Delightful!

Guest: Mary (Concord, MA)
Date of Stay: 08/21/11 Review Submitted: 09/21/11

We had a delightful Vineyard experience in this house! It is in a lovely neighborhood in a convenient location - equidistant from Edgartown, Vineyard Haven, and Tisbury, close to the beaches, and right on the bike paths (a big plus!) The house is clean, bright, and cheerful - well equipped, but not cluttered or fussy to maintain. And the best part is a wonderful deck that overlooks private meadowland as far as the eye can see with complete privacy in every direction. It is tempting to spend the entire vacation relaxing, enjoying meals, reading, and star gazing on that deck! This was our second stay there, and we found it very accommodating for large and small groups. The studio is a great separate space for teens and young adults, and it's good to know that pets owners are welcome. The owners are a pleasure to work with, very accessible, and when we had to leave a day early because of Hurricane Irene, they were in full communication and sent an unexpected refund! We will definitely be back!

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

Great Vacation Rental

Guest: Beach lover (New England)
Date of Stay: 08/14/11 Review Submitted: 09/14/11

Great MV vacation house! Our party consisted of 4 adults and 4 children. We used both the main house and studio. The owner was great to deal with; he answered multiple questions promptly (and I did ask quite a few!), via email and sent all paperwork and deposits back quickly. The location is super! The neighborhood is quiet and the house itself is very private, with wonderful views of a meadow. As regular island visitors, we prefer to be a bit off the beaten track, but not too far up-island to make trips to town an ordeal. This neighborhood is ideal for that: 10 minutes from Alley’s or from the blinking light on Edgartown Road, but also a quick ride to Long Point (a huge plus when trying to get there in the morning before the lot fills up). The owner was kind enough to give us walking directions to the beach, through the meadow and down a few dirt roads (about an hour walk), which was great for those in our party that wanted the exercise or didn’t get up soon enough to leave with everyone else. The house itself was clean, and the furniture was comfortable. Plenty of seating on the decks with great views. Having 2 washer/dryer sets (one in the garage) was a huge plus with 2 families. So were the 2 outdoor showers (the shower on the upper deck with views of the meadow was spectacular!) Beds were comfortable and both kitchens were fairly well stocked with pans and tools. Linens were provided, which was a huge plus (we have had to pack them before - the extra space in the car was appreciated!). This is not a brand new home, so there are a few quirks (window cranks that don’t work right and the igniter on the stove in the main house was a bit temperamental), but once identified they are easily worked around. The overall setting and amenities more than make up for it!

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, adventure seekers, families with young children, families with teenagers, sightseeing, pet owners, girls getaway.

Beautiful!

Guest: mm (New York, NY)
Date of Stay: 06/05/11 Review Submitted: 08/16/11

My husband and I had a romantic week away at this house. Cooked out on the grill every day, enjoyed the view of a the meadow, played croquet and bocce in the yard. The house is big enough for a large group, but very peaceful for a couple. The house was clean, linens were clean and left out in each room. The privacy offered in this neighborhood by the meadow is unbeatable. The owners were very easy to work with. Looking forward to going back!

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, families with young children, families with teenagers, sightseeing, girls getaway.

Great Place

Guest: Will (Medford)
Date of Stay: 06/12/11 Review Submitted: 08/16/11

My stay this summer at the house was great. Everything inside was in great condition and as advertised, spacious with plenty of rooms to spread ourselves around. The property is very peaceful, sitting out on the back porch in the evening with a glass of wine was a great way to end our days after exploring the Island. The location worked well for us, fairly central, very close to the southern beaches and about equal distance from both Edgartown and Oak Bluffs. I would definitely recommend this property to anyone interested in visiting the Island.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, adventure seekers, families with young children, families with teenagers, sightseeing, pet owners, girls getaway.

Wonderful Property and Fantastic Vacation!!!

Guest: Tim (Yorktown Heights, NY)
Date of Stay: 06/05/11 Review Submitted: 08/16/11

We stayed at this property (156741) for our week's vacation just before high season (first week of June 2011), and it was absolutely wonderful! We had an excellent week on the Vineyard, and the location provided a perfect jumping off point to get to any of the towns or beaches that we were looking to visit. All of the amenities listed are accurate, and the photos aren't able capture how great the home really is. We are a family of four, and the house provided plenty of space, a private yard where we could feel comfortable to let the kids go out and play, and a nice quiet neighborhood. It was also great having the option of cooking some nights and being able to go out others. The deck was a great way to pass an afternoon and just relax. The property was certainly clean, and everything we needed was there. The owner was a pleasure to work through, he made everything extremely convenient for our trip. I would recommend this house without reservation for your next trip to the Vineyard!!! I'm sure we'll be checking on availability the next time we go!

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, families with young children, families with teenagers, sightseeing, age 55+, girls getaway.

Beautiful Vacation Home - WE LOVED IT!!

Guest: lauren (New York, NY)
Date of Stay: 07/03/11 Review Submitted: 08/16/11

My husband and I stayed here with our in-laws and nephew and just LOVED it. The house is conveniently located but has lots of privacy, a beautiful yard and stunning views. It's a short drive to one of the best beaches on the island - Long Point (a Trustees of Reservation site) and an easy bike ride or drive into Edgartown center (as well as other town centers). The house itself is just adorable. Beautifully decorated, very summer-y and fresh feeling with lots of light (not cluttered or dark like some other homes we've rented). We loved the studio apartment over the garage - it was the perfect place for my brother and sister in-law to stay with their little one. We grilled on the back patio, played croquet in the back yard, enjoyed cocktail hour on the deck overlooking the nature reserve, and had family game night around the fantastic round dining room table. It's a perfect family getaway spot. We have stayed at a number of rental homes on the island, but this one is by far our favorite. We can't wait to go back again next summer!

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, adventure seekers, families with young children, families with teenagers, sightseeing, age 55+, girls getaway.

It was great to be on MV, but...

Guest: DaveF (Melrose, MA)
Date of Stay: 07/24/11 Review Submitted: 08/03/11

I rented this house in July 2011 after 10+ years of summer visits to MV in other houses. It has a great location near Long Point (Trustees of Reservations area), West Tisbury, and MV bike trail. House layout is good, with large deck, sunroom, comfortable public rooms and nice bedrooms. 2nd unit studio (upstairs over garage) is spacious with its own deck and outdoor shower. What's not to like? At this price per week I was not expecting to receive this advice from the owner: "The grill outside is gas operated. You might want to get it filled at the beginning of the week." Eh? That is $30 of gas that would last multiple tenants, perhaps $10 per week. Seems not to much for the owner to provide -- it should at least be mentioned that you'll have additional costs to use the amenities. Lock box has 1 key. We were planning to have 2 families there, with 5+ adults. With only 1 key it is just a pain. Would 2 keys be that hard to deal with? Now, let's talk about the Pennsylvania Wood Roaches. As the owner tells me, "What you/we have are Pennsylvania Wood Roaches. They are tree dwellers for the short period of their lives and are attracted to light. They do not lay eggs so you won't be carrying any back with you.... but it makes no sense to spray for them as it would like spraying for flies. Our suggestion is to keep your screen doors and window screens closed...." Given that we had dozens of them _inside_ the studio apt, keeping the screens closed seems like the wrong thing to do, but instead we just abandoned that unit on 2nd day and put everyone in the main house. Actually I think the roaches were attracted to the extreme stench in the garage. Previous tenants had left something awful there and 90-100 degree days turned it into horrible foul smell. Trash pickup is Wednesdays, so when you arrive on Sunday there may be trash in the garage from 4 days ago. Surely there is a better way, such as outdoor garbage can enclosure that keeps out vermin and separates house from smell, PWR's, etc. By the time we left the smell had dissipated and most roaches were gone, so your mileage may vary. I asked for a partial refund and owner never addressed my request. With all that you may wonder why 2 stars? It is MV after all, the house has nice location and main house rooms are nice. Perhaps you will find it a better situation than we did. But I cannot recommend this house or owner -- here's hoping you will find something deserving of the rental rate.

Owner response:We are very disappointed that this tenant was not happy with our Island home. We have been renting to families for the past 8 years and have always found that they have had a positive experience staying there. I guess our winning streak has just ended. This tenant contacted us (or our broker) several times during his week at our home with the following complaints. 1) One set of keys for the house was not enough and he demanded that our broker turn over her house key to him so that he and the other family with him would each have one, even though we thought we were renting to one family. 2) There were flying bugs in the studio. 3) Trash left by the previous tenant was very smelly. To each of these we have or had the following responses: 1) We only provide one set of keys for security reasons since this is our home. 2) We contacted an island exterminator who explained what these bugs were and that it was a temporary problem all over the island and expected to pass in a week or so. We did offer to have the studio sprayed even though the exterminator did not recommend it. 3) To accommodate the trash problem, we arranged an additional trash pick up for the next morning and asked the tenant to leave the garage unlocked. However when the trash collector arrived the garage door was locked and there was no one at home even though we had alerted him to leave it open. Lastly, we were not aware that filling the gas tank for the grill was a problem for this tenant. Refilling the tank is normal and no different than buying toilet paper or dish soap. Our guests as a matter of courtesy have always been happy to refill the tank when using the grill during their vacation. We love our island home and make every effort to ensure that our visitors have a wonderful and memorable vacation just as our family does every time we gather on the Vineyard. We are sorry that this family did not enjoy the same experience.

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