Hi Stu/Stephen,
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback about your stay. We value the opinions of our guests and your concerns are of the utmost importance to us. Based on our conversations, while things weren't perfect, we really believed you were having a great time up until the second last day; so we were genuinely surprised by the 2-star review, which implies that you had a terrible experience. We are very sorry to hear that. We have already discussed some of the issues during your stay, but we will address them again especially seeing there are more issues that were not brought up.
"The house is rather rustic and unfinished, there are construction debris and materials scattered about the property. "
- This is a cabin by the lake, everything has been inspected by the town and insurance company before it went into operation. We would not be allowed to operate if this house was deemed unfinished. I'm not sure about the construction debris or materials scattered everything because if this was truly the case and I were the guest, I would not have checked into the house let alone staying there for 5 nights and inviting people over for a party. By the way, this was not mentioned to us during the stay, we thought there were only going to be 4 people at the property. However, we were contacted by our neighbors about the party at the cottage. We decided not to interrupt your vacation as long as guests were not boisterous.
.
"There are no door mats in case of rain,"
- I understand you had an issue with our no-shoes-inside house rule during Rainy weather; and I explained to you that it was perfectly fine bringing shoes inside the house.
" there were only four towels provided for a six-night stay, "
- We provide 4 bath towels in addition to hand and face towels. We also provide free-to-use washer and dryer on-site if you want fresh towels everyday. We have bought more towels for future guests since this was never brought to our attention as an issue before by other guests.
"the running water in the house smelled like sulfur, "
- We source our water from a brand-new drilled well and have it tested regularly by the State. Even though the water is safe for both drinking and showering, we understand there can sometimes be an unappetizing sulfide smell and therefore recommend bottled water as an alternative.
"bare light bulbs in fixtures, moldy shower curtain, the surface of the dining island was contact paper"
- Regarding the lighting, shower curtain, and dining island, we will relay these messages to the cleaning company so they will pay extra attention to these areas to enhance the overall comfort and aesthetics of the property. Your observations are highly appreciated and will guide our improvements.
"high humidity made staying in the house and sleeping very uncomfortable, "
- Humidity can indeed affect the comfort of the stay, I checked the humidity readings during your stay and they were between 40-70%, so based on that we will explore solutions to regulate indoor humidity levels to create a more comfortable environment
"fire pit broken"
- It could be difficult to start a fire sometimes when it's wet, but the fire pit works for all other guests, so not sure why you say it's broken. The guests before and after had no problem using it.
", abandoned property right next door in total disrepair, and we found handgun shell casings in the driveway."
- The derelict property is owned by the town and it's behind our dumpster on the far side of the driveway about 100 feet away from the house . As I explained in our conversation, I have contacted the town numerous times about it but it's unfortunately out of my control. Lastly, we take your safety very seriously. While finding handgun shell casings in the driveway is concerning, you said you didn't hear any gun shots; and since we live in a very tight-knit neighborhood and this area can get busy in the summer time, I'm sure someone would have called the police if they heard anything. With that said, I will reach out to the town officials and investigate this matter thoroughly. Your safety is our priority, and we will take appropriate action to ensure a secure atmosphere for all guests.
Once again, we apologize for the series of disappointments you encountered during your stay. We have taken steps to improve by getting brand new shower curtain and putting in shoe mats inside the house
We put in great effort to have open and regular communication with all our guests. Thank you for choosing our property, we appreciate your honest feedback.
Sincerely,
SIdun @ DozingToad