We were unfortunately disappointed in this stay, especially after reading so many great reviews. Up front, I’ll say it was a great location with lovely views and super convenient to Asheville. The neighbors’ yard is much trashier than I even expected based on previous reviews, but it didn’t bother us as it did others. The privacy fence does its job, and all the neighbors are quiet.
The cons: the house is in need of quite a bit of repair. Most noticeably, the front porch is in such disrepair that it wasn’t safe to let our kids out there, and we weren’t able to enjoy the mountain views from the one place they were most visible. There were nails sticking up everywhere and boards were bent and peeling up. There was also a light in the hallway that turned on and off by itself, which made us worried about a potentially dangerous electrical problem. The front of the house is profusely peeling paint, which is falling off all over the ground, creating a really trashy looking first impression. There were holes in 2 walls from door knobs going through the drywall, 2 curtain rods were on bent brackets and looked like they were going to fall if we touched them, and several kitchen cabinets hanging askew on their hinges, which just made it frustrating and difficult to open and close. When I sat on the master bed for the first time, one of its legs fell off, and there was another leg that looked like it was barely hanging on.
There were also some cleanliness issues: a lot of rodent droppings in some pans in a kitchen drawer, a used razor and used bars of soap on the shelf in the bathroom, and lots of dust and animal hair under the beds.
Many of these things didn’t come up until we’d settled into the house, so we didn’t contact the host about them until afterward. We didn’t want to deal with porch or electrical repairs or an exterminator while we were on vacation, so we contacted the host after we left. I am sorry to say we were disappointed in her response. She didn’t apologize for any of the issues, seemed put out that we mentioned it, and stopped responding after the first text. I even sent her pictures but got no response.
I will also throw out there that the one bedroom adjacent to the living area had windows at the top of the door, which made it pretty much impossible for our daughter to sleep while my hubby and I were in there kitchen or living room, as the light shone in. So we spent our nights after the kids went to sleep in the bedroom instead. Not a fault of the host, but just FYI for future renters.
The pros: It’s a nice, quiet location close to Asheville and the Blue Ridge Parkway and the privacy of woods on 3 sides of the house. There were some nice touches, like the fire pit, some kids’ games and books, some outdoor toys, a stocked bookshelf, and a washer and dryer with detergent. Overall the bathroom and kitchen were clean, and we really enjoyed the outdoor dining table and yard.
It could be a great vacation spot with some repairs. Overall, however, we were unsatisfied with this stay and wouldn’t stay again.