Stay at the castle

Guest: Neesy (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Canada)
Date of Stay: 09/02/11 Review Submitted: 09/14/11

Our trip on September 2-10 was mine and my husbands first trip to Florida. The stay in this beautiful castle like house was absolutely wonderful. I will never stay in a hotel again .the house was spotless and very clean. Loads of space for our family of 8 ( 6 kids 21-26years ) spread out . We loved the front entrance with the draw bridge and fish pond, the front lawn was well maintain and the back yard was a beautiful holiday retreat with the hot tub ,pool and the canal . We used the hot tub and pool every evening. The bedrooms were very spacious , I loved the master bedroom. The house is beautifully located close enough to walk to the stores and the beach but just far enough away that you do not hear the night life on the main street at the bars. We will be definitely booking our holidays again at this house. The owner left a book of all the attractions in the area of Siesta Keys and in other locations. The beach was absolutely beautiful and the water was warm.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, tourists without a car, sightseeing, adventure seekers, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

False Advertising

Guest: mb (Merritt Island, FL USA)
Date of Stay: 07/10/10 Review Submitted: 08/29/11

Our group of 8 women were sadly disappointed in the difference between the VRBO ad for this home vs. the reality we encountered. The ad states all new furnishings - dining room chairs were peeling and seats were taped together; leather couch was so filthy we didn’t use it. None of the GFI outlets in the bathrooms worked. The owner was called immediately, he said the neighbor had key to the garage (breaker box is in locked garage), but was on vacation until tomorrow or the next day. When the neighbor did come over, it was an electrical problem not a breaker problem. The last two nights, there no electric power in the master bedroom. The pool wasn’t useable until the afternoon of our second day (the pool was a major selling point). The pool deck was full of leaves and debris and had not been blown in weeks and Owner told us to use the blower in the mini-castle. Were told that the Owner had recently put a foosball table in the mini-castle for us to use. Problem was, it was inaccessible due to old furniture being stored and the roof falling in due to a roof leak. There was NO oven in the main kitchen. The house was careworn, poorly maintained, and dirty. For example, sheets were stained, used Kleenexes, an empty beer can, miscellaneous detritus under many beds and dead bugs. Thick dust close to baseboards and under beds which means this house is NEVER given a thorough spring cleaning. There is a koi fish pond by front porch that is downright disgusting. There are so many things that were dirty, broken, etc., that I can’t list them all. We have rented other houses through VRBO and have always gotten what was posted on this website. We would never rent this place again. The Owner did refund $200. However, he did not respond to our email or certified letter regarding the condition of his property.

Owner response:We have always worked hard to make sure our home, pool and grounds are kept up so families can enjoy their visit. We were shocked that this guest did not have a good experience while at our home and subsequently decided to take liberty in a public forum to assert extremely unfair and highly skewed criticism. We have rented this home for over four years with very satisfied customers. We have had return guests year after year. We wish we had asked for reviews from our many satisfied guests. Our policy is to have our housekeeper take care of any housekeeping issues (if any) at the time of arrival. This particular guest never even mentioned the housekeeping and chose to just complain about it in the review afterward. We would have expected them to mention it during the stay so we could have taken care of whatever was not to their satisfaction. It is very important to us and our guests that everything is taken care of and the house is cleaned thoroughly on a regular basis. We arrived at our home soon after this guest left and found everything to be in order. There was a tripped circuit breaker that our housekeeper was unable to resolve quickly enough. The guest was extremely rude and then demanded $1000 back, which was unreasonable. We gave them back $500 (too much) and they still decided to write the terrible review. Please see the review from Sept from one our guests from Canada. Guests love our pond but sometimes during the hot summer it is difficult to keep the algae down. All the furnishings are only three years old but a tear showed up on our chairs so we have added some new covers. We have new air conditioning – two units last year- we also installed a new seawall on the canal. We had another full cleaning this winter and went through the whole house completely to make sure things are right for our guests. Also, we have a caretaker who is always available and service people on contract if there is a ever a problem. We have been a member of the Chamber of Commerce for years if you want to check a real source for information about our home/business. Please call us for any further details about the house. It is the most beautiful, private setting you will ever enjoy – we only wish we could stay there more often, ourselves. It is a truly unique and wonderful place to stay while on Siesta.

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