I’m deeply torn about this review. on the one hand, Lydia was immediately responsive to my several queries; her recommendations of neighborhood spots was spot-on; the property had a lot of charm. on the other hand, they were issues that Lydia was directly responsible for; the space was much darker and danker than the photographs in the listing (and I don’t mean humid, I mean dank); there was lots of noise unmentioned in the listing that should have been. I received a text the morning of about open parking only to arrive and find the lot filled because of a sensitive, but pre-arranged, family event. I didn’t understand why I was told one thing when something else was happening altogether - I would have preferred transparency and it was an odd tone to start our stay.
we were told that it had been a while since someone had stayed there and that someone had been hired to clean preceding our stay, but my partner rinsed her face upon arrival and the towels smelled of mold. she later tried to shower and found the curtain disassembled and the rod coated / stained in something that made her uncomfortable. the wifi wasn’t working, which is fine, but it’s because the routers had been replaced but nothing had been updated or tested. I did believe that when I saw “kitchen” listed as an amenity with the description “a place to cook meals,” that we’d be able to cook, but this kitchen lacks a stove or oven, a fact I acknowledge I overlooked in the one kitchen photo. not mentioned in the listing are the church bells which ring quite loudly at 6am, and the speakerphone announcements that echo from the high school next door starting at 7:30 am (this was a Thursday in September so idk maybe no one else has experienced this but it was really unwelcome morning noise).
Lydia was friendly, the lake was beautiful, and the property had a lot of potential. while I extend my empathy for family situations, I also felt that there was plenty of lead time between the booking and our arrival (3 months) to have prepared and tended to the details and paying nearly $200 for a one-night stay in these conditions felt like a waste of my time and money. my partner had a terrible time and I did my best to make the best of it but overall I would not make this investment again.