I do not wish to speak negatively about Roxane or her place, as I truly believe she is a superhost! Nevertheless, our weeklong stay was less than ideal & would caution those looking to stay at a safe and quiet location.
Please keep in mind, my review is subjective, as our stay was for a funeral - not for a vacation or party or fun group event. Just so many things went wrong! Perhaps a younger crowd on vacation looking for a good time may have had a different experience...
Check in was great/fine - communication was prompt. The morning after we arrived, I realized there was only a keurig - so my husband went to the store to purchase breakfast items & he planned to buy some pods or whatever for that, so we could enjoy some coffee. That morning, I realized my mom (who has trouble getting into & out of places - let’s just say she’s handicapped) wasn’t able to get up into bed, so she slept on a couch or chair. I mentioned this to Roxane, who informed me where I could find a step stool! Nice -one last thing we don’t have to buy! I then asked if she had a regular coffee pot stashed away somewhere... Next thing I know, I’m out on the front porch smoking & Roxane pulls up with a new coffee pot & coffee - maybe even cream & sugar substitute! I certainly didn’t expect that -a pleasant surprise! It was going well so far... the house is very large - our family group of 10 each had a place to sleep. The pool table was already being used by some (I was never in the mood to play, but others wanted to - even mom!). But then my husband informed me he had to take a cold shower - no hot water. He was not happy. I was able to get some warm water from the sink, so didn’t really think anything of it until I tried to take a shower & again no hot water. Roxane was kind enough to provide towels & washcloths, so I ended up washing myself at the sink. But we all needed showers before the funeral on Friday & I needed to wash my hair.
I think this was Wednesday, & Roxane promptly sent out a plumber to fix the hot water situation. It is a tankless water heater - the technician rinsed out the valve or filter or whatever & we seemed to have hot water, but he said it needed a full service & cleaning... Of course, when it came time for someone to take a shower, again no hot water. I tried turning it off, wait 5 seconds, & turned it back on per Roxane’s instruction, but still couldn’t get hot water for more than 2 minutes (usually less). She tried to get the plumber back out, but was unsuccessful. To top if off, the ceiling in the bedroom where my parents slept started leaking! It had rained earlier, but wasn’t at that time. Roxane said it must be the AC & again promptly sent out a technician to remedy the problem & apologized. The technician emptied the overflow container & we didn’t experience the leak again, but he made comments that told me this happens quite frequently. Again, we were there for my 37-year old brother’s funeral, so having to have all these people in & out was not ideal, as we just wanted to mourn together as a family. But she really tried to fix everything.
The next day, we still had no hot water, so Roxane actually rented us a room at the Best Western about 10 minutes away. She made sure to get an accessible room, which was thoughtful. We all wanted/needed hot showers before the funeral the next day. Unfortunately, there was no water pressure - I’m telling you, you couldn’t even feel the water on your skin! And my mom was not able to lift her leg high enough to get in the tub - I had to assist... I guess ‘accessible’ just means having bars to hold onto? And this particular hotel was really weird about towels - we had to bring down used towels before other family members could get fresh ones. Anyway, that’s not Roxane’s fault - at least she tried! Needless to say, that was the only hot shower I got during our 7-day stay.
Thursday night, the crazies of the neighborhood started coming out... When we got back to the house after having dinner with my now-widowed sister-in-law, my dad was helping my mom out of the car & some weird guy walking/dancing down the street got awfully close to them as if he was going to provoke them, then decided against it & crossed the street. Mind you, the home is located on a VERY busy street, with noisy trucks flying by at all hours. I encountered a crazy of my own that night, as again my mom & I were on the front porch smoking & talking on the phone & some guy on a bike stops in front of the house yelling about some radio station down the street... I told him we’re here , my brother died unexpectedly, & he screams about how he died 3 times... I just wanted to be left alone. Before we booked (we’re from out of town, so had no clue about the neighborhood beforehand), a local family friend mentioned the area might be shady, so I asked Roxane if it was a safe area & she assured me it was. Over the weekend, of course the crazies multiplied - I dunno how many times we were bothered. The neighbors, although friendly, must’ve been smoking pot. Like, I’m in the military - didn’t want to be anywhere around that crap! On Sunday night, there appeared to be a nightclub or someplace across the street - it was blasting music til