Jamie, thrilled to have hosted your second return visit and more yet to come!!! You are in our VIP Guest Club!! Thank youuuuu!

Thanks Randall! You guys rock! Please come back and stay with us again!

Fortunately, this is absolutely INACCURATE. This was a group of college kids who had attitudes. He was given plenty of time to complete a waiver. He booked for 2 people. He thought if he ignored the messages, didn’t submit it, intentional stalled, he’d get around the check-In procedure to allow others to join him, who weren’t included in the reservation. The listing specifies that the pool is not heated in the very cold weather seasons, for which he booked. After all the back and forth with his made up excuses, stall tactics and games, he promised to have the waiver to me in a few hours before check in, he then shows up at the gate, never to have even returned the waiver. He pushed it all to last minute and then wanted to cry why he had to wait to enter the gate. We gave him so much leeway, but learned he was just very manipulative. He wouldn’t read procedures in the reference manual to help, which is available for the guests to review. It was like spoon feeding an infant, who refused any boundaries. He had a difficult time understanding much of anything. He and his group were snots to our awesome cleaning staff, disrespected them by staring them down as they waited to enter to do their job, when he was VERY late checking out. He left the house a mess. The cleaners found a broken appliance, bent curtain rods and broken window blinds. His hot tub time was actually doubled out of courtesy, he started up the hot tub and didn’t go to use it until several hours later; deliberately had us reheat it, intending not to use it so as to waste energy at our expense. We finally just had enough of his shenanigans and stopped catering to his nonsense. We went to default rules and no more exceptions, once we confirmed he was abusing the uses and our availability. It was aweful and we all were relieved when he left. Hopefully, he and his bad mannered friends grow up and learn how to behave in the adult world.

Sarah! 🙌🏻 you and your family were a God Send! We couldn’t have asked for a better group for such a long stay. Thank you for being such a great Guest to host!!

Thank you, Arnold! We appreciate you

Jeremy- Your slighted review is not surprising. You booked less than two weeks out, were fully aware of the per person rate, but yet waited until after check-in to try and leverage us into bypassing that for your extended family, because you didn’t want to include them in the reservation. Parents weren’t just who were requested, but yet you also wanted your aunts and uncles… we had no problem with you adding them to the house guest total, and you knew that, but you wanted to host your family and not pay for them. With the discrepancy in this review, we could easily request it to be removed, although we won’t. We provided everything (and more) that the listing promised and you use this as retaliation since not being successful in forcing the owner to cave to your demands. It is what it is, your group left garbage out that required pick up to every corner of the property, and were not one we’d welcome back. We agree that the property and place is awesome, the hot tub is able to be requested more for additional cost, but the 3 hours (in ground) custom heated tub is what’s included in the rate. The two hot tubs are not generic insulated above ground shell that can be heated on the constant, within a reasonable cost or we would. We allow the guest to choose when it runs and the option to extend it.

Thanks Daniel! So glad you had a great time!! Please come back and see us next time!

Thank you, Lori, I’ll look at possibly adding mods to the restrooms to accommodate. Yes, the back of the home has just a single stair into the master and just two onto the back porch. The house inside is all one level with large hallways to access the rooms and bathrooms. We do our best to always improve future stays! I prefer offering upscale items, including the pots and pans and extras other places don’t provide. Best to you all!

Ha! We got it done! Hallelujah. We work extremely hard in providing the best stay possible! We appreciate Guests, such as yourselves, when something may come up. It is such a relief to have reasonable people who appreciate our efforts! Thank you, again!!

Couldn't have asked for a better group... thank you for graciously choosing us to stay with!

I have to say I am pretty surprised by the tail end of the review. Your group requested a lot of special treatment, well into the late night hours- we were always accommodating & attentive. If you look back in your requests in activating hot tubs & waterfalls, as a courtesy, it ran much longer (overall) than what the listing agreed to provide with no extra charge. Sometimes we’re able to do that depending on various factors. Yes, the pool pumps are on timers to avoid running when not in use. There is much more than energy that is wasted by them running excessively, including wear and tear on all of those running pumps; the more they run needlessly, the quicker they wear out and need replaced, which they are very high ticketed items. With the timer option, you’re paying less than half to stay than what you would (if ran excessively.) We factor the rental rate to include a fair use of the pumps. Some stays use it less than others, and therefore this gives them the opportunity to not have to pay a higher rental rate for what they might not use. The request to activate with the timer is actually the most simple way, and the least amount of needed communication. Since they automatically turn off, you’re not required to contact (again.) We are not a commercial pool and and cannot give access to the interface, for obvious reasons. It’s a very complicated residential system, so we have this simple method of one text message requesting what you want on, generally activated within minutes of receiving the text. It’s not requesting permission, It’s requesting activation. The pool is accessible 24 hours a day during your stay, separate from pump use. Aside from bug spray, we also provide a slew of tiki torches that cover the patio and swimming area with bug deterrent to ward off pests. A caretaker comes daily only to care for the pool, which is common at all pools, and we give the guests the option to choose when that occurs, or they’re available when summoned for assistance. …The owner “cameras”? I’m not sure what that means exactly, but there are cameras outdoor perimeter, which is stated on the listing, and if there’s no security issues, they go unmonitored. The housekeeper places a reasonable amount of tinfoil, plastic wrap and baggies avail. If you needed much more than what we provide, we recommend that if you have an excessive need for these items, you will want to bring some additional to offset what we provide.

Thank you so much Faith, the pleasure was all ours

Hi Jay, an update we have replaced our housekeeping company due to the confirmation of this. I took an emergency flight out to see for myself and have taken immediate measures. The house has since been overhauled back to the standards we expect when we personally travel, and then some! My apologies as housekeeping is supposed to examine the dishes before allowing a Guest to assume the property. That specific step was failed by the local cleaning company who is to oversee the physical condition of the property, and not the first time it was failed. We earlier even replaced the dishwasher in hopes it would make a difference and have determined it was the failure of the cleaning company, not the dishwasher. Another individual is the listing manager who communicated with you during your stay, and I'm happy to hear that you were satisfied with the communications. The conditions issue has since been remedied and I'm personally present to see that it be upheld, as the rest of the mandatory, high cleaning standards. We mention the pump time provided in every available spot that VRBO provides us. It's mentioned in the listing details, in the rules area and again in the waiver we provide the Guest before their arrival. We certainly would love to not have a limit on pump time, but with the energy costs how they are, the cost of the stay would be far more in the event it was unlimited. It appears that most groups find the time provided is satisfactory to their actual use of the amenities, so it remains a fair balance. We thank you for staying, your group was great and so glad to hear you enjoyed your Christmas stay with us!

Thank you for your honest review. We’ve since updated you that the dishwasher has been completely replaced with a new one, immediately following your stay. Any of your information came in after the fact. I issued a heartfelt apology for the inconvenience of the dishwasher malfunctioning and explained the housekeeper would’ve been happy to have returned to handle the dishes, they generally are clean and already put away upon arrival. We are unable to remedy the situation when we are notified after the fact, same with those unable to attend. The request for discount came after the stay. It was unfortunate that your pet sitter canceled last minute on you, the house is prepped and stocked for the total amount of booked guests, again would’ve been something to have informed us in advance, prior to the stay. After, is too late and unable to verify the guest count. We are happy you have expressed to us you’d like to stay again in the future, we’d be happy to host your family again. Best to you and yours, Laralyn

Your group was fabulous. Thank you again for blessing us with a wonderful experience.

This guest booked very last minute, sending us scrambling to have it ready in a day. I considered canceling the stay because it was just not enough time to coordinate the cleaners and other services necessary. We busted our butts, got it ready, sparkling clean in time for them. The hot tub had an issue heating at first, for which we contacted our pool service for assistance. The pool/spa heater is only a year old and this was the first instance that it had any trouble whatsoever. After some fiddling, the hot tub was up and running. For the hiccup, we provided an unlimited amount of use following their inconvenience. To clarify what her review mentioned, I reached out to her by text and she verified that the slide didn’t have any problems, the main pool waterfall was on and working fine but said she meant the (spa waterfall) wasn’t on… I can confirm that much- it is because she didn’t request it to be; there was no mention during her time at the rental about the spa waterfall requested turned on. About the refrigerator (simply answered)- the cleaners realized before Leslie’s arrival that the refrigerator was unplugged. It was plugged back in and was running for about 45 minutes before their arrival, and was at a cold temperature very soon after, not having (any) issues cooling for the duration of their stay. A little disheartened with all our efforts, we bent over backwards to accommodate and can say that this review is not fair or accurate in any fashion, unfortunately.

Kathy was unfortunately a fairly difficult Guest; hard to please. We bend over backwards when able and she knew about the cameras as she signed the waiver that clearly explains they are present including the mention on the listing and the text messages of her inquiring about it in text communications. We’re not sure how to respond to the claim of “micromanager…” unsure how that would be considered a thing. The host is available if need be, (if the Guest needs assistance…) we use text messages to request the pumps to be activated…. Other than that, there is no other involvement necessary unless there is abuse happening to the property. 

Thanks for your review as we work hard to provide a spotless and organized home to enjoy.  You may have missed the detail, in the listing we do state that there is a property manager living on site, although they are hardly noticeable and there to assist. The cameras are mentioned as well and they are only positioned to provide safety to the home on the perimeter of the home and extended property only. The property manager was out of town at the time of your visit, a substitute manager present, it wasn’t as seamless as usual but our records show that you waited approximately 10 minutes to enter the property.  The pool pump controls are not accessible to the guests in order to to protect the equipment although we can schedule ahead of time or turn on remotely by request, generally activating the pumps within just a few minutes at most cases. The sessions for the water features are mentioned in the listing as well, also in the waiver provided before arriving. We are currently reviewing our included pump time allotment and may be extending more availability of the water features depending on the energy costs to come. The house is listed at a fair daily price rate, which includes reasonable water-feature enjoyment. This allows those who would choose an option to extend it, rather than increasing the daily rate (for all) to cover something they may not want or need. We don’t see it as nickel and diming, we implement it as options that allows for a more inexpensive stay if chosen.  Thanks again for enjoying our place.

Such a pleasure having you, for us as well!

Thank you Jana, we appreciated your awesome family. Take Care!

The rules and regulations are pretty much common sense guidelines. With large groups, we’ve learned that simple things like -no jumping off structures into the pool, -no smoking because of the widely known, California high fire season, must be spelled out, in the case that others are on a different page. Yet, your group STILL violated that nonsmoking “common sense measure” in the middle of the blazing summer, and is exactly why the safety rules are stated. Unfortunately, your group didn’t care about the neighborhood and put it at risk, smoking often in the dry areas. The guests checking out prior to your arrival were late and cost housekeeping time but they worked extra hard to be done as soon as possible. We feel it was important to have it sanitized thoroughly before handing over the rental. A member of your party informed the manager on duty (during your stay) that the pool light (was) actually working, after all. The TVs in the bedrooms work off of WiFi, I believe there were towers being serviced at the time of your stay which would explain the TVs. We’ve tested them all and all are in perfect working order. They are a year old (if.) We went above and beyond and retrieved/mailed a lost key that your family member left behind. Glad to hear the majority of your stay was enjoyable, wish our crew could say the same about hosting your group.

Thank you!! Best to you all

The manager conducting the tour gave plenty of space that brings you comfort, as (they) have a condition that prevents them from participating in essentially, a suffocation ritual. We recommend those who are concerned with the risks associated with living and being in public maybe keep from traveling to others homes.... In doing so, they pass on enjoying the amazing environment each are sharing with others who look to obtain a much needed break from the current insanity. As an alternative, depending on the group dynamics, we sometimes provide self check-ins to assist with the level of Guest comfort. We do not and cannot legally discriminate against those with disabilities, including representatives of the listing. Majority of guests are relieved to have normalcy when arriving and being greeted by a pleasant, smiling person. We welcome all who respect others and their choices. Best to you.