I don't take any pleasure in writing this review as Angel and her family were very nice to me and were responsive to requests. But my opinion is that the pictures and reviews do not reflect the true nature (and especially value) of this property. My group has rented houses for a long weekend every year (except COVID 2020) for 20 years and, despite being the most expensive rental we have ever rented, did not measure up to past rentals in many respects.
The Good: Despite my issues, there are several positives. It is a large house right on the lake. The views, particularly at sunset, are beautiful. It is fairly private. The kitchen is nice and the TV in the main room (with the kitchen) is huge. When I first walked in, my initial impression was positive and I told Angel so. Angel was very responsive, friendly, and (on certain points) apologetic. On Friday, she and her family came over with bags of ice because the ice makers were broken. We also discussed the issues we had identified to that point (less than 24 hours). So Angel cares and tried to address our concerns. As a bonus, at one point I struggled to figure out how to open the front gate while on foot and a friendly neighbor stopped and showed me how to do it--that was an above and beyond I didn't expect.
The Annoying But Forgivable: On Saturday, the WiFi kept going out throughout the day. The problem kept getting worse. Compounding the problem, the TV seems to work in tandem with the Internet and would freeze constantly once the Internet issues started. We had several football games we planned on watching and this issue forced a work around (we hooked the TV up to a laptop and used cellular hotspots to create a TV feed). This is forgivable as it seems likely to be an issue with the ISP rather than the house. We also had an issue where many of the lights are hooked up to motion sensors - which are insanely sensitive. The first night was rough sleeping for several in the group as every time they rolled over, all of the lights in that room (a living room) would go on for two minutes. This is forgivable as Angel showed me how to disable the motion detectors and it worked on most of the lights. Finally, there are SO MANY STAIRS. It is more than three floors to the top living room/kitchen. There is an elevator for freight and mobility challenged. But after four days, the stairs get to be a lot.
The Bad: The original call that brought Angel over was related to the pool. When we arrived on Thursday, the pool guy was there and warned us not to go into the pool that day because he had put in a 4 hour chemical "bomb." He said this was due to a party over the weekend but it was never clarified why the cleaning was put off until Thursday (the day we got there). On the next day, the pool was still cloudy. I texted Angel who came over and told us that before the pool guy put in a 4 hour bomb, they had put in a 24 hour bomb. She insisted that the chemical reaction would soon resolve itself and that it was still safe to swim in it. Well, it never did resolve but, having already lost one pool day, we forged ahead. A big part of our rental decision was based on the pool area and we were not happy to lose a day before settling for a murky, suspect pool. This issue rankled a number of people in my group.
In addition, this house needs a deep clean and shows strong signs of wear. On the surface level, it had been cleaned (kitchen, bathrooms, floors, etc.) but the longer you are there, the more decay presents itself. I walked out of a sliding glass door through a giant cobweb. Cobwebs and insect residue lurked in the windows. The vents had dust. By Saturday, there were several dead cockroaches in the bathrooms and halls. The outdoor patios are chipped and in some places missing big areas of stone work. The stairs are chipped. The chairs on the patio are leaking stuffing. The beds are old and creak. The extra cots are mostly broken. The sliding door to the den/bedroom (off the second floor living room) is off its track, which required some rigging to make it close. The window coverings are missing slats. One light in the pool is missing with a loose wire dangling in the pool. The hot tub has some engineered heating unit sitting on the edge. The lights surrounding the hot tub deck are missing or broken. I have pictures that document this.
At bottom, while the house is large and in a great location and the hosts are very nice and responsive, I did not think the property warranted the price point at all. You are paying for size and location -- which some might consider fine. The house itself is adequate but needs a number of repairs and a deep clean. On the whole, my group (12) was disappointed and, as the renter, heard many complaints. So despite my positive interactions with the hosts, this is the review that reflects the overall feeling of my group.