Our expectations were exceeded!

Guest: Happy 40th! (Clinton, MA)
Date of Stay: 01/15/10 Review Submitted: 02/05/10

I surprised my wife for her 40th birthday with a long weekend at Villa Ausblick in January with our best friends, and it was truly a winter paradise. We arrived sight unseen, and the home was beautiful and completely exceeded our expectations. It is located in a secluded setting with no other homes in sight and has breathtaking views. The house was so warm and is set-up to accomodate kids and adults of all ages. The home is also in very close proximity to several attractions we enjoyed. The girls enjoyed a spa day in Stowe while some of us took part in some awesome local skiing. The kids especially enjoyed the Ben and Jerry's factory which is literally minutes down the road. And at the end of the day when we returned to Villa Ausblick, there was plenty more for us to enjoy; from the hot tub that overlooked the breathtaking mountain range, to the cozy living room with it's magnificent fireplace, to the modern open and very well equipped kitchen where we enjoyed cooking our meals, to the toy room that our little ones never stepped foot out of while we were at the house. This was a perfect winter getaway for us and we literllay could not have asked for anything more. I'm certain it's just as desirable in the summertime and we plan to return to find out first hand.

Owner response:We are always happy to help our guests with recommendations for outdoor activities, restaurants, spas, kid's favorites etc. depending on our visitor's needs.

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

great!

Guest: marcela (Boston)
Date of Stay: 12/30/11 Review Submitted: 01/12/12

We rented Villa Ausblick for the New Year's eve Holiday. We had a fantastic time during our, sadly, short stay. It proved perfect for what we were looking for! It has great space for big families, all rooms are clean and everything looks brand new. It definitely shows that the owners put a lot of effort to maintain it. The amenities that the house offers are superb. There's always something to do regardless of the age. Traveling with children can be tough since there's so much stuff you need to pack...but Villa Ausblick makes it very simple, it has everything you need (you named it!) Our daughter loved the Ben and Jerrys ice cream factory which is conveniently located a few blocks from the house. For the skiers, Stowe mountain is only 15-20 min drive. We were able to drive there easily and park without a problem. not bad! The customer service and user-friendly approach to the entire facility was excellent. It made for a phenomenally easy stay!! We definitely will recommend this place to our friends, furthermore...we can't wait to come back.

Owner response:Thank you! As a family ourselves we fully understand the challenges of vacationing with children. The needs for enough space to be comfortable, the hassle of transporting essential infant/toddler gear and the demands for entertainment can be daunting and quite a relaxation killer for a stressed parent. We purposefully have set up Villa Ausblick to be THE perfect solution for multi-generational families seeking a relaxing, well deserved vacation for everyone involved. We truly believe our vacation home is an ideal place for families to come together, reconnect and reminisce. In that regard, we are thrilled Villa Ausblick has worked out for your family!

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

Family of 5: Ages 12, 18, 23, Mom and Dad: 08-2011

Guest: Chip (Doylestown, PA)
Date of Stay: 07/31/11 Review Submitted: 09/05/11

I wish I'd kept track of how many times a member of the family said "Wow!!" during our visit to Villa Ausblick. The views from the house and pool are spectacular and change often, depending on the time of day and weather. The house itself was spotless on arrival and tastefully decorated in an elegant but relaxed style. It is spacious, well laid out and we found all appliances to be in fine working order. Our eldest daughter appreciated the privacy of her own bedroom suite on the lowest level, while my wife and I enjoyed waking up to glorious mountain views up in the master bedroom. I gave the well-equipped kitchen a real work-out as our family tradition is that each member gets to choose their favorite meal for dinner. So, we grilled, we roasted in the oven, we sauteed, we boiled, etc. The hands-down favorite place to dine was out on the gazebo section of the front porch. Other than a quick jaunt to nearby Stowe and a few hours of shopping in Burlington our family wanted to stay on site, enjoying the pool and other amenities at the house. Our youngest is 12, but you could easily see how a family with children would enjoy a stay here (plenty of toys, a sand box and a tree house!). Had we been looking for a more active interaction with the area, local attraction information, restaurant menus and sightseeing brochures are provided. The closest supermarket/wine store is conveniently located less than 15 minutes away. You'd be hard pressed to know that civilization is in such close proximity. This was a perfect house choice for our Family of 5. We will not only recommend it to our friends, but look forward to a return visit in the future. Thanks for providing our family with great memories of Summer Vacation 2011.

Owner response:Wow, we are speechless. Thank so much for this amazing review!

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

Perfect Family Retreat!

Guest: Christopher S.
Date of Stay: 07/09/11 Review Submitted: 08/15/11

Our family spent one week in July at this beautiful home for our family reunion, 6 adults and 7 children (ages 3-10 years). We thoroughly enjoyed our stay, everything was perfect! The house is beautiful and easily accommodated our family, we only left the house once! The onsite amenities kept all adults and children happy and occupied for 7 days! Truly amazing! Words can not describe the beauty of this home and it's location. We felt like we were staying in a friend's home, not a rental property. You will not be disappointed!

Owner response:Lovely! We own Villa Ausblick since 2005 when our kids were an infant and toddler. Believe it or not, six years later we only now are beginning to explore the many great activities we can do as a family offsite. There is just too much entertainment and things to do on the premise itself ... at least from a child's perspective. Villa Ausblick truly is a fantastic family destination, thank you for sharing your experience!

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, sightseeing, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children.

Perfect vacation rental for any family

Guest: Jim (Clifton Park NY)
Date of Stay: 02/04/11 Review Submitted: 02/27/11

An absolutely beautiful home with wonderful floor plan at the end of a quiet dead end street. The owners have gone to great length to make available amenities that would appeal to any and all age groups. It was a weekend getaway, for my wife's family members. Will definitely try and return with my own kids and their spouses.

Owner response:Thank you! The funny thing about this vacation home is – it has more and better amenities than our primary residence! For example, who owns an electric griddle large enough to simultaneously produce 10 pancakes? It comes in very handy when you have to feed breakfast to an army of hungry kids!

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

Perfect group getaway!!

Guest: Danny (Boston, MA)
Date of Stay: 01/28/11 Review Submitted: 02/19/11

This house was huge, secluded, and the landlords were extremely friendly and welcoming! It was clear that they wanted nothing more than to treat us with respect, assuming that we did the same to them and their house. We had some issues as the hot tub broke a week before our arrival, but Sibylle was extremely communicative about it, and they did everything they could to get a new hot tub installed and ready before our stay. Things go wrong...all I can ask is that they do what they can to minimize the impact that the inevitable snafu has on our vacation. They did that. The house itself was incredible, with tremendous views. The owners also were very helpful in leaving ample instructions on how to operate everything. The different stereo systems on separate floors was nice. Do be sure to bring your own movies, as their selection is limited...but their tv is nice!! And really, can't beat having a fooseball and pool table. This place is well equipped for any kind of group, from families to groups of adults. We went as a group of colleagues, aimed at skiing every day. The proximity to multiple mountains was very nice. A shout out to Bolton Valley, which is a small mountain, but through liftopia, you can get some stellar lift ticket deals. All in all, we had a great visit, and am certainly considering going back next year. Perhaps for a full week, as four nights was just not enough!

Owner response:Offering our guests a wonderful vacation experience and the best value for their money is our guiding motto. Even if it means finding a last-minute, alternative accommodation for our tenants, as we did when our hot tub broke down unexpectedly on a peak January weekend. Striving that the next party's – this reviewer's – stay would not be effected we set all wheels in motion to ensure that a new hot tub was delivered and operational before their arrival, which was no small problem to resolve given the blistering weather conditions. Future guests (and we owners) can now enjoy a brand-new HotSprings Sovereign Spa – the #1 retailing hot tub worldwide – which uses an ozone and ACE salt water sanitizing system leaving the spa water sparkling clean and silky soft.... no more dry itchy skin, irritated red eyes, or harsh odor of traditional chlorine water care!

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

Didn't feel welcome; felt we overpaid

Guest: dl7631 (New York, NY)
Date of Stay: 08/22/10 Review Submitted: 11/01/10

Mostly because of small unpleasant things - objective & subjective - rather than due to major flaws – we’ll never return here and wouldn’t recommend it to our friends. Stayed in 08.10 for 7 days. 3 couples - professionals from NYC w. children. Our issues were: - one of 2 large burners didn’t work; one other burner worked only on "high". We had to cook a lot, found it a MAJOR inconvenience. We weren’t warned about it in advance when we were writing the check. - one important drawer in the kitchen was broken - inconvenient & incongruent with the high price. - bedrooms had either very light curtains (let through a lot of light in the morning) or no curtains at all: especially inconvenient in children bedrooms - there was no way to keep the light away in the morning and children would wake up earlier than usual. - the central audio system (with speakers everywhere) doesn’t take CDs: could listen only to the radio - children playroom had a small boom-box, but it was broken - so we could not listen to any of the CDs we brought in for adults & kids. - DVD player in the basement refused to play all DVDs we brought with us; weird because they came from 3 different homes & they play on our regular DVD players there; so, we could only watch the DVDs that were in the house. - many cabinets/drawers were marked with "Do not use - private!". We understand it's the owner's right but it created a very unwelcoming, inhospitable impression. - each and every cabinet/drawer/shelf has a label that indicates what should be there. On one hand it's cool and systematic. On the other hand we constantly felt under surveillance. Seemed like owners expect guests to do something wrong - so they actively try to prevent you from doing it. We didn’t enjoy it. - one of us forgot a set of keys in the house and we asked the owners to mail it to us. They charged us $25 (the mailing fee proper was ~$2), - for their time. How much could we have charged for the time we lost cooking on 2.5 burners if we applied OUR professional hourly rates. It left an unpleasant aftertaste. - seems like guests are expected to incur damage & try to avoid paying for it. Upon arrival you spend the first few hours trying to find what is broken to avoid being held accountable for it (it’s in the lengthy manual): Not very welcoming at all. Upon leaving, we received an e-mail suggesting we might have broken some few things (although we did not even know of their existence).

Owner response:We’re terribly sorry to hear that this guest’s experience was not ideal. We do try our best to make everyone’s stay as pleasant as possible. Being a large home, Villa Ausblick sees a lot of traffic from large parties, which results in real wear & tear. Between parties, the cleaners and property managers can only recognize some of the damage while doing their work, so the reality is that some items will slip. We owners are always grateful when guests provide us feedback on necessary repairs and do encourage visitors to contact us or our property manager immediately if needed. All the repair and improvement issues mentioned above have already been addressed.... Future visitors can now enjoy a brand new Dacor professional cooktop. Darkening roller shades were added in two (out of five) bedrooms them. The central audio system does take CD’s and DVD’s and was fully functional. It is, however, a complicated home theater system which can pose a challenge for less-savvy A/V-system consumers, even ourselves! An improved version of our user manual is underway. Villa Ausblick is very well stocked with all the conveniences you look for. We leave labels to make it easier for our guests to find what they need and help our property managers quickly identify missing/broken items that need replacement. In conclusion, choosing to rent a private home is different than a bed & breakfast, hotel, or motel in many ways. Some of the reasons you may choose a home – many more amenities, less intrusive staff presence, conveniences of home – require you, the renter, to take on some of the responsibilities that are not required in more “full-service” hospitality establishments. We think renting a home is a better choice.

Recommended for:

A special place in Vermont

Guest: Pop (Northampton, MA)
Date of Stay: 08/07/10 Review Submitted: 09/14/10

Our family has spent a week in the White Mountains for many years. We are all (pretty) serious hikers. This year we thought we would see what the Green Mountains had to offer. Waterbury is within range of some of Vermont's best hiking and we took advantage of it. I have to say, we had every bit as good a time when we returned to Villa Ausblick in the afternoon. The young people in our group range in age from 5 to 13. Between swimming, spotting frogs in the pond, using the treehouse for secret meetings, and sitting around a campfire - no one was at a loss for things to do. I think we ate dinner at the outside table every night. (Did I mention the fantastic weather?) From eating - to sleeping - to finding a quiet place to read - to enjoying the fine view of Camels Hump - to stargazing (sometimes from the hot tub) - Villa Ausblick proved an ideal place for a family vacation. We all have lots of fond memories and everyone, without exception would love to visit again.

Owner response:We can't wait to explore the hiking opportunities in the area, now that our kids are finally getting old enough. BTW, the tree house not only serves for secret meetings, it is part of every treasure hunt we organize.

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

A Perfect Family Reunion Spot

Guest: Carolyn & Charlie (Ormond Beach, FL and Hadley, NY)
Date of Stay: 06/20/10 Review Submitted: 06/30/10

Our family gathered to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary at Villa Ausblick. It was a perfect choice for our family to spend time together. The home was clean and well maintained. The property provided something for every age group. This was especially important to us as our grandchildren ranged in age from 10 months to 18 years. The privacy of the home and the magnificient, peaceful view were the best. There is much to do in the area-- biking, hiking, touring Ben and Jerry's, visiting Stowe and the Von Trapp Family Lodge, or simply sitting and relaxing by the poolside while enjoying the view. Our family even enjoyed an evening campfire with smores at the spot allocated for that, and we loved the waterfall that came down the mountain each morning. We would not hesitate to recommend this vacation property to anyone.

Owner response:Reviews like these make us very happy :-) But what really matters most to us is that we are able to provide our guests a venue where such happy family moments and lasting memories are made.

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

Guest: June6 (New York, NY)
Date of Stay: 02/16/10 Review Submitted: 02/16/10

I just wanted to let you know what a wonderful weekend I (and my friends) had at your home in Vermont this past weekend! I've rented many homes before and your home was by far one of the best I've stayed at. Everything was well stocked and your home was very clean! We can't wait to return next year!! Thanks again for everything!!

Owner response:What better credits than guests who want to come back. Thank you for the kudos!

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