Vacation Rentals by Owner

Girls weekend

Guest: Birthday girl! (Riva, MD)
Date of Stay: 04/20/12 Review Submitted: 05/10/12

I rented Grape Expectations for a "girls weekend" to celebrate my "medicare" birthday. The house was so perfect! There were 12 of us who stayed and plenty of sleeping room for everyone. The two master bedrooms were terrific, even though we never had time to use the jacuzi tubs. Having some rooms with twin beds and others with queens worked out perfectly. I own a couple of condos, so had expectations of what the kitchen would have in it. You could have fixed a gourmet catered meal. There was no piece of equipment that one could need that was not there. There were plenty of dishes, glasses (both glass and plastic), and anything else that we might have wanted. We did cook in Friday night and did not lack for anything. I had looked at several rentals in the Bethany area and found Grape Expecations to be exactly what I was looking for. The description and pictures were accurate. I spoke with the owner several times and found her to be exceedingly helpful. I had a quick question while there and she was available by cell phone to give me the information I needed Bear Trap is close to Bethany Beach, shopping, restaurants, grocery stores, and much of any thing else you would want to do. We ate Saturday night at DiFebos in Bethany on Route 26. I would highly recommend it. The food was excellent and more than enough to also take some home. What a perfect place to stay. We are already planning our next weekend there for 2013!

Recommended for:Age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway.

Golf Trip

Guest: drj (pa)
Date of Stay: 10/13/11 Review Submitted: 11/30/11

2nd time we have had the pleasure to stay . Great time , very clean and comfortable. We have had 6 guys each time with lots of room . Great location . Price great also .

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Our week at the beach

Guest: Ro4jc (Odenton, MD)
Date of Stay: 09/03/11 Review Submitted: 10/06/11

Our family had a fabulous, relaxing time in this very spacious and comfortable home. Although the weather was iffy some days, there was plenty to do within the home and nearby. We enjoyed the heated outdoor pool as well as the indoor pool, gym and hot tub during our stay. My kids played ping pong, tennis, and will bring their golf clubs next year. The home provided so many items that we didn't have to pack everything but the kitchen sink to go on our vacation. The kitchen was spacious and provided ample room to have a large family gathering to share a meal. We have booked it again next year. Thank you so much!

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

We loved it!

Guest: Amanda (Crofton, MD)
Date of Stay: 08/13/11 Review Submitted: 09/18/11

We had a wonderful week at this beautifully decorated townhouse! This was our first time at Grape Expectations; we had a large group with 5 small young children and it was perfect for our family. The rooms were spacious, beds comfortable, and spread out nicely which helped limit the noise for the little ones. The home is very child friendly, includes a pack n play, childrens size table and booster seat which made things a lot easier. We loved the family/play room downstairs and spent many evenings there playing the wii, watching a movie or playing a board game. The community is beautiful, and Grape Expectation is just a quick walk to the pool (just across the parking lot) and the club house. The pool is great, good size and had a baby pool which was nice. We had one cloudy day and discovered the play ground area which is in the community (driving distance though) and is a very large, well equipped, clean play ground. All in all we highly recommend Grape Expectations and look forward to going back again next year! I also want to thank the owners who were very friendly and always available to respond to any questions we had. They really added a personal touch to our experience; I had several conversations with Kathleen (via phone and email) who was easily reachable and accomodating. Thanks again to you both!!

Recommended for:Families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, romantic getaway.

Perfect vacation rental!

Guest: Lisa (JC)
Date of Stay: 08/06/11 Review Submitted: 09/15/11

I can not say enough about how wonderful this house is! We had 5 adults and 6 teenagers and everyone had a great time. There is so much space and the house has everything you could ever need. We especially loved the first floor master suite, it was perfect for the grandparents as they didn't have to go up and down stairs. The rec room was so much fun for all the teenagers and gave them their own space. This house is so clean and we loved that we didn't have to bring linens and bath towels!! You don't even have to bring anything for the beach, everything is right there in the garage. This was by far the best vacation experience, we had never rented a house before and now I will never go back to a hotel! The property is beautiful, we loved the pool at the clubhouse and the golfing was great too! Thanks to Kathy for a beautiful place to stay, the kitchen was better stocked then my house!!

Recommended for:Families with teenagers, families with young children.

Excellent Townhome!!!

Guest: BobnBrandy (Nescopeck, PA)
Date of Stay: 07/30/11 Review Submitted: 09/15/11

We stayed at Bear Trap July 30th-Aug. 6th, 2011 and LOVED it! Everything was PERFECT! Alan & Kathleen have thought of everything! We are a large family with 7 kids on the trip and there was plenty of room for EVERYONE! The game room downstairs was perfect! We had 1 day that was rainy and the kids were thrilled to stay at the house and play. It is so close to MANY attractions that we got to do so much! Everything is excellant quality and more than enough of everything to accomadate a large group! We didn't want to leave and the kids asked if we could buy it! Totally worth every dollar spent! We loved Alan and Kathleen as our "friends"! Thank you so much for having such an AWESOME rental! Having linens provided was a HUGE asset as well...it would have been A LOT of extra stuff to take if we had to take them and we also would have had to purchase King stuff because we don't have any! Thank so much for everything!

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

Great Family Property

Guest: Elaine (Elmhurst, IL)
Date of Stay: 06/25/11 Review Submitted: 09/25/11

We rented this property June 25, 2011 to July 2, 2011. It confortably slept the 6 adults and 3 children in our family. The games in the lower level, the nearby outdoor pool, and the clay tennis courts worked well for our family. When the refrigerator suddenly needed repair, the owner had the problem solved efficiently. We hope to come back to this lovely townhome.

Recommended for:Families with young children

great resort rental

Guest: mike (syracuse,ny)
Date of Stay: 04/16/11 Review Submitted: 04/27/11

The townhouse is an end unit and was clean and as advertised. It was great to walk to golf course and the recreation center where our guests enjoyed the indoor pool and fitness center. The home was wonderfully decorated and grandchildren loved the foosball, wii, and the ambience of the room. We had 8 guests and there was plenty of room and Kathleen and Alan were helpful with questions and they thought of everything that one could use in the kitchen and home. It was stocked with more items that we have in our own home. We have rented numerous times with VRBO and this home far exceeded our expectations although they advertised accurately. Great home and a resort that has an excellent fitness center as well as indoor pool, hot tub,sauna,outdoor basketball court, a recreation room and a good resort golf course. Would strongly recommend this home and resort.grand children were ages 6 and 8 and they and parents had a great time and would like to return next year even though the weather was not great although far better than Syracuse weather. At least we could wear shorts .

Owner response:Thanks ! We are so pleased that you had a wonderful time. We hope you come back again - and I'll order warmer weather if I can!

Recommended for:Families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, romantic getaway.

Clean and lovely

Guest: Kathleen (PA)
Date of Stay: 10/07/10 Review Submitted: 11/24/10

My family and I stayed here for a long weekend in October. We're a sizable group (5 children) and there were beds for all! It was a lovely house, very clean (and you can take that to the bank as I'm fairly fussy about that one!) and great fun. Having the linens provided came in so handy. Overall, we had a wonderful time and would recommend this house as a clean and comfortable place to stay. Being there in October made the drive to the beach very easy and with the off season rates it was a great deal, too!! Kathleen

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

Best of all our family vacations

Guest: Granjan (Pittsford NY)
Date of Stay: 08/21/10 Review Submitted: 09/16/11

Our family, 2 grandparents, 4 parents and 5 children 14 to 1 year old, takes an annual vacation. This was probably the best we've taken because there was something to do for each age, the house was well equipped and we had 3 floors to spread out in and 3+ bathrooms so no backup. The beach was great, the pools were great as was golf, basketball and tennis. The only awful thing was Grotto pizza and that was not the Youngs fault. We'd do it again!

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

Thanks for a great vacation!

Guest: Maureen (York, PA)
Date of Stay: 08/07/10 Review Submitted: 08/27/10

The listing description was accurate and the photos do reflect the house's appearance and amenities - but it was even more beautiful in person! We couldn't have been happier with our stay. When we arrived the house was spotless - and there was nothing that we needed. The kitchen has more "stuff" than I have at home. Not having to bring sheets, towels, beach chairs and toys was wonderful. I would and will recommend this property to my friends. I hope to be able to return again next year! Thank you again!

Recommended for:Families with teenagers, families with young children.

Must Read Review for all Renters

Guest: Aangerson (New Jersey)
Date of Stay: 07/17/10 Review Submitted: 09/08/10

Below is a letter that was sent to the owner of this rental by certified mail. This will explain our vacation experience. When we arrived on Saturday we found a note left by the cleaning service indicating that the "DOWNSTAIRS BATHROOM IS HARD TO FLUSH - OWNERS HAVE BEEN CALLED". A follow up email from you specified that someone would come by that day to fix the toilet. We did not use the downstairs bedroom as we had planned because we did not want our sons (ages 5 and 8) to have to walk upstairs in the dark if they needed to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. No one showed up to fix the downstairs bathroom (and it was not used for the duration of our stay). At this point we thought, "This is an inconvenience, but not a big deal." Tuesday night, after coming home from dinner at about 11pm, we heard the sound of flowing water coming from downstairs. I ran downstairs to find a flood. I turned off the water and we began cleaning, attempting to absorb as much water as possible. At 6 am the next morning we went to purchase a wet/dry vac from Home Depot (a nearly 2 hour round trip excursion). We wanted to be able to use this area for the remainder of our vacation - we enjoyed playing the Wii, using the foozeball/air hockey table and the watching the large television. These were amenities that attracted us to your home and were important in our selection process. My brother contacted you on Wednesday morning to apprise you of the situation and you assured him that a plumber would come by that day. Wednesday and Thursday passed and the house, especially the downstairs area, began to reek like a mixture of sewage and mildew. The odor permeated the first floor master bedroom and circulated throughout the house via the air conditioner. I cannot begin to describe how repulsive this odor was. The downstairs was unusable - the bedroom, bathroom, and game room. At this point we thought, "We saved up all year for this vacation? This is more than an inconvenience." Friday arrived and so did the plumber and Stanley Steamer. The plumber arrived first and after the ejector pump exploded all over him he came upstairs into the kitchen, shirt off, his body soaked in sewage, and reported to us that the reason for the flood was a broken ejector pump. He said he needed to leave to change his clothes and would return soon. Stanley Steamer came next. They moved freely in and out of the house with all of our belongings in full view.

Owner response:We take great pride in providing our guests with the best possible vacation accommodations and we regret the inconvenience when a home appliance fails when the home is occupied. This equipment failure incident was magnified when the guest attempted to remedy the situation themselves two days before notifying us. We immediately dispatched a plumber after the guest called us late Thursday evening. At 9 am the plumber advised us of the extent of the situation, effected repairs and we called in the carpet cleaner immediately. Due to the severity of the flooding and the length of time the carpets were soaked, we replaced the carpeting throughout the basement. Again, we regret the inconvenience, this is the first time in 8 years a guest experienced an interruption of their vacation. We have offered compensation and will continue to stress to our guests to call us immediately if an incident occurs.

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Best apponited ever

Guest: dana l. (York, PA)
Date of Stay: 05/13/10 Review Submitted: 05/23/10

My husband and I rarely stay in hotels anymore and have therefore used many rental properties. This experience was one of the most organized ever. Someday if we have a rental of our own we hope to use their procedure as a model. Everything you could posibly need was available including those items I kick myself for forgetting everytime. Wonderful set-up for multiple couples- we used it for a golf/shop trip. Everything was clean and as advertised. You won't be sorry.

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

Guest: Monica C and Family
Date of Stay: 08/27/06 Review Submitted: 08/26/06

Returning visitors write on comment card sent to us: " We had another tremendous vacation at "Grape Expectations". The house is very comfortable for all of us. We spent a lot of time at the beach, but also enjoyed the activities at the pavillion. I now have four junior lifeguards!".

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Guest: Roxane
Date of Stay: 07/21/06 Review Submitted: 07/20/06

" Our family vacation at Grape Expectations exceeded our expectations! The resort met the needs of our golfers, swimmers, beach lovers and fitness finatics! The Bear Trap staff was very friendly and Kathleen was accommodating. Best location at Bear Trap!"

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Guestbook Comment

Guest: Jane_HAC41116 (Not Specified)
Date of Stay: 12/01/05 Review Submitted: 12/06/05

We rented this house for a Thanksgiving getaway and we had a great time in the house and the area. The house is the best house I've ever rented with a very good price. It's so pretty and well maintained. The house has a theme: Grape Escape, the room decoration, even the bowls, plates in the kitchen match the theme. Everything in the house are high quality. The kitchen is full of supplies, and the owner even provides a lot of "extras"(coffee, tea bag, popcorn, all kinds sauces etc). We all had a great time in this house and we are thinking about going back to there in May!

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Guestbook Comment

Guest: Carol Towne (Commack, New York)
Date of Stay: 09/01/05 Review Submitted: 09/06/05

All eleven of us, 2 grandparents, 4 parents and 5 kids ages 4-12, rented this condo for a week and did we luck out. Grape Expectations is the perfect place in every way. It is clean, pretty, well stocked and roomy. The pool is a few yards away as is the shuttle to Bethany Beach. The owners really care and were extremely helpful with all of our vacation plans. We had a wonderful week.

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Guestbook Comment

Guest: Anne_HAC36643 (Not Specified)
Date of Stay: 09/01/05 Review Submitted: 09/01/05

We had a wonderful time at your vacation home. There were so many things to do in the area. Perhaps the most relaxing activity was when we attended the play in the amphitheater on the green. Even the most skilled cooks among us found all we needed in your very well stocked kitchen. We were grateful to have linens and towels supplied. You were right about the convenient shuttle to the beach! Thank you again for sending your newsletters with the helpful updates.

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Guestbook Comment

Guest: Mary D. (Not Specified)
Date of Stay: 06/01/05 Review Submitted: 06/29/05

This vacation home is truly top notch!! The home is gorgeous -beautiful decor, spacious rooms, sparkling clean and in a perfect location in Bear Trap. The owner is superb - she has thought of EVERY DETAIL!! We have vacationed in Bethany for over 10 years and this is, without question, the nicest home we have stayed in, and the most relaxing due to all of the amenities provided by the owner! It's a short walk to the pool or clubhouse. The beautiful village green in front of the house was perfect for the kids to play on. We also enjoyed the fountains right outside our door! We look forward to returning, hopefully next year!

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Guestbook Comment

Guest: Margaret_HAC26991 (Kensington, MD)
Date of Stay: 04/01/05 Review Submitted: 04/05/05

Wow! You will never deal with a more organized and friendly person than the owner of this property. The home is exquisite, generously stocked with kitchen supplies (even spices!), and beautifully maintained. The best part, though, is that you don't have to bring your own sheets and towels...the beds are most comfortable and the bath towels are luxurious! Do not hesitate to rent this home...it is perfect!!!

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Guestbook Comment

Guest: Laura Way (Newark, DE)
Date of Stay: 12/01/03 Review Submitted: 12/01/03

Our Book Club had a terrific annual retreat at Grape Escapes last weekend. Now that we've seen your lovely house, of course, the name makes so much sense! All of us were in awe of your decorating and taste. We all felt that your home was by far the nicest beach rental any of us had ever stayed in. Not only did we appreciate how well-stocked it was with paper products and supplies, but the sheets & towels service was an absolute luxury. I think you may have ruined all future rentals for us... how can we ever go back to lugging everything with us after our experience at Grape Escapes? We also all commented on how extraordinary your cleaning crew is. None of us had ever seen a rental so clean. Most of us even took the time to actually use the soaking tubs - something none of us dare to do too often away from home. Having the rec room was a nice addition. We really did need the extra space. Not that we actually spend much time talking about books, but we do talk a lot! It was nice to have enough room to be comfortable and spread out. What a treat it was to stay in your property. Grape Escape was indeed a great escape for us.

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Guestbook Comment

Guest: Keeney Family (Columbia, MD)
Date of Stay: 08/01/03 Review Submitted: 08/27/03

Had an awesome time! We all loved the beautiful home and enjoyed the terrific ammenities at Bear Trap. Great house, pools, gym, golf....beach shuttle! What more could you ask for? Can't wait to go back!

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Guestbook Comment

Guest: Suzanne M. Homel (Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania)
Date of Stay: 08/01/03 Review Submitted: 08/19/03

My family along with my sister's thoroughly enjoyed our week at Bear Trap. The home was absolutely awesome! We felt as though we were in a 5 star hotel. The amenities within the home and development were outstanding. Everyone had plenty of space and we could not have wanted for anything. Everyone should get an opportunity to spend a week at the beach in this manner. Go for it!

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