Do not stay in this place. Hieu's property may be lovely in the pictures, but up close it is poorly maintained, disgustingly dirty, and not well cared for. What's more, the host has been shown to be petty and vindictive, engaging in retaliatory behavior and harassment.
When I went there for my wife's 40th birthday party, as part of a surprise I spent a year organizing, it was one thing to have to clean the place, but quite another to have to deal with a 10ft - 15ft fire that started because the grease trap on the grill had not been emptied in months or perhaps all summer. Two of my guests were almost burned as a result and it's by the grace of God no one was harmed.
And that was before the host started to retaliate against and harass me.
But let's start at the beginning.
There were multiple issues with this property:
1. The house wasn't clean. The countertops smelled of mildew and and had film on them when we arrived, and had to be wiped up across the house and in the bathrooms. They had clearly used either no solution or an old and dirty rag and it was very unpleasant.
2. The washing machine was the same. The smell of mildew was strong I could smell it down the hallway. I ran the cleaning cycle on it just get rid of the smell.
3. When we stripped the beds, we found crumbs in the master bedroom on the sheets meaning they had not been cleaned prior to our arrival. Another of our friends found hair that wasn't hers on the pillow the first night.
4. The walls and baseboards had marks that needed scrubbing that made the house feel dirty and ill used.
5. There was hair in the scrubbing brush in the sink. It looked like it had been used to clean a floor or shower drain and it was disgusting. It was certainly not something I wanted to use to clean dishes. We were able to clean it (which was also disgusting) and ran it through the dishwasher, not because we wanted to, but for want of other cleaning supplies.
6. We had to sweep the upstairs as well because the floors were gritty.
7. The grill had not been cleaned in a very long time. There were also no appropriate cleaning tools for the grill either. The one brush outside was a plastic scrub brush that was not for grills (which was clear because it had been partially melted) and still used for that purpose. This is a cooking instrument and who wants to eat burgers mixed with melted plastic? More on this later.
8. There was a pair of high heels left in the downstairs bedroom. They were not hard to see and it's clear whomever was supposed to "clean" the room never did so, otherwise they would have been picked up instead of just being left there. It was very weird and made my guests uncomfortable.
The place was also in a general state of minor to significant disrepair. Examples include:
1. the back door knob was clearly coming about and fell apart the morning we left. I was able to fix it but not permanently.
2. The master bathroom toilet paper holder was coming out of the wall due to loose drywall anchors.
3. The Gas range on the stove was not working properly to broken burners/ loose connections. One didn't even work and had been taped so it couldn't be turned. The griddle range was so loose gas couldn't flow properly leaving an issue where gas was coming out but not lighting, which is serious.
4. There were multiple recreation items provided but could not be used because there were so many leaks in them they would not hold air.
5. There were pieces of the bannister that were loose and falling down.
6. The lock on the master bathroom was not installed properly and coming apart, and most importantly, didn't actually lock the door.
7. There were large very obvious scratches in some of the fixtures that made it feel run down and certainly not the luxurious retreat advertised.
8. In one corner was a pile of loose unconnected wires and other electrical components. This was a clear safety issue and made me very glad I didn't bring my kids as it was clearly a safety risk.
9. There was a sizable and very poorly patched hole in the wall by the garage door.
10. There was a disgustingly dirty cooler outside which apparently was supposed to have been thrown away but wasn't.
11. There were no fire starters because the two provided were both empty. When I complained to the host, she told me to drive to the nearest town and get some more.
But the biggest issue was by far the grill. Once it was clear the gas range wasn't working (which is just as well because the only frying pan provided was a 10in pan and I'm not entirely sure how to cook for seven people in such a small pan), we decided to do the grill. After using a paper towel (only one roll was provided so it was used sparingly) to attempt to clean it, it was clear that wouldn't cut it. The grill hadn't been cleaned in some while given the amount of carbonized food (and melted plastic) on the grill plates. So we used the top grill rack to cook our food.
However, on the second day, the grease trap erupted in a 10-15 foot flame with thick black smoke that left discolorations on the second floor window. It happened so quickly it almost burnt two of my guests. Thankfully, we knew enough to turn off the gas and leave the grill closed and it eventually died out.
But that left no cooking implements. Thankfully, they had a slow cooker and a really fun bar just walking distance away. The