Jennifer, I’m genuinely sorry that the condition of the home did not meet your expectations.
Our official check-in time is 4:00 p.m. As a courtesy, we allow guests to park at the house and access the pool, decks, beach, and outdoor refrigerator after 10:00 a.m. while the property is still undergoing its Saturday changeover. During that period, housekeeping, landscaping, pool service, grill cleaning, window cleaning, and our maintenance team may still be working. You arrived around 1:00 p.m., before our team had reached 8 Wanderer to complete the outdoor cleaning and inspect the property. I should have communicated the timing and condition of the outdoor areas more clearly before your arrival.
When before our inspection you let me know the outdoor refrigerator was not cooling sufficiently, I delivered a replacement within an hour. The pool was cleaned, the decks were scrubbed, and the landscaping and outdoor areas were completed that afternoon. Later, when you reported a missing sunshade pole, we brought one to the house within an hour.
On the third day of your stay, one of the home’s three HVAC systems unexpectedly stopped working. Although the system was less than two years old, equipment failures can still happen. I arrived within approximately 30 minutes, and our licensed HVAC technicians were there within the hour and restored the system that day.
We were not made aware during the stay of the shower drain, oven burner, refrigerator odors, ceiling fans, or porch cushions. Had those concerns been reported, we would have addressed them promptly, just as we did with the refrigerator, sunshade, and air-conditioning system. Marc, the owner, also introduced himself during your stay, and both of us remained available to help.
When I stopped by near the end of your trip, you mentioned having a list of concerns, but I did not receive the details until this review nearly a month later. That said, several of your observations are fair, and we are using your feedback to improve our inspection process, maintenance and communication regarding early arrival.
We work hard to respond quickly and make things right whenever an issue is brought to our attention. I’m sorry we were not able to resolve all of these concerns during your stay.
Regards,
Paul Cifaldi
Property Manager
PS. Note from the owner.
Ms. Williams,
Thanks for your review, it will only make us better. It seems like most of your issues occurred prior to check-in time at 4:00pm. I made a decision to allow guests to arrive early on Saturday as a way to enhance the experience, get some of the chores of shopping out of the way and start their vacation early. Most (95%) properties are operated by management companies, and they are very strict about a 4-5pm check-in.
I’m sorry that I missed you when I stopped by on Sunday before I left for vacation. Paul had alerted me of your disappointment with the condition of the outdoor amenities, and I wanted to give you an explanation. When I talked with your son, he indicated that the family was thrilled with the house and I left feeling everything was in good shape.
Paul, and his staff have their hands full on Saturday preparing the houses for arriving guests. If you can imagine cleaning 16 bathrooms, 3 kitchens,16 bedrooms, 26 chaise lounges, 24 bikes, 30 beach chairs, 9 refrigerators, coffee machines, espresso machines, etc. When I talked with your son, he indicated that the family was thrilled with the house and I left feeling everything was in good shape.
I have been hosting families for 31 years and nothing is more regrettable than to learn of an unhappy guest.
While I realize that the chances are microscopic of you returning, I did want to invite you back to see if there was some way we could atone for your disappointment.
Marc Chary
Owner