Peaceful, Kid/Pet-Friendly, Private Luxury Chalet with Wifi

• Birthday long weekend ruined

  Birthday long weekend ruined

  • Guest Robin
  • Date of stay 02/03/12
  • Review Submitted 02/18/12
  let me just first say that I've rented from "Vrbo.com" many times & have ALWAYS been very pleased, but this time was different & very, very disappointing. We arrived & found the property not clean to say the least. Lets start with the beds..human hair on the pillows, dog hairs imbedded in the blanket & sheets had holes in them. Kitchen: oven was filthy, food inside cupboards, sink was not clean. Windows: sliding door had lots of dog nose prints & slobber, through out the cabin windows & sills were filthy, wi-fi wall connection was completely ripped out of wall & just hanging. Bath: toothpaste spit all around the sink, shower curtain was really, really crusty. Koi pond looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a couple of years. Fenced yard was a 12x12 area, not "yard":( We packed up the dogs & our things & traveled two hrs back home:( The postive: the owners did refund our $$$, but my birthday get away was ruined and with gas prices I would have apprreciated being compensated. The owners did offer to put us up in a local hotel while they called the cleaning lady to come over, but it was 6pm, we had 2 dogs & a cooler full of food, so that wasn't a feaseable option to stay in a hotel. To clean the place properly would have taken the entire weekend & then some. My suggestion for the furture: Owners of these rental properties need to walk in them & say "would i bring my family here to stay, my kids, my parents, myself" ?? Oh, our parents were to come the next morning & stay the night, but no way was I going to let that happen. Some of the rental $$ should be put back into keeping the inside & OUTSIDE up to date & in good condition. The front screen door was also ripped up and bent & the bottom stripping on the back french doors was torn off, more than likely by a renters uncrated dog while they went out & enjoyed the sites. Also a note to renters, if your dogs are going to destroy the property DON'T BRING THEM ALONG or bring crates for when you go out!!!! This just ruins it for those of us that do have well behaved dogs & take care of how their going to act if we leave them by themselves!! I wouldn't blame Claudio & Lisa at this point if they decided to not allow pets. So hopefully this review will prompt some major overalls by the owners. Also, you really need to fire the cleaning lady Margaret, she actually left an envelope on the kitchen counter for a tip, right!

  Owner response: We have had hundreds of guests come through this specific cabin rental and were surprised by this review. After our initial contact with this guest, we checked out the property to verify her complaints. While some of the items she listed are correct and have been fixed since this review (e.g. screen door), most of the items listed could not be found or could have been easily fixed if our cleaning and handyman staff would have a chance to remedy the situation (We offered to have her go out to dinner on us or go have spa treatments on us while we addressed her complaints). For example, the shower liner, front screen and the few dog hairs we saw could have been fixed in under an hour. Furthermore, some of the items, this guest listed are simply incorrect. For example, this guest says the oven was filthy. We checked and this is a gross exaggeration. This guest also mentioned that there was food inside the cupboards. We checked and there was flour, salt, pepper, sugar and other spices so I'm not entirely sure what this guest was referencing. We try our best to provide staples such as these because 99 percent of our guests appreciate having these items when cooking. When we spoke with the guest, she made absolutely no mention of human hair, and we found none when we checked the cabin. The koi pond also was not mentioned when we spoke with the guest, but it is simply impossible to keep the filters running during the winters and thus does appear dark and not very lively. The koi pond is cleaned each spring. Our handyman and cleaning staff do their best to maintain the cabins for us, and as with any rental property, issues do arise. This guest simply did not allow us a chance to remedy the problems which disappoints us. We even tried to compensate them by putting them up in a local hotel or other VRBO house that does accept pets in addition to the spa treatments or dinner; they refused and said they were going back home. When we spoke with them, they made absolutely no mention of being reimbursed for gas, and if they had preferred that over the offer of dinner or spa treatments, we would have offered that instead. We try our hardest to fix all the issues this guest had and unfortunately this guest did not give us the opportunity. We gave them a full refund.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 6/7

• Comfy, Well-Equipped Cabin

  Comfy, Well-Equipped Cabin

  • Guest NJ Family
  • Date of stay 07/09/10
  • Review Submitted 11/15/10
  We stayed at JRR for two weeks in July 2010, with our 18-month old son and German Shepard Dog. Never got bored of things to do in the area -- I had counted on maybe going into D.C. for a day, but there was enough to do locally to keep us busy and entertained. The cabin was clean, comfy, well-equipped, and more than adequate for the four of us, for this length of stay.

  Recommended for: Pet owners, romantic getaway, age 55+, families with young children.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/0

• Relaxing, well-equipped retreat

  Relaxing, well-equipped retreat

  • Guest JordanandAbbie'sMom
  • Date of stay 07/28/10
  • Review Submitted 11/10/10
  Our stay at Jack Russell could not have been better. The location was a great getaway from our normal city life. The house had everything we needed and offered a great backyard for our dogs to play. We will likely return next year and I would recommend this to family and friends!

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 1/1

• Jack Russell Review

  Jack Russell Review

  • Guest Diane
  • Date of stay 08/03/08
  • Review Submitted 11/09/10
  I thought the cabin was well-taken care of and was very cozy. I liked that it was stocked with essentials. All in all a good experience.

  Recommended for: Pet owners, romantic getaway, girls getaway.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/0

• Nice, cozy cabin..

  Nice, cozy cabin..

  • Guest TPAR
  • Date of stay 04/23/10
  • Review Submitted 11/07/10
  We had a great time in Berkeley Springs on a weekend in April of this year, and the cabin was beautiful! Just as a comment however, even though the cabin was clean in general, upon check in we found left over foods in the refrigerator (chicken bones and stuff in a 'to go' container that was open) and we also noticed that the bed comforters may need a wash, as well as the fleece blanket in the living room. It was not a big deal to us but we always like giving feedback to owners even about the small details. Another suggestion is about perhaps updating the restaurant guide the owner had emailed us ahead of time (thank you for doing so Claudio!). Two of the restaurants had moved (including the Mexican). In addition, we think that the Earth Dog's Cafe should be added!!! :) We had GREAT food there and the ambiance was just very relaxing (I don't remember seeing it on the list he provided us unless we missed it). Otherwise, everything was perfect, comfortable, cozy and wanted to thank you for giving us the opportunity to rent this place for the weekend. Our 2 year-old loved the fish pond, running around the back yard and relaxing on the hammock!

  Recommended for: Sightseeing, pet owners, romantic getaway, age 55+, families with young children, girls getaway.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/0

• Nice family chalet

  Nice family chalet

  • Guest marylanders
  • Date of stay 04/29/10
  • Review Submitted 11/07/10
  Our family of four (two adults, two children) rented the chalet for four days. It was a comfortable house for the family of this size. The open living room area was large enough for us to watch TV and for the kids to play on the floor at the same time. The kitchen was very pleasant, with a lot of light coming from the adjacent deck where we sometimes had meals. The backyard is quite large, albeit with a slope, and the kids loved to spend time there on a hammock. The absence of a washer and dryer, though not critical for the four days stay, might have been a negative factor if we were to stay there longer. Also, having just one bathroom (on the first floor) would have been a problem for a larger family. Overall, it was one of the best houses for a family of four we could find in the area using web searches. We will certainly consider renting it again.

  Recommended for: Families with teenagers, sightseeing, romantic getaway, girls getaway.

  Owner response: Thank you for the review. There is a full size washer and dryer in the basement area. We also provide laundry detergent as well.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 1/2

• Jack Russell's Ridge

  Jack Russell's Ridge

  • Guest Lois and David
  • Date of stay 07/01/08
  • Review Submitted 11/07/10
  We really enjoyed our stay at Jack Russell's Ridge cabin. It was nicely furnished and very clean. Our dog loved watching the Koi and the deck was a great place to "hang out." Berkley Springs was a nice little town. We would definitely stay here again!

  Recommended for: Sightseeing, pet owners, romantic getaway.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/1

• Wonderful Get Away

  Wonderful Get Away

  • Guest Shauna
  • Date of stay 11/21/07
  • Review Submitted 11/07/10
  My husand and I stayed here over Thanksgiving 2007 and had a wonderful time! We took our English Bulldogs with us and they had a blast as well. The home was very clean and had everything we needed and then some. It was close to town, but far enough to be quite and romantic. I highly recommend this cabin.

  Recommended for: Families with teenagers, sightseeing, pet owners, romantic getaway, age 55+, families with young children, girls getaway, adventure seekers.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 1/1

• Guest comment entered by owner

  • Guest Huston Family (Baltimore, MD)
  • Date of stay 12/27/09
  • Review Submitted 05/10/10
  Thank you so much for allowing us to spend our Christmas her! It was our "Baby's 1st Christmas" and our son, Caleb had a blast! We were h ere with Grandmom and all of our pups - it was so neat to be in a pet friendly place and they so enjoyed hanging out on the deck taking in the views! this place is so cozy and the perfect size for our family. Thanks again! ~ The Huston Family ~

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/0

• Guest comment entered by owner

  • Guest Danielle, Prianka, Dave & Jenny
  • Date of stay 01/01/08
  • Review Submitted 04/21/10
  This weekend was the perfect getaway and much needed ! Jac Russell's Ridge is every bit as lovely as Retriever's Retreat. Wonderfully stocked with everythihg we could need. Thanks for sharing it with us. We will definitely return again.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/0

Additional information about rental rates

50% deposit of entire rental rate

Additional Fees and Taxes:

6% State Tax and 4% Lodging Tax

Sorry this information is not available. Please contact the owner/manager for more information.