DO NOT RENT THIS HOUSE IN WINTER unless you have both 4wd AND about 50-60 lbs of de-icing salt on hand. Have never seen such a steep driveway, & it was coated in about 1" of ice under an inch of fresh snow. House had been cleaned after last renter but probably left empty for some weeks. Runoff from parking area pours straight down driveway; it had frozen & snow had fallen on top. Even w/small SUV & 4wd, military driving training, 3 years of living in Moscow (Russia), & four decades of experience driving on mountain roads in winter in WV, when I tried the driveway I got almost to the top, lost traction, & slid back out into the road (fortunately no traffic, & I got traction & cut the wheel before we shot over the other bank & into the lake). Steps to entrance & deck were also coated in thick ice w/snow on top. Maybe it was a foolish assumption on my part that Taylor-Made Vacations would check the property & clear serious safety hazards before guest arrival?
Leaving my 85yo mother alone in the car at the bottom of the driveway, I made my way to the house & found one 11lb jug of de-icing compound. Started to try to scatter it, fell, hit my head on the driveway, & slid the remaining 10' down the hill to my car.
Called the property management number. They quickly sent out a maintenance man who put down another 30lbs of de-icing compound. He got his pickup up the bank safely, came back down, picked my mother up physically & put her in his truck, drove her up, & then came back to drive my car up to the parking area. Because the outer steps were unusable for an 85yo with limited mobility, we. brought her in through the basement door. After she had a little cry—the slide out into the road had terrified her—I was able to get her up the steeper, less safe interior stairs from the basement to the main floor.
The next morning I called to ask for someone to finish clearing the driveway, parking area, and exterior stairs before more family arrived. No one came. I inched down the driveway, went to Ace, bought 30 more lbs of de-icing compound, & spent a few hours of the 1st day of my vacation clearing ice off the driveway, parking, and stairs myself.
The rental contract absolves Taylor-Made of any liability for your person or property due to accidents on steep driveways or access areas around the house. Fortunately, I have a hard head.
Other than that, the house was in excellent condition & was perfect for our family get-together at Thanksgiving.