Da Casa Banana2, Large Home on Beautiful Lake Oconee

We were a little skeptical of renting a house in Georgia in the heat of summer, but the air-conditioned house with its many rooms, the wonderful pool close to the house, and the lake activities all dissolved our concerns. The owners were very obliging and willing to help. The large green space and cabana were a perfect setting for outdoor games, and the inside offered a variety of activities for our teenagers. There were many gathering rooms in the house and sun porch, as well as a wonderfully large kitchen. We especially enjoyed having use of the grand piano for group singing, a talent night, and kids who needed to practice. Our biggest complaint was the poor Internet service, though it turned out to be a blessing in a way since we couldn't be on our phones and computers. The Internet is adequate for 4 or 5, but not 10 to 20, though one son-in-law brought his own modem and was just fine. Maybe having a land line telephone would have eased the annoyance of no phone service. We wished we had received more detailed instructions on using the movie room and washer. (It needs to be left open to avoid mildew inside). But the owners were very accommodating and helpful in trying to resolve all our concerns. We have rented several homes in various parts of the country for our family get-togethers, and we all thought this was the best yet. We would highly recommend it.

We take an annual family trip with 20-30 family members ranging in age from 2 to 85. In the past we have had our "go-to" house, but unfortunately this year, that home was taken and we had to find somewhere else to stay.

In hindsight, I should replace "unfortunately" with LUCKILY! This "replacement" property is absolutely incredible. From the moment you pass through the stone entry gates, the the first steps inside the front door, all you can think is wow, this house has so much character. Every space has a theme, and rather than feeling like an oversized hotel room, it felt like home. The rooms are spacious and bathrooms plentiful! We had 19 this year, and literally had an entire room that didn't need to be utilized. All common areas located on the first level with quick access to pool, hot tub, outdoor bar. The basketball hoop in the barn, the volleyball court in the yard, and the gazebo are all areas that we had no idea we needed, until we had them.

Jim and Deeny were so kind and helpful from the moment we checked in, until the moment we checked out. Concerned with the ONE rainy day we had, they reached out to make sure our trip lived up to our expectations.

Family movies in the movie room, games of pool, or golden tee in the game room, floats in the pool, family dinners at the incredible kitchen table, or games of cards on the enclosed back porch, just a few of the incredible experiences our family was lucky enough to experience because of this home.

I would highly recommend this home for any family that truly wants to get away! We felt like royalty in this home, and I cannot wait to spend another week in this home in the future!

We do a family reunion every 2 years, and this is by far the best place we have ever stayed. We had 25 people total staying for the week, and we never ran out of things to do, basketball, pickleball, ping pong, beach volleyball, kayaks, canoe, movie theater, golf arcade, pinball, etc. You name it they have it at this house. It was also great having such a big kitchen with a separate small kitchen to prepare food for guest. You will not be disappointed, and the pictures do this place justice.

Every year our family has a reunion and this year we decided on a different venue. At first glance we thought this home was wonderful, after settling in on Saturday we found many issues. The pool was unusable until Sunday afternoon due to mustard algae. Luckily our family is in the pool business and we came prepared with test kits and product. The spa motor was broken so we couldn’t use that. The internet just doesn’t work! If you need to conduct business forget it. The home is pretty isolated so reception is nearly non existent. The propane grill didn’t work well and we didn’t have propane the first day. The house was dirty. We were told the house wasn’t occupied the week before but that’s no excuse not to have the home cleaned. The beds and pillows were so old, complaints from most of my family about this. Hornets everywhere which we asked the ground keeper to spray. This immediately fixed that problem for a few days, then we just did it ourselves. The location of the house on the lake is not conducive to lake activities. To many water hazards and brown water. On a brighter side, the game room was enjoyable and the grandchildren liked the movie room. We took all our issues to the owners and they were very understanding, extremely nice people. I wish I could write a better review because when we booked this home all the reviews were exceptional. Going forward I only wish that this review will make this home a better place for future renters.

We have been searching for the perfect house for our family reunion for the past 8 years... after our stay at da Casa Ba Nana, the search is over! We have booked the next 2 years because we are so pleased with the house, the activities, the owners, and all the details in between.

We have about 30 family members coming from 3 states and this could not be more perfect. Each bedroom has it's own bathroom & TV... there are plenty of things to do even if it rains (movie theater with plenty of seating, huge "garage" with basketball goal & bad mitton net, game room with pool table and video games, etc.)... there is plenty of space to spread out, yet still be together... the outside play area is awesome...the pool is big enough for all of us, the seating around the pool is perfect... it's relaxed enough that we didn't feel like we couldn't sit or touch anything, but nice enough that we felt like we were on vacation. I could talk through every detail, everything is fantastic!

The pictures online do not do this house justice at all - there are so many little things that make it so perfect, you really have to see it. da Casa Ba Nana has met our needs & fulfilled all of our "must-haves" in choosing a place to have our annual family reunion. Thank you so much for providing the perfect place to relax & play!