4/10 Poor
Nancy P.
2 October 2020
Liked: Location
Disliked: Cleanliness, communication
The minuses outweighed the pluses
On the plus side, this house is in a beautiful, quiet, remote setting with a stream, near hiking and other outdoor activities. It is a spacious house with interesting design features and close to Berkshires attractions.
On the minus side, this house was rented with no professional cleaner which, given pandemic conditions, is unconscionable. The owner had us simply wipe down doorknobs and light switches with disinfecting wipes when we arrived. When we left he left only a hour between our departure and the next guests' arrival.
We found mouse droppings in all the kitchen drawers, on shelves, counters, and even under bedspreads in one of the bedrooms. The mice were regular visitors, running through the house every evening. When we told the owner about the mouse dropping in the drawer with the dishes and silverware, he simply vacuumed it and told us to return the then clean dishes and silverware to the drawer. This is beyond unsanitary, and should be considered unethical by anyone renting property to unsuspecting visitors.
The refrigerator was unclean and still had some of the owner's food in it. The bureaux and the closets were also full of the owner's belongings, so no one could unpack properly for the whole week we were there.
The bedrooms and the second floor bathroom had glass windows in the doors with only lace curtains on them, offering no privacy in any room at all. We had to hang sheets and towels for true privacy.
The bathrooms themselves were not clean and there were hairs on the floors, the toilet, the sink and the shower.
We had the misfortune of experiencing both a tornado watch and a power outage which lasted 2 days. In neither case did the owner contact us or return to the property to check assist in any way. We lost running water during this time and had to use water from the creek to flush toilets. The owner said he'd left us a gallon of water in case of emergencies, but with renting to 7 people this was ridiculously insufficient.
At the end of the day, the owner should not be renting this property without help. I'm sure he means well, but it is simply too much for him to keep up with at 75 yo. And during a pandemic, the lack of cleanliness is flatly inexcusable and the presence of mice is certainly a Board of Health violation. Stay at your own risk.
Nancy P.
Stayed 6 nights in Aug 2020
