flushed or the shower is on. So if anyone uses the restroom in the middle of the night, I hope the people sleeping in that room have earplugs or are deep sleepers.
- The other reviewers’ comments about planes going overhead were NO JOKE. The planes are VERY loud and they start in the early morning and go all day. So don’t plan on sleeping in. Between the loud plumbing and the airplane sounds, you will be woken up multiple times. And if you are planning on napping anytime during the day - forget it. Planes go all day.
- There were other, relatively minor issues: 1) the grill was dirty and the plastic grill brush handle was half burnt (this was minor for us since we weren’t planning on using the BBQ, but you might want to know this if you are planning to use it). 2) the garage is detached from the house, and the key to the side door out of the garage is kept in a lock box (I didn’t know about this and had to ask for access after getting locked out of the garage by Jordy’s husband after he removed the light bulb). 3) the shampoo/conditioner/shower gel contraption leaks in the first floor bathroom. So, the shower on/off handle is usually covered with soap. I washed it off with every use, only to find