Lets start with the bad or not so good since everyone first wants to see what was wrong with a place in making their decision on where to stay. This place was pricey for what we would spent & was sub par for the $$. We were unfortunately working with short notice on finding a place and the better cleaner options were not available. I have had much cleaner places and better budget by far in many places we have stayed.
I figured it was last minute for us and not many options left and short notice so we bit the bullet due to the 5 bedrooms and amount of people. The add is misleading this is NOT a 5 bedroom home. It is a 3 bedroom and 2 lofts. The lofts are being called a bedroom but have no closet, one of them has curtains that overlook the living room so any private moments wouldn't be private, your conversations can be heard. The second loft bedroom has double doors with glass and a screen that kind of covers the overlook into the living room, still once you fall asleep could be no privacy from others.
Blankets and sheets piled up in a hall closet downstairs not on shelves. The kitchen had dirty dishes put away and i loaded the dishwasher to clean what we were going to use before we used it. The water started flooding on the counter and over the floors. Donavin said they just had a disposal installed and the tech did not knock out the plug. If they knew that was the issue why wouldn't it have been fixed before we came?
He came back and fixed it within 30 minutes. However, the counter and sink's caulking shows that there has been damage previously. There was trash out back and pool floats that had sit for a long time and they were unusable and should have been cleaned up before we got there. There was no toilet plungers and no dust pan which he brought and brought right back. He said he thinks the cleaning people were stealing his stuff. Why would a cleaner take nasty dirty plungers? Why would they take a dust pan?
The ceiling fans were caked with dust. The door jams were dirty and the carpets are stained (showing major wear patterns) He said he cleans them every 6 weeks but the age shows. I never mentioned the carpets to him but we as the guests discussed one night in the home and the next day he was texting me on it. I believe the living room motion sensor is a camera as well as having audio. I could be wrong but how he would know our conversation is odd.
It is apparent they are fixing this pace up as they go. We certainly paid enough for lots of renovations. I sent Donavin pictures of the items and he was very communicative and responses were quick. He met us at the property and it was well stocked with snacks and water and needed supplies. At the same time it had opened bags of suagr in a cabinet, it had half used open bag of Jasmin rice that had bugs in it, we cleaned out all the mess left behind from other renters.
All I think we missed was tin foil. Loved the disposable pans and ability to cook meals. We had 3 families in town for basketball and it was good to do meals.
The pool, pool table and the large connect four was a hit. Our boys stayed busy and off electronics more than not which was great.
Donovin sent me pictures after our stay showing some of the items I sent cleared up and cleaned up. I believe he is making an effort and knows what to look for. As a property owner in VRBO I would have given some discount because of all the items but that's a personal choice. He also went out f his way to mail off an ipad one of the families left behind. He really is a great guy and as I said sent pictures of the items as he has fixed them. It was a good look for us and yes we would stay again but probably only if it was last minute or a lesser rate. I expect cleanliness but at $625 a night we expected ALOT better home than we had in cleanliness and upkeep. Sadly we didn't have enough notice as there are plenty of homes half the cost with a pool available. Spending $3k and the state it was in was wrong. The man is nice. Doesn't help with the fact that the pictures don't tell the real story, he would need to make alot of changes to make it worth that cost to me. Live and Learn. Paying more is not always better.