If the house had been clean and not had a strong musty, moldy odor in all rooms, it would have been a great place for our week. We swept up sand from the living room tile upon arrival. Cobwebs were in corners of ceiling and floors, often with dead bugs. Carpeted rooms were not vacuumed in corners or behind small pieces of furniture. Animal hair (cat?) was on nightstand table cloth. Living room door rug and sofa throw were especially smelly and damp. All cloth furnishings felt damp, many smelled musty. We notified owner, used Lysol, hung the rug on the covered porch, laundered the throw and nightstand cloth, turned on fans and AC to reduce dampness and odor. Owner wrote e-mail of apology and regret offering to have someone come to clean. We had already done extensive sanitizing and preferred not to have workers in while we were out. We didn't believe the cleaners could reduce the odor and mold more than we were doing. We asked that the cost of cleaning be refunded to us. We also ask that the pet fee be refunded because of problems with fleas. Everyday the dog, who had been extensively treated to prevent fleas before we came, was bitten. Dead fleas were found each morning where he slept. After the first day, he was carried to road side when taken out and walked only on the road side, not in the yard or woods. We were not bitten by fleas. We have used VRBO for 12 or more years, usually having the dog with us and have never had problems with fleas. The owner has not responded to our second e-mail. By the time we left the odor was reduced significantly in the living room and one bedroom. Under the kitchen cabinets and in the laundry/half bath, it was still extremely unpleasant. The house matched the description and pictures. We chose it because few properties were available at the late date we made reservations this year. The location provided privacy, quiet, good access, and very pleasant neighborhood. It was within a mile of trail access, close to many trails and waterfalls, with easy access to any shopping or restaurants we needed. We have hiked in the area before and returned because of the Bartram Trail and Black Rock State Park. We understand the unusually high rainfall this year contributed to the musty, moldy problems, but the level of unpleasantness was not healthy and was unacceptable. Because the property is older, the cleaning needed to be exceptional, not poor.
