From the moment the payment was given, the experience became a nightmare. HomeAway lists Mitchell as the owner, but it was Ilgenfritz who we dealt with. She was not responsive to emails or calls such that we thought it was a scam and had to contact HomeAway directly. We paid in full months in advance and contracted with her to check in at 10:00am with the deposit to be returned 1 week after checkout. The owner does not keep to her own contract.
When we arrived at the house at 11:30AM, it was not ready and the cleaning staff was frantic as they were just called in. Owner “forgot” and thought check in was at 4pm. We had to wait in 90deg heat outside in the car while they finished as the house smelled of chemicals.
The inside of the house was cleaned perfunctorily, the outside was not even touched. The grass was not cut or sprayed allowing for ticks that we had encountered; garbage, cigarette butts and shattered glass littered the outside and deck. Pool was also filthy lined with bugs and an oily film coating the water. The house was not well stocked even for basic toilet paper and paper towels. Owner was notified including pics of above. She actually later blamed us for not telling her sooner! She said that her cleaning crew will clean the exterior, but they never did. The only reason I stayed for the arranged time was because my whole family had already scheduled time out of work for this get-together, so we tried to make the most out of it. The owner’s disregard for renters and agreed upon contract is demonstrable.
Afterwards, she broke contract yet again when she did not return the deposit 1wk of checkout. Three weeks went by after checkout and only after I followed up with her to question her did she suddenly remember to return the deposit. Not an honest person folks. Further, she tried to prevent me from posting a review while still having my deposit in her possession. She still has not refunded the cleaning fee of several hundred dollars she said she would.
It is the owner’s responsibility to have a clean and safe house for renters before their arrival, but with this owner, that seems to be asking too much. She blames the renters for her own negligence and dereliction of duty. I would never recommend this property to anyone.
Horrible, dangerous, and dirty place and owner.
You have been warned.