Fall Getaway

Guest: pooh (Boise, Idaho)
Date of Stay: 09/23/11 Review Submitted: 10/01/11

The house is great for a large crowd. I loved the kitchen, I could wash dishes all day with that view. I liked the way it was set up, so several of us could be in there doing different things. We had a bad wind storm twice while we were there, but kept cozy. We enjoyed playing games in the dining area and watching the ocean. We had a few great days of weather on the beach. I like the way the warm sun came in the dining windows and door. The deck was great. We did not get to enjoy the hottub this time, we had too many other things going on. I would stay here again if I go to that area of the coast. The new floors will be beautiful when they are all done. The neighbors were nice too. Thanks for renting it to us. God Bless.

Owner response:Thank you Vickie! You and your family are welcome back anytime! So glad you enjoyed the house. Stephany

Recommended for:Tourists without a car, sightseeing, girls getaway, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Beautiful new floors

Guest: Frisbee Golfer (Portland)
Date of Stay: 09/17/11 Review Submitted: 09/27/11

If I could afford the place, I would buy it but for now, I can afford to stay a few nights and have fun. Love the view from the kitchen! Awesome path to the beach.

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

DO NOT RENT. Unsafe, Unsanitary, and not fit for human occupancy. Stay far away.

Guest: Andy (Portland, OR/USA)
Date of Stay: 08/21/11 Review Submitted: 09/02/11

DO NOT rent this house. The property is unsafe, unsanitary and is not fit for human occupancy. My mother in law rented it last week for 7 days for our annual family vacation. We endured only two days and could stay no longer due to health safety, structural safety and fire code issues. The pictures on this site are misleading, but I have 30+ pictures if you want to see what this place really looks like. We have contacted Clatsop County and the Better Business Bureau regarding this property. I can't stress enough how poor this property is, but here are some of the major issues and it really is this bad. 1. There is mold and mildew throughout the house, making it unfit to breath, especially in the bed rooms. The smell of the house especially in the bedrooms is thick, musty and ripe with mold/mildew. This is a health hazard to any occupants and a nightmare for me, my kids and niece who have allergies and asthma. The house was unsanitary and has not been properly cleaned for a very long time. 2. The main shower was covered with mildew and has a 4 inch crack in the fiberglass subfloor with a razor edge on it which can easily lacerate a foot. The water leaking through the crack will only lend to the mold and mildew problem and destruction of the subfloor. 3. The roof is leaking badly in the East end of the house and nearly every room shows signs of water leaks or damage. We had to use 5 pots to help catch water, but the water stains give away the fact that it has been leaking for a long time. 4. There are fire code violations in the East end house, which is a converted garage. The lock is a key deadbolt lock without a key, which wouldn't help anyway because the bed is blocking the exit so no one would be able to get out and firefighters would be unable to enter in case of a fire. 5. The car port and gazebo have severe structural issues that need immediate repair and are unsafe to use at this time. The Simpson ties and hurricane straps are completely desiccated and what you see is a rusty imprint of the strap that used to be there. The West and East end of the house, additions show severe settling, sagging and wood rot. 6. In addition to health, safety and fire code violations the house is decrepit and in need of repair. The kitchen sink is faucet is not properly attached, most heat registers are rusted and in poor condition, a toilet needs repair and windows are in need of repair or replacement. Stay far away from this property.

Owner response:Judy did not bother to tell the reader that all was fine until Arch Cape had a freak storm on Monday night August 22. This storm produced hurricane force winds and rain, which damaged our roof in the “back house”, the "front house" was fine. This tenant makes claims that are untrue starting with her comment about a "converted garage". My home has not such structure! We are not in violation of any fire codes, as we have regular inspections by a licensed inspector. In her comments, she seems to think she is a fire inspector, a contractor, an electrician, and a structural engineer. The electricity was off for several hours throughout Arch Cape. This was all out of my control. During the storm our roof was damaged and has since been replaced with a new roof on the "back house" new wood floors, ceilings fixed with new sheet rock, and new paint. It is very nice and we have had many happy clients over the last 16 years and a huge repeat business with families coming for 9-11 years. I would never rent to her again. Even after making the repairs to my home, she has gone out of her way to make untrue comments. She is another one of these scammers that want the vacation and then want all their money back. Stephany

Recommended for:

The whole family enjoyed their time here!

Guest: debnull (Santa Cruz, CA)
Date of Stay: 06/12/11 Review Submitted: 07/28/11

We rented this place a year in advance to have a space to fit 14 people for a bit of a family reunion. We were not disappointed. The memories we shared here will be with us for the rest of our lives. We played pool, enjoyed the hot tub, took long walks on the beautiful beach (rich with tide pool life), and cooked dinners together. It is a beach house and a bit older but we all found it charming and were very comfortable there. Thank you for this lovely space.

Recommended for:Pet owners, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Not what it seems..

Guest: Washington Ladies (Pasco, Wa)
Date of Stay: 04/03/11 Review Submitted: 06/09/11

I don't normally write such reviews but I wish I would have been warned of such disappoinments as: No heating in 4 rooms - one room without heat (no firewood provided for fire place, which is the only real source of heat) Wi-Fi only works in one room - back of house w/out Poorly stocked in the Kitchenware dept. Only provided 6 rolls of toilet paper ( even though was told it was provided, and when we ran out was told only 'starter rolls' are included.) I consider myself to be a reasonable person, and when I contacted the owner to discuss getting a refund for items we felt were unsatisfactory, I was told all items are subject to my opinion. We also had the same experience as the 'Beware unsafe Rental!'...

Owner response:We are sorry that this guest felt that she needed to write a negative review as April and May were two of the coldest months in 40 years at the beach and weather is out of my control. I understand that heat needs to be operational and that is why we have baseboard heaters throughout the house. This is our main supply of heat and the fireplace is optional and firewood is not on the property and we don't claim that it is part of the rental. Firewood is available to buy at most stores and many guests opt to bring their own from home. The main kitchen is fully stocked and often is found to have doubles of items in it because guests move appliances from the back kitchenette to the front kitchen. It is easy to move them back and find all supplies in the front kitchen. Most vacation rentals provide a starter kit for toiletries and we follow the norm.

Recommended for:

Beware Unsafe Rental!

Guest: Ellen N. (Portland)
Date of Stay: 04/28/11 Review Submitted: 05/24/11

Our three-night experience included a house so cold we were told by owners to "open the oven door" to help warm the house. Power (and heat) was not functional in one of the two connected houses when we arrived. Circuit breakers kept flipping off for two rooms in the other half of the house. We spent the first day in coats and wrapped in blankets, and couldn't use two of the bedrooms for the first night. Yet another bedroom was without heat for all three nights. Electrician came on first two days, made an illegal fix to get us heat for one night. Clearly major wiring problems throughout rental, probably not to code. Heating consists of rusted baseboard units, one with a power cord illegally draped over the heating unit. Two "bedrooms" have no heaters. In fact, three of the "bedrooms" are not proper bedrooms at all, but lofts or alcoves without doors or with sliders, or that can only be accessed through another bedroom (and all three have difficult egress in the event of fire). Our group has rented many coast homes over past twenty years, and this was by far the worst experience: peeling paint, lack of heat, lack of power, stained carpeting, dirt and grit around beds and sofas. Worse was lack of response from owners when we requested partial refund (after all, we never had consistent heat in all of the bedrooms that actually had heaters). We also spent a lot of time turning on eleven separate heaters thermostats, tromping through mud and rain to flip circuit breakers that were outdoors, and hosting an electrician and the power company. While the owner has returned our deposit, she has not responded to phone calls or emails to address our concerns and our request for partial refund.

Owner response:This party came during the second coldest April on record. I called my electrician as soon as I found out that there was a problem. He arrived within two hours and got the problem taken care of as quickly and efficiently as possible. My electrician would never do anything illegal or put anyone in harms way as this nasty rude no-it-all has said. We have been working with him for almost two years upgrading both electrical services in each house, in preparation for putting in the Hot Tub. It is slanderous for this person to accuse my electrician of doing anything but trying to help and she should be ashamed of herself, unless she is a licensed electrician she should not say such horrible things and blow the situation all out of proportion. We have a contract and it states that if there are issues of any kind we will try to resolve them as soon as possible, but somethings are out of our control like the weather, breakdowns etc. My cleaners had vacuumed the house on Monday and all was well. This was out of my control. and we got it fixed ASAP.

Recommended for:

Great holiday

Guest: Debby & family (Roberts Creek, BC Canada)
Date of Stay: 05/05/11 Review Submitted: 05/16/11

Thanks for providing such a great house for a family holiday. It was so amazing for us to be all together under one roof in such a comfortable house. The kitchen was well equipped for our numbers, the beds were comfortable, the hot tub and view were amazing and the pool table got a fair amount of use during our 3 night stay. The owner was extremely helpful in answering all questions beforehand, both via email and by phone. I would definitely recommend this property to friends and family. Great access to the beach and a quiet location.

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

We would repeatedly go down and enjoy this home!

Guest: Jasmine (Oregon City)
Date of Stay: 05/01/11 Review Submitted: 05/03/11

We are repeat guests on our 4th year visiting this home. We are very pleased with the house, towels and kitchen supplies. We liked the area because we were so closed to Cannon Beach. We liked the amount of room that we had to spread out and play cards. The teenagers liked the pool table. The bbq gave us a chance to cook outside. Stephany was personable and easy to deal with. The beds were comfortable and it was homey. We loved it!

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

Clean and comfortable

Guest: Ann (Portland)
Date of Stay: 03/21/10 Review Submitted: 03/29/11

My son and I stayed here March 2010. The house was clean and comfortable. We enjoyed how close to the beach we were. We also enjoyed walking our dog on the beach. The view from the dining room table was very nice during our meals. The kitchen had everything to put together our meals. I would recommend this home to others. We went to Cannon Beach to shop and rent movies at the Mariner Market. A day at Seaside is always fun. The listing was accurate. It is a beach house. I will stay here again.

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

They refused to return our deposit.

Guest: Beach Lover (Portland Oregon)
Date of Stay: 10/07/10 Review Submitted: 03/28/11

The kitchen was terrible - not al all like the pictures- could not use most of pots/pans as they were trashed! The oven did not work. The bed linens and towels were great, but the place is run down, dirty and smelled like musty mold. There was no extra TP. 3 people got a RASH from the hot tub!!! The fireplace smoked up the house when we made a fire! The light over the pool table was broken and too dark in there to play pool at night. And so on... We stayed about an half hour over the check out time trying to get all the bedding/towels laundered ( which is required). One of the sets of washers and dryers was broken so we could not finish in time. She kept calling every 10 minutes to see if we had left yet... so we told her about the dryer being broken . We asked if they had anyone else booked that afternoon and they did not have anyone else booked. She was very rude over the phone saying that the maids NEEDED to get in and clean - so we left 2 loads of laundry that needed to be dried and cleared out. They refused to return our deposit; they said that the laundry was not done!!!! Thought is would have been if the washer/dryers were all in working order! A TERRIBLE overall experience for our family beach trip!

Owner response:The person that rented my home on these dates was from Bellevue, WA, not Portland, OR I question the validity of there complaints being they don't even have the courage to use their own name. I would ask VRBO.com to remove this immediately and to be fair to us as the homeowner. And to give us the email address and the name of the complaining party so we can verify whether or not this party even stayed at our home. The kitchen was remodeled in 2007, it is in good shape, the Jenair oven and stove top work fine. The deposit was returned on November 15, 2010. So it is not true that we refused to return a deposit. I have never been contacted by the party who stayed in the house on October 7-9, 2010 in regard to the deposit. We do not keep deposits for 2 loads of laundry that need to be put in the dryer. And our 2-washers & 3- dryers work fine. I as the owner was not contacting them to vacate the cleaners may have been anxious for them to vacate as they had stayed passed the allowed check out time of 11:00am, my cleaners are never rude. We only provide a starter kit of soap, TP, etc. this is normal in private vacation rental homes. The Hot Tub is serviced after each party, this is the first I have heard about a rash, we are very careful to make sure the hot tubs are clean and the chemicals balanced and ready for the next vacationer. Stephany

Recommended for: