Cabin Fever from Philadelphia

Guest: Bryan F.
Date of Stay: 12/30/11 Review Submitted: 01/12/12

We had a mix of 15 friends and couples that rented this house for New Year's weekend and were very impressed. In addition to the large living and kitchen area, the large game room/bar area in the basement and 2nd floor loft provided plenty of room for all of us - it was sometimes hard to believe there were 14 other people in the house. There wasn't much snow the weekend we rented the property so we were extremely lucky there was plenty to do around the house. Whether it be playing games in the game room, playing football and building camp fires in the large front yard, or hanging out on the back deck/hot tub area, we were never bored, and everyone had a great New Year's weekend. The owner was easy to get a hold of, and extremely helpful in giving us some great advice to check out the hiking trails right off of the back yard that lead to a creek and large river only a short hike away. Highly Recommended - we will be back when there is more snow!!!

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Awesome weekend!!!

Guest: Omar (College Poimt, Queens NY)
Date of Stay: 12/16/11 Review Submitted: 12/20/11

My friends and i had a blast at this place. We rented the house for the weekend, hung out and enjoyed playing games friday night but the purpose for the trip was to go skking and so we did, Saturday and Sunday. However i must say that we one weekend is not enough to enjoy this place. I'm looking forward to setting up a one week vacation so that we can really relax, ski, enjoy the front yard bon fire, jacuzzi, the hiking trail in the back etc. One weekend is not enough!!!

Recommended for:Girls getaway, families with teenagers, adventure seekers, sightseeing, families with young children.

Nancy from Lockport, NY

Guest: nancy (lockport, ny)
Date of Stay: 08/12/11 Review Submitted: 09/05/11

My family and some friends rented this property for a popular weekend in Windham. We were more than pleased. There is plenty of room. We had older children with us who enjoyed the fire pit area, set up different sporting games in the spacious front yard, spent countless nite time hours in the game room and hot tub. I would recommend this property for anyone.....you will not be disappointed and the owner was more than accomadating!! A 10, for sure!!

Recommended for:Girls getaway, families with teenagers, adventure seekers, romantic getaway, sightseeing, families with young children.

Great time

Guest: Mary (NYC)
Date of Stay: 10/07/10 Review Submitted: 12/11/10

Recently stayed for a fall long weekend. What a great location and such a great property. House lies between Hunter and Windham and was the ideal staging point for our trip into the mountains. From here all of the major Catskill attractions are within a very easy drive. We went hiking on a new trail almost every day and on off days decided to enjoy the beautiful fall weather by relaxing in the hot tub to sooth aching muscles watching the wind blow through the trees. The home is located on a dead end so its very peaceful. There's plenty of parking space, we had quite a few guests and up to 5 or 6 cars was no problem. House has a beautiful yard thats a 2 in 1, the front has a great square of grass lined by trees so its very private and great for lawn games while the rear of the house looks into a mature pine forest and it has a real woodlands clearing feel - this was the best place for me, I spent hours there reading and listening to the woodpecker. Loved the hot tub and deck area, the chairs/table were great for outdoor eating. The inside was quite nice with a large living/dining/kitchen area with patio doors all the way round, great for keeping an eye on the kids while they played on the deck. The kitchen is large and pretty well equipped for a rental property in my experience. Bedrooms were all quite large, some with adorable mountain decor. Linens that were provided were freshly washed and clean. The room that got the most traffic was the play room in the basement. This became a real focal fun spot for all guests. There was foosball, ping-pong, pool and darts, couches and a tv. This was our main gathering place after dinner, kids played the games while the adults relaxed, and played some games too. Overall everything was great, only reason we had to call the owner was to find the main heating switch when we had big drop in the outside temperature, he promptly directed us to the switch and was very helpful. I read the previous review and have to agree with the owner. There are at least two shopping options within a 10 minute drive that we found and a great bagel/coffee bar on the way to Windham. I also expect to purchase some general house supplies as no matter how much owners try there is always something that runs out. I've rented houses from VRBO in 4 different states and this house offers lots of amenities at great value, its not the Ritz and thats not what we were looking. Clean and well appointed for family recreational needs. Highly recommended!

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

Very Disappointed

Guest: amensch (suburban NYC)
Date of Stay: 05/28/10 Review Submitted: 06/20/10

My family of 14--8 adults and 6 children--wanted a country getaway for a Memorial Day weekend reunion. We weren't looking for luxury, just some comfortable relaxation in a place with fun activities for multiple ages. This place sounded perfect--and the price was right. Unfortunately, the house is very poorly maintained. The owner was not nearby and was only reachable by phone--and after we called him twice in our first hour (the utterly filthy indoor oven wouldn't work and there was no hot water) he stopped answering his phone. There were no instructions for the care of the hot tub and it took a full day before we could reach him to find out even where the cleansing chemicals were stored. Basic amenities (like paper towels and napkins) were not supplied and the nearest grocery was a half hour away. If we had stayed for four days (instead of three) we would have run out of toilet paper and dishwashing soap. The linens were old and pilled and didn't fit at least one of the mattresses. One bathroom door was off its hinges. A makeshift gate to keep toddlers away from the dangerous front steps collapsed upon being pushed by a 2 year old; a sofabed in the loft had no mattress and a broken frame (making it dangerous for an unaware adult to plop down on it). The location is terrific, and in the end we all had a good time, but we'd never return. One of the young adults in our party put it perfectly: "This is a great place for a whole bunch of guys who want to spend a weekend skiing, watching TV and getting drunk." For a family group, ranging in age from 1 month to 73 years, it was a dud, made much worse by the always uncooperative and occasionally nasty owner.

Owner response:Well it took seven years of renting before we got our first bad review. This particualr renter had trouble working our oven and finding our hot water switch. We like many owners on this site own these homes as a second home and try our best to make everyone happy. In this particalr review keep three things in mind that the reviewer said. Terrific location, right price and eveyone had a good time. I mjust say her commnet about the Oven was correct as it was 15 years old. In response to this complaint we replaced the oven with a brand new stove in Fall 2010. In repsonse to some of the other items I'm afraid they are incorrect. Their are 3 small grocery stores within a 10 minute drive of the house. If you want a subuarban mega grocery store their is a Grand Union 12 minutes away in Tannersville. We recently replaced the sheets on 5 of the beds in the house. We just fixed the gate on the deck and have gone through and made sure all the sheets are sized for the mattrresses. The hot tub is brand new and requires zero maintenance from the renters because we have a service person come to the house prior to every rental. We have a number of great references available upon request.

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