Great place to stay at

Guest: Oleg (San Jose, CA)
Date of Stay: 05/19/12 Review Submitted: 05/20/12

We rented this cabin for one night when vising Yosemite. The cabin was very clean and comfortable, and the owner was very responsive and accommodating. We'd definitely stay here again.

Owner response:Thank you for your kindness...

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, families with young children, sightseeing, families with teenagers.

crystal green

Guest: crystal (morgan hill)
Date of Stay: 08/20/11 Review Submitted: 08/30/11

our families had a terrific time at your clean well kept up cozy cabin and will be enjoying many great times there again.... we loved the beach played in the sand and had a wonderful picninc with all of us.. it was well roomy enough and well managed.. thank you for a wonderful stay... and we'll be looking foward to another trip up there soon....

Recommended for:Pet owners, romantic getaway, tourists without a car, adventure seekers, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children, people with disabilities, sightseeing, families with teenagers.

DO NOT RENT FROM THIS PERSON

Guest: Irritated (Bay area)
Date of Stay: 07/31/11 Review Submitted: 08/25/11

Read her other negative reviews, there is a pattern. It makes me wonder if the positive reviews are bogus. First you will not hear from the owner within the 24 hours window she claims she will contact you in with the code to get into the house. We did not recieve the code until we arrived in Groveland and only after calling and e-mailing her. Then you get the key and notice that it just spins in the lock, only through sheer willpower will you get the door open. Then you enter and notice that nothing has been cleaned. There are crumbs in the sink with ants crawling all over them. Then you enter the bedroom only to find that the beds look like someone just crawled out of them. In the bathrooms you will find wet and dirty towels and one half roll of toilet paper. When you tell her about this (via e-mail, she won't return your calls) she will tell you there must have been a mix up and will refund you your cleaning deposit. Well I can tell you that it has now been three weeks and we have yet to see our security deposit (with cleaning fee). She will tell you all sorts of excuses why. Lives in the country - slow mail. I noticed with the other bad reviews she claimed Paypal messed things up or there is a family emergency. Ours was "the check is in the mail" then to "it must have got lost I will overnight it to you" to (now two days later still not check) we have all been sick and one in the hospital. I am sure she will write a retort claiming I was unreasonable and that she tried to get my deposit back to me. She can't help that the check got lost in the mail or that her family all got sick at the same time. All I can say is do not trust this person. There are plenty of other nice vacation homes to stay at. Again look at her other bad reviews - we are all saying the same thing. Be wary of the positive ones.

Owner response:Interesting review. First she said "We enjoyed our time at Pine Mountain Lake and plan on returning next summer." (her quote) Then there WAS a glitch in the mail when I sent her refund check and I even took a picture of the torn envelope that was returned to me by the post office and emailed it to her (I still have it). It evidently got caught in the mail sorter(that's what the PO said). Even after seeing the picture, she later admitted to me that she has cancer so she does not have much patience for anything. I am really sorry about all of it, but here are a few of the items on the SIGNED contract I have that need to be clarified to anyone reading this...: 1. If anything is wrong with my home when you enter, call me immediately and I will make it right." My house phone has nationwide service. There was no call. My crew evidently messed up, but I would have had them go immediately back to the house & rectify the situation - IF I had known. I also had no idea till now there was an issue with the front door. I am told by security that someone tried to break in but were stopped. I will be up there Labor Day weekend and will get it fixed....but, again, I had no idea. I live almost 200 miles from there. 2. "YOU are to contact ME the week before your stay to get the code for the keybox." You did not. 3. When I did not respond immediately to her emails she started threatening me. In fact, My daughter and I WERE sick with the flu for about 3 days & my 11 month old grand daughter WAS in the hospital. I offered to show her the discharge notice, but she just got nastier. To me, she comes first before picking up emails. I did, however, answer them when things settled down. My suggestion to this person would be to rent from a service in the future, not a personal home. You will spend ALOT more per night than you paid from me, but when you want to bother them 24 hours a day at a moment's notice, or just feel like taking your own personal issues out on them, they will usually respond. I love my home, have a good service, but we are all human. BTW, her money HAS been refunded and it included her cleaning fee because, like I said to her, that was only fair. I still have no idea why she did not pick up the house phone and call me. I had also offered this renter the option of paying the new VRBO rental insurance of $39 INSTEAD of the deposit and she declined it. For future renters, if you are worried about it, PLEASE ask me about the insurance.

Recommended for:

satisfied renter

Guest: erik (CA)
Date of Stay: 06/10/11 Review Submitted: 06/27/11

Modest, no-fuss accommodations in a great location. Owner was easy to work with and polite. no problems with deposit and great communication before and after our stay. So for the very reasonable price this was everything we expected and hoped for, thank you so much!

Recommended for:Pet owners, age 55+, sightseeing.

Cozy and Comfy!

Guest: Melissa (San Francisco Bay Area)
Date of Stay: 04/23/11 Review Submitted: 05/14/11

My husband and I, plus another couple, recently spent 6 days in this property, and enjoyed every minute. The cabin's location, a gated lake community, was peaceful and wooded....complete with ample oppotunities for deer sightings. The cabin itself was clean, comfortable and well equipped. We took advantage of the BBQ and deck setting on several occassions, and enjoyed star gazing, as well. What we appreciated most was the central location of the property.....a short drive to Yosemite and quaint Gold Country towns....the perfect home base for day trips. In the evening, we unwound from our adventures with a serene walk to the lake. Thank you so much, Mindy, for your hospitality, quick and thorough response to our questions, and prompt return of our deposit. We are already planning another visit in August, and hope your property is available. Melissa and Jeff San Francisco Bay Area

Recommended for:Pet owners, romantic getaway, adventure seekers, girls getaway, age 55+, sightseeing, families with teenagers.

We were relaxed

Guest: Wedding (Santa Barbara)
Date of Stay: 05/05/11 Review Submitted: 05/14/11

I wasn't sure what to expect. The cabin was cozy. For the money and the reason why we went, we had a good time and relaxed all weekend. All the supplies were there. The cabin lacked towels but we bought some good ones at a local store. Other than that, we feel that it was a great experience, cozy, and will be back in the future. Mindy and I corresponded via e-mail and gave our deposit back with in a week of being back. No problems at all. If you are looking for a cozy cabin, a quiet place to relax for the weekend, and have quality time with your family, this is the place.

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, girls getaway.

Ideal cabin

Guest: Mario (Derby, England)
Date of Stay: 08/20/10 Review Submitted: 05/02/11

I am a fair and honest person and these sentiments cover my review. Yes, I also experienced deposit return problems but this has now been returned and having spoken to the owner I genuinely believe that an unfortunate set of circumstances had beset her. I also believe that she has been extemely embarressed by the situations she found herself in making it difficult to communicate in a manner perhaps she should have. The cabin is dated, no two ways about it, but it is cozy, in a great locality, ideal for Yosemiti (45mins drive away) and suited are requirements down to the ground. As someone else has commented, don't come here if you want lavish luxury, for the price asked you just won't get that. For that price you do get a few cob webs and tired fittings but what an area to get them in, bang in the middle of glorious woodland that's full of wildlife right on your doorstep, literally.

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, sightseeing.

Dirty and dangerous property with an unresponsive owner and no deposit returned

Guest: Another Frustrated Renter (San Diego)
Date of Stay: 12/26/10 Review Submitted: 04/03/11

We stayed here at the end of Dec, 2011. I completly concur with reviews from "Outraged", "G &J" and "Extremely Frustrated". I still have neither received my deposit, nor a response to many emails and phone messages. I finally filed a complaint with the BBB and got a response to that in less than 24 hours from the owner. In this response she claimed we threw a "loud party" and caused damage to the property. Our group was 6 people, two 50+, two 35+ and two young children - we are not the party type. Also in the BBB claim, the owner stated that she had contacted me on this and was waiting on her cleaning lady to check the place over. The owner had the BBB claim dismissed as it was a personal rental and not associated with the owner's real estate agency. After the contact through BBB, I received absoultly no response from her to date. All I have seen from the owner is lies and lack of response. We cleaned the property when we arrived, but it is at a point where things just need replaced. There were spiders EVERYWHERE, along with cobwebs gallore!! The carpet is stained. The couch is just gross. The "cleaning lady" that the owner always refers to obviously is a lie. Not only is the place dirty, but also dangerous and I am sure would fail an inspection. The place is primarily heated via a wood burning stove, yet there were no batteries (none, not dead, but removed) in any smoke alarms!!! The stair and balcony rail spindles are too far apart -- enough for both my 4 and 8 year old children to fit through and fall. The railing on the deck is loose and poorly repaired. The contract you will be asked to sign even states that you are not to lean against the rail due to this (that should have been a sign). As others have stated, there were broken shelves in the fridge and other broken items around the house. There are no covers on some of the thermostats for the baseboard heat. I have pictures of all of this, and, unfortunately, will be filing legal action if this is not resolved. The owner is completly unresponsive, refusing to return any email or phone calls!! If anyone else is in this same situation, I am interested in discussing what actions we may want to take together: pmlrenter at gmail dot com If you are looking for a rental, I highly recommend looking elsewhere for a property. I also recommend VRBO step in and terminate the owner's account. As for the owner - last chance before a law suit!! Do the right thing!!

Owner response:This entire review is ridiculous. My home is NOT dirty. I DO have a housekeeper. It would pass any inspection given..and the MOST ridiculous is saying the home is heated primarily with a wood stove! While there IS a wood stove to help make the home comfy *& charming, my home has CENTRAL HEATING!!! The contract states not to lean on the rail to keep children & others from standing or sitting on it! Our deck is raised and it WOULD be dangerous if you fell! He contradicts himself when first he says I never return his emails then he says I told him I was waiting for my housekeeper to verify the place was left ok. Obviously I DID contact him. I also have pictures of the mess that the place was left (we always take photos)...and to me (and Kim, the nonexistent housekeeper) it looked like a huge party was held. Regardless, He was mailed his deposit. I had an issue with PayPal so I mailed it to him. I hope that others might take the time to read some of the other positive reviews and give my home a try. It is a cute comfy CABIN. Perhaps there are those who just don't understand that and are expecting granite & marble. Thank you! MS

Recommended for:

RENTER BEWARE!!!!

Guest: Extremely Frustrated!! (San Jose, CA )
Date of Stay: 01/14/11 Review Submitted: 03/09/11

My family and I rented this cabin in January 2011. I don't know where to start....When we entered the home it had not been cleaned. We had to clean it prior to beginning our stay-that should have been the first sign! As soon as we had good cell phone connections I sent an email to owner to let her know about the various issues we found and to inquire about the refund of the deposit. Due to the state of the property we also requested a refund of the carpet cleaning fee that was tacked onto the pet deposit (the carpet had definitely not been cleaned in quite some time!) ....This request has never been even responded to. To date we have yet to receive the full refund of the deposit!! It will be two months since the rental next Monday!!! I cannot put into words my frustration! The owner refunded only part of the deposit last week, stating that PayPal had incorrectly processed the refund amount! This is absolutely outrageous! PayPal will process the amount you put in!!! Then she sent me an email that I would receive the remaining amount this week....why the delay????? PayPal is available 24/7...it is Wednesday night and still no refund! I have sent multiple emails and no response..... I am not one to write reviews and I try to be understanding, but I urge you to beware when renting this property!! If I don't receive the refund ASAP I am going to be forced to take legal action, which is an absolute obsurdity and waste of my time!!! Think twice before renting this property, trust me it is not worth the headache in the end!!

Recommended for:

Exactly what I was looking for.

Guest: satisfiedcustomer (Central Coast California)
Date of Stay: 02/19/10 Review Submitted: 02/22/11

In the hustle an bustle of everyday life, we just wanted to get away. Not some vacation where there is so much to do that it isn't even relaxing. Come to this little piece of heaven to get away from it all, with the great views, wood burning stove, comfy furniture, and a whole weekend to simply unwind. Or, if you are so inclined, the town is very close by and the beach area is so stunning, I won numerous photo contests with the pictures I took there. My family and I have stayed at this home multiple times over the years and each time have been pleased, rested and ready to put noses to the grindstone once more. We've never found the home unsatisfactory in any way, though it isn't the Hilton or Marriott, it is quaint, and quiet, and secluded.

Recommended for:Pet owners, romantic getaway, girls getaway, sightseeing, families with teenagers.