ConnieB
My girls with Anthony Daniels, SW Convention 2012
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2007
Ok, first let me say that I truly am enjoying our stay in a vacation home. Having a whole house instead of a cramped little hotel room (on or off site) has been heavenly. Being able to cook meals has been a budget saver, not to mention we paid less than a hotel so saved there too.
But....I also have to admit that when we first arrived I was a little taken aback by the condition of the property. As we got our key from the lock box I noticed mold growing on the outside of the house....I realize this is Florida and everything is moist, unlike at home, but it was kinda creepy.
Then we open the door and notice the cracked tiles in the entry way....wander through a bit more and the walls have scuff marks everywhere, not just a few, but dozens...including one on the hall that it is not just a scuff, but a chunk of wall missing, you can see the black behind the wall board.
More chipped tiles in the kitchen. Mismatched, and odd numbers of glasses, coffee mugs and plates. It's a 4 bedroom home (2 Queen, 2 with double twins, so it sleeps at least 8, though VRBO says 10 because of the sofa bed). The dishware varies from a low of 5 (small dessert plates) to 7 (drinking glasses). No where is there 8 of anything, except silverware is a complete set of 8. The ad said "gourmet kitchen" yet it contains 2 pots, 2 badly scratched pans, 1 small tupperware type storage, a tea kettle, a cutting board, a 4 cup coffee maker, a 24 ounce blender, 3 cooking spoons, a whisk, 2 sharp knives and ONE hot mitt.
Two different places in the ad, once in the narrative and once in the amenities list, it mentions that it has a 2 car garage....well, yeah, but there are wires hanging down instead of any kind of opener. Not much of a useful garage if I have to go inside to open the garage to put the car inside.
My husband says the condition of the walls and tiles reminds him of when he used to rent houses....it was the reason he always got the landlord to agree to pay for paint and he'd do the work before he moved in. Since I went from my parent-owned home to husband's owned house I never experienced such things (sheltered ain't I).
I was pretty grossed out when my daughter dropped her little bouncing ball and I went to retrieve it from under the bed to find empty juice boxes and candy wrappers. Made me want to clean everything before we used anything. There was simliar trash under 2 of the other beds.
Again...while some of these things were gross...some are just nusiances or unsightly to my sheltered life where when the walls start to show signs of wear I trundle down to the paint store and have fun changing colors!
While I don't expect the owners to paint after every guest,
I guess for a less than 3 year old house I was expecting a bit better of condition, and a "gourmet kitchen" I was expecting to be able to cook pretty much anything. It would have been nice to have a baking sheet for the oven, a knife for cutting something other than the meat on my plate (and for that matter, not having to share the meat knive with everyone else at the table). Maybe a muffin tray. A mixing bowl, maybe a few more storage containers. A strainer for my spaghetti noodles, or to drain browned meat. A pan for cooking anything in the oven....a roasting pan would be ideal, but a casserole dish would have sufficed. I wasn't expecting a cappuchino machine for heavens sake....but a toaster would have been nice...or something to put the toast on in the oven under the broiler even!
So....did I get a typical vacation home....or a poorly kept one? What's the condition of some of the places you've stayed?
I guess next time I'll ask for an inventory of the kitchen so I can plan my meals, or bring along a strainer and a muffin pan, lol. I was planning to cook some of the simpler meals we have at home, but find myself almost unable to do so.
But....I also have to admit that when we first arrived I was a little taken aback by the condition of the property. As we got our key from the lock box I noticed mold growing on the outside of the house....I realize this is Florida and everything is moist, unlike at home, but it was kinda creepy.
Then we open the door and notice the cracked tiles in the entry way....wander through a bit more and the walls have scuff marks everywhere, not just a few, but dozens...including one on the hall that it is not just a scuff, but a chunk of wall missing, you can see the black behind the wall board.
More chipped tiles in the kitchen. Mismatched, and odd numbers of glasses, coffee mugs and plates. It's a 4 bedroom home (2 Queen, 2 with double twins, so it sleeps at least 8, though VRBO says 10 because of the sofa bed). The dishware varies from a low of 5 (small dessert plates) to 7 (drinking glasses). No where is there 8 of anything, except silverware is a complete set of 8. The ad said "gourmet kitchen" yet it contains 2 pots, 2 badly scratched pans, 1 small tupperware type storage, a tea kettle, a cutting board, a 4 cup coffee maker, a 24 ounce blender, 3 cooking spoons, a whisk, 2 sharp knives and ONE hot mitt.
Two different places in the ad, once in the narrative and once in the amenities list, it mentions that it has a 2 car garage....well, yeah, but there are wires hanging down instead of any kind of opener. Not much of a useful garage if I have to go inside to open the garage to put the car inside.
My husband says the condition of the walls and tiles reminds him of when he used to rent houses....it was the reason he always got the landlord to agree to pay for paint and he'd do the work before he moved in. Since I went from my parent-owned home to husband's owned house I never experienced such things (sheltered ain't I).
I was pretty grossed out when my daughter dropped her little bouncing ball and I went to retrieve it from under the bed to find empty juice boxes and candy wrappers. Made me want to clean everything before we used anything. There was simliar trash under 2 of the other beds.
Again...while some of these things were gross...some are just nusiances or unsightly to my sheltered life where when the walls start to show signs of wear I trundle down to the paint store and have fun changing colors!
While I don't expect the owners to paint after every guest,
I guess for a less than 3 year old house I was expecting a bit better of condition, and a "gourmet kitchen" I was expecting to be able to cook pretty much anything. It would have been nice to have a baking sheet for the oven, a knife for cutting something other than the meat on my plate (and for that matter, not having to share the meat knive with everyone else at the table). Maybe a muffin tray. A mixing bowl, maybe a few more storage containers. A strainer for my spaghetti noodles, or to drain browned meat. A pan for cooking anything in the oven....a roasting pan would be ideal, but a casserole dish would have sufficed. I wasn't expecting a cappuchino machine for heavens sake....but a toaster would have been nice...or something to put the toast on in the oven under the broiler even! So....did I get a typical vacation home....or a poorly kept one? What's the condition of some of the places you've stayed?
I guess next time I'll ask for an inventory of the kitchen so I can plan my meals, or bring along a strainer and a muffin pan, lol. I was planning to cook some of the simpler meals we have at home, but find myself almost unable to do so.
- we have not had anything like this when renting a vacation home. Obviously the management company is not doing a good job for the owner as the place should be at the very least clean! For a home that is less than 3 yrs old I would expect it to be better.
