Vacation Rentals by Owner

What a great Labor Day Weekend

Guest: Adam
Date of Stay: 09/04/11 Review Submitted: 09/05/11

Neal, It was good meeting you this morning. I just wanted to thank you for the use of your lovely home. Our gang caught fish and crabs off the dock and loved swimming in the pool. In the evenings we sat on the covered deck, played guitars, had sing alongs and enjoyed the tranquil cool air. The house had everything we needed and it was very clean upon our arrival. Im thinking about booking it for Thanksgiving as it is a great place for the family to meet.

Recommended for:

Morgan Drive rental

Guest: Aliza
Date of Stay: 08/22/11 Review Submitted: 08/26/11

Neal and Mary , I am so grateful to have found this house! My family and I had a enchanting time here. Even during the earthquake! Thank you!!! Warmest Wishes The Ween and Hares Families

Recommended for:

Guest: Dan
Date of Stay: 08/14/11 Review Submitted: 08/17/11

Neal, Thanks for a fun week. Dan

Recommended for:

Honest Review

Guest: tdh11 (allentown, pa)
Date of Stay: 08/06/11 Review Submitted: 10/11/11

We rent on VRBO every year and this is the first time we've felt compelled to write a review. Please, if you're considering renting this property, read the whole review, it's honest! We will start with the inside. The kitchen was small, dingy and outdated. We knew from the pictures that it wasn't great, but it was far below our expectations. For example, the silverware drawer had crumbs in it and the stovetop was so old that you couldn't see the numbers to turn the knobs. In addition, there was food in the refridgerator and pantry. We weren't sure who it belonged to, but we assumed it was the owner's. The TV never worked in the family room and when we contacted the owner, he told us to plug it in...but it was. The bedrooms upstairs were hot, despite the air conditioning, so we were told by the owner to keep the curtains closed. Most of the bedroom closets were unusable b/c the owner's belongings were in them. The inside living/family space was decent with reasonable furniture, but every drawer that we opened had junk in it such as old tools, screws, nails, etc. The water was rusty and smelled of rotten eggs despite "reverse osmosis". The outside living space was great in many ways. The decks were wonderful, we had our own dock slip and the beach was good for the kids. The pool was also a nice feature; it was clean but very old. The lining was coming off the bottom and the trim around it was falling apart. That was a minor safety concern with children running around. Underneath the deck, there was a ton of junk which made us nervous with the kids, especially when we noticed a lawn mower left in the middle of the yard. The description says there are multiple grills. We found 3 and only 1 barely worked. When we contacted the owner, he told us to check the tanks (which of course we had done) and then gave us an explanantion about sparkers and gas lines, etc. He eventually showed up and handed us $20 for new tanks. Lastly, there was a groundskeeper on the property daily. He showed up in the morning and tried to look busy all day, cleaning the pool, raking the lawn, trimming the hedges. It was very, very distracting while we were on vacation. Maintenance should be done before the clients arrive. On a positive note, the location is great, right on the water. And, the owner did respond to our concerns (albeit with a minor attitude) promptly. We just think that if you spend a lot of $ on a vacation property, it should be worth it. This property was not.

Recommended for:

Guest: Kate
Date of Stay: 07/18/11 Review Submitted: 07/21/11

I just wanted to let you know again how wonderful we thought your house was and what a pleasure it was to work with you. We are planning to do this reunion weekend annually, so we will defintely give you a call when we plan to be back in the MD area (probably the summer of '13).

Recommended for:

Great home for a group

Guest: STEW (Arlington, VA)
Date of Stay: 07/15/11 Review Submitted: 07/21/11

We recently had a college reunion weekend with several couples and our kids and this house was perfect! There was lots of common space for us all to be together and plenty of room so we were not on top of each other. The beach and the view of the water were fantastic and everyone loved having the pool to cool off in! The owner was a pleasure to work with and really thought of every detail we might need to consider. I would recommend renting this house to anyone.

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

Our Wedding was a grand success!

Guest: Dan and Marija
Date of Stay: 06/23/11 Review Submitted: 06/27/11

Neal and Mary, Thanks again for the house rental. The weather was wonderful and the facility was perfect for our rehearsal dinner and wedding the following day. The Herrington Harbor catering group did a wonderful job.and The food and props were first class. The access to the back yard was great for the elderly and having the beauty of the Ches. Bay and beach as a back drop made the ceremony a dream. Thanks Dan and Marija

Recommended for:

Guest: John
Date of Stay: 06/02/11 Review Submitted: 06/11/11

Neal and Mary My wife and I wanted to thank you again for the joy of staying at your property this past weekend. We had few couples from our church homegroup come over to visit, all stayed Fri night, only two of the couples stayed Sat night. We had an awesome time, different people made meals to spread the joy around. Great time of friends and fellowship. Wonderful comfortable weather; could not have picked a better weekend. We tried to pick up after ourselves as best we could to put things back as we found them and to clean before we left. I hope we succeeded. Again, thank you.

Recommended for:

Great Vacation HOme

Guest: John Finnety
Date of Stay: 06/01/11 Review Submitted: 06/11/11

My wife and I wanted to thank you again for the joy of staying at your property this past weekend. We had few couples from our church homegroup come over to visit, all stayed Fri night, only two of the couples stayed Sat night. We had an awesome time, different people made meals to spread the joy around. Great time of friends and fellowship. Wonderful comfortable weather; could not have picked a better weekend. We tried to pick up after ourselves as best we could to put things back as we found them and to clean before we left. I hope we succeeded. Again, thank you. Regards, John

Recommended for:

a great family reunion location

Guest: Mom (NJ)
Date of Stay: 04/16/11 Review Submitted: 05/03/11

lots to see and do at the house and in the area

Recommended for:Families with teenagers, families with young children, tourists without a car, sightseeing.

Not nearly as good as advertised

Guest: Kristen (Melrose, MA)
Date of Stay: 07/23/10 Review Submitted: 01/05/11

We met up here for a summer reunion with friends and our children, and while there were some very nice features of the property, overall everyone was extremely disappointed. Being that we were there during the middle of summer with kids, we were all very excited about the pool. Unfortunately, the pool appeared to have not been cleaned in a long, long time. The pool was so disgusting that several friends refused to enter entirely, despite 95 degree heat! Another major downside to the house is the kitchen. While the view is lovely and the bedrooms are in OK condition, the kitchen is tiny, outdated, disheveled (dishes, utensils, and cookware was mostly missing, and what was there seemed to be thrown in piles randomly in the cabinets), but worst of all dingy. (Note that there are no pictures of the kitchen on the website!) Those were the highlights of the lowlights, but suffice to say that it’s in your best interest to find another option if you’re looking for a place to stay near Annapolis.

Owner response:Thank you for your comments as we take pride in our rental home. The complaints registered by this party were not noted upon their arrival. I did indeed speak with them upon their arrival and I asked about any concerns or questions that they may have... They deemed the house acceptable and clean. The entire home is photographed prior to each rental to verify its condition for this exact reason. We have a staff of 7 people that prepare the home and grounds for each rental. These people are professionals and do an excellent job in preparation. All linens, towels and bed shams are laundered and sanitized prior to each arrival. The pool was crystal clear upon the arrival of the rental party. The weather was extremely hot for the month and therefore we ran the filter 24/7 to keep clarity in the pool. Our experience is that it takes 48 hours of normal usage to create such a slimy mess. We provide pool people daily to keep clarity and sanitation. There was never a call on Saturday about the pools condition… otherwise a crew would have been on it immediately. The kitchen is old with new appliances that all work perfectly fine. Additional photos of the kitchen are part of our response package to all our renters. The size of this area should not have been a surprise. There is dinnerware and silverware for 15 along with lots of cooking utensils pots and pans with additional cooking gear stored in the garage. Additional formal dinner china for serving 8 is located in the dining room. There are also 3 BBQs with extra bottles of gas and 4 refrigerators. In an effort to keep the peace we did not charge them and overtime charge fees; or any thing for the broken.items noted. As we wish to do our best we even gave them a credit for the laundry fees because of the pool issue. We will endeavor to always put our best foot forward with each rental party.

Recommended for:

Guest: David K
Date of Stay: 07/25/09 Review Submitted: 09/15/10

Wow what a wonderful casual home. I brought my sail boat here and was able to keep it at the pier with no additional charge. My children, Davey, Lisa and Bonnie just loved the pool and the beach. We had a fantastic crab feast on the pier with the crabs we caught earlier in the week. Thanks for the great home.

Recommended for:

Guest: Don
Date of Stay: 07/04/09 Review Submitted: 09/15/10

We had our family vacation for the first time in the Annapolis area. As we are avid boaters we rented a sailboat from Neal and relished for two weeks sailing, swimming and touring the area. We brought the family dog which was able to be kept on the property by mutliple fences. What a fab time we had!

Recommended for: