Secluded Hideout up in the Trees...

Ross, thanks for your kind words. We were happy to help out however we could. Thank you for leaving the place so neat and clean. You are definitely welcome any time. Hope to see you again soon! Peggy

Marietta, you know you're welcome any time!!

Hi Scott, Thanks so much for the handful of kind words and for taking the time to write this review! We really appreciate ANY review because they all benefit us one way or another. We think you're a nice guy too. You see, we initially enjoyed having your group here and as you mentioned, the noise complaints came from neighbors (250yds away) who really don't mind our guests unless they're unusually loud late at night. Since we both know that's exactly what happened during your stay, and since you and I both know the extent to which your group totally abused the spa & rear deck until the wee hours of the morning (while making tons of noise, drinking and smoking heavily, and inexplicably admitting to as much in your very useful review) I'd say you should be grateful we sent you $150 back. We did that because we like you despite the filthy state of the spa when you were done, the ash & butts left all over the redwood deck that we built ourselves, your delightfully charming review, and the fact that your group endangered our entire canyon by ashing on our deck and putting your cigarettes out on the ground while surrounded by dry brush. So you're welcome--but just FYI, I doubt our neighbors are terribly impressed by how responsible a smoker you think you are. We do, however, appreciate you admitting you understood our smoking policy and the reasoning behind it, but just thought it was too stupid for you to follow. Honestly, negative reviews like this keep people who ACT like you act and expect what you expect, from renting our home, which is just fantastic. And in our experience, a 1-star review just leads people who wouldn't DREAM of ignoring our policy, city ordinance and basic common sense, to believe that we're reasonable folks who ask very little of our guests, but do expect them to respect our home, our neighbors (especially at 3am) and to refrain from lighting paper on fire and throwing it on the ground. As I'm sure you noticed (because it was sparkling at your check-in) we ALWAYS clean our spa between guests—unfortunately, after you guys we had to drain, deep-clean, scrub, sanitize and chemically treat the 500-gallon spa... and since you were responsible for all of that, we had to cut into your damage deposit, something we've only done 3 times in 3 years after hundreds of guests. To say we charged you for dishes or trash is not true, but no worries. Let's just chalk this up to a lesson learned... for both of us. Respectfullyish, The Owners

Thanks, Tim! It was a pleasure hosting you and we sincerely hope you return. Peggy

Thank you for the wonderful review. It was a pleasure to host you!

Stanley, I'm sorry you and your friends found our rental agreement vague. However, here are three violations of that agreement that were not in any way vague. For starters, "the cost of any unreasonable damage caused by the renter will be deducted from the damage deposit" and since you permanently damaged three pieces of antique furniture (including my grandmother's cedar chest from before WWII), you forfeited your deposit. Second, there was to be "no smoking whatsoever" (per our rental agreement—and, ya know, city ordinance...) and yet we found multiple butts in our driveway. Finally, "Only guests listed on this agreement may occupy the property at any time without prior approval." Unfortunately, we had several noise complaints from neighbors and we also found enough alcohol containers and empty cases of liquor for a platoon. Incidentally, you should also let your father know he's unwittingly committing credit card fraud by attempting to reclaim his money for your entire stay, based on your claim that you canceled in advance of that particular weekend and never showed up. This delightfully articulate 1-star review seems to suggest otherwise. Thankfully, we have text messages from you regarding questions you had during your stay, your signature on the rental contract and screenshots of your agreement to abide by our terms of use on VRBO. I don't think your credit card company is going to be thrilled with you guys. The one instance of vagueness I will concede is that I failed to stipulate in our agreement that my children's handmade baby blankets from 30 years ago should NOT be included with the rest of the perfectly sufficient bedding we provided. That's our bad. We should have known that people without the requisite common sense to avoid committing credit card fraud simply out of protest, might very well find it ironic and hilarious to use crocheted baby blankets in addition to our many comforters, especially with so much alcohol in the mix. We've since rectified that unfortunate "vagueness" as it were, by adding a lock to our now damaged cedar chest, and you can rest assured that your deposit—the only one we've ever cut into, let alone kept in its entirety—was kept to repair furniture damage only. Honestly Stanley, you promised us you would take good care of our home, and then you trashed it. Trashing our reputation on top of that is an indignity we just won't suffer. Please don't come back (but still, have a nice day.) Respectfullyish, The Owners