Why rent a brick and glass box when you can step back in time to the late 1800s?

Thanks you SO much for your wonderful review, Philip! I regret not meeting you but the Chrises and Joanne were nice people. BTW, work on the bathroom and hall floor started this past week but it will be a while before they are finished. Thank you for coming, have a great rest of the summer and please come back and visit us again soon! Dave

Thanks for your feedback, Ewa! I completely understand and apologize for the inconvenience of not having a washing machine. Your patience in using the laundromat on Pearl as per recommendation in my terms of service is appreciated. For now, this expense is unjustified as all other renters have only stayed for a week or less. You are my very first renter to require this service and if there are more in the years to come then I will consider getting one. Thanks again and hope you will return soon! Dave

Great meeting you and the family, Craig! Thank you SO much for staying with us and the great review which is truly appreciated. Have a great summer and please come back again soon!

Happy New Year and thanks for visiting us, Steve! Please come back soon at which time we can hopefully meet. Thanks for the great review!

I am truly sorry your experience was so poor but thank you for your feedback just the same. Unlike the need for more fans, you notified me about the coffee maker upon leaving. Had you done this DURING your stay I would have cheerfully rectified the situation just as I promptly provided the fans you asked for. A realtor recently used her expertise to identify flaws. Curiously, she did not mention any musty (or other) doors that need to be addressed. In fact, the ONLY thing she told me was to sweep one of the basement rooms … which is off limits to renters anyway. BTW, the toilet plungers are clearly visible in the kitchen washroom and top floor washroom. The same photographer was understandably puzzled when I passed along your “misleading” comment. It’s a mystery how you would get (or not get) maintenance details from pictures.Yes there will be quirks like the need to keep certain toilet handles depressed long enough to flush properly. Had you allowed me to finish the tour then I could have apprised you of what to watch out for. I stand behind my cleaning lady who does great work. Again, I am only hearing about the dust now. It seems you are used to a higher standard than we are prepared to provide for the low fee we charge. Consider the following comment from the guests who stayed the weekend AFTER you: “Hi Dave,
Thanks a lot for everything and for dropping off the bulbs. We really enjoyed the stay and your place made us feel at home. Appreciate the checkout flexibility”

Thank you SO much for the great review and feedback, Ed! That’s actually a bagel toaster and is designed that way. Nevertheless I will replace it with a model that does both sides. I will also put up post-it notes explaining how to use the TV system and getting the hot water going for the main washroom sink. My apologies for the convoluted procedures for each and tell June I said hi! Have a great summer! Dave

Thank you SO much for your wonderful review, Aleecia! I enjoyed meeting you and your party and do hope you will return. When you do I will ask my cleaning staff to redouble their efforts in eliminating any possible allergens. Have a great winter and hope to see all of you again soon! Dave

Thank you so much for visiting us, Geoff! Loved meeting your family and very glad you enjoyed the place. I have already acted upon most of your suggestions and appreciate the feedback. Have a great summer and hope you return in the future! Dave

We are very sorry that was your experience. Thanks for letting us know and giving us the opportunity to improve. The utensils are in the drawer on the right side and if you look at the ad the AC box is NOT checked. Picture of 2nd bathroom shows that there is no shower there but I may get one in the future if there is demand. I will discuss the rest of your concerns with my cleaners. Sorry for the delay getting back to you Vibi as I wanted to measure my response to your concerns in the context of the renters that followed. I agree you are all paying customers and have the right to give feedback which I always treat fairly and impartially. The easiest way to describe how I addressed your points is in 2 sections with my attendant comments as follows: First, I will name the ones I was able to verify: Shower: Yes it was broken as confirmed by the plumber who repaired it less than 2 weeks later. I invited the following renter to use the ones in my house but they declined and left a 4 star review anyway. Stains: Yes there are harmless water stains on the attic carpet and both single mattresses ONLY. I have covered both of these with a clean carpet and clean fitted sheets respectively. Locks: For the main bathroom I will move the lock to the inside of the door and install a latch in the top floor one. Utensils: These were in the dishwasher. I will unload and put in drawers from now on after a renter leaves. Secondly, I'm afraid we were not able to substantiate the remainder of your points. Both my property manager and cleaner do regular checks including before and after your particular stay. They found no dust in the kitchen or spiders anywhere. The mattress protectors were clean and I have enjoyed sleeping on the beds myself. NO other renters slept on the floor so if you did then that was YOUR choice. It is my obligation to respectfully inform you that you are in violation of the terms you agreed to. In my Renters Guide you will find this line: “Until then, if you have questions or problems during your rental period then they will be happy to assist. ”. You did not relay to us any issues as they arose. There's an old saying: "Silence implies consent.". You were silent during your stay so you implicitly consented to these alleged shortcomings. I say "alleged" because you provided ZERO evidence of your claims. If you had taken pictures of these things or SHOWED one of us as soon as you saw it we would have been happy to rectify the situation. Another clause states you need to fix or at least report things you break. The renter before you was able to use the shower just fine, nobody used it since and the plumber did not find that it broke itself. VRBO properties are not hotels. If you want a hotel then I recommend you pay 5x the price to stay at one with modern furniture where in the ad the A/C box IS checked. Removing my broken condenser and unit would be expensive which is why it is still there. It’s not doing any harm and the fan part does still work. If you told us your kids were irritated then we would have purchased more fans for you which my cleaner wisely did recently. Here's another example of my prompt customer care: The renters last weekend asked me for an ashtray so the next day I bought them a safe cigarette disposal cup. This was despite them telling me not to worry about it but they were happy anyway. The “old” furniture you speak of is what gives the place its thematic charm from days of yore. The furniture is NOT old and I have replaced the torn chairs which were still perfectly usable. The furniture is “period accurate” so you get a sense of what it was like to live in the 1800s. The VV provides a rich unique historical experience you won’t get at many other properties. This is all clearly explained in my ad which it appears you never read. Bottom line is NONE of my other renters agree with your assessment. We can therefore conclude they felt your criticisms were obviously too trivial to mention. When welcoming the ones that followed, I got nothing but confused looks (ie "The porch is dirty? It's an outdoor concrete floor! How much cleaner does she want it?!?!") and scratched heads over your comments. As a business owner I have to go with the majority of my customers whose feedback has thankfully been overwhelmingly positive. My apologies once again for your experience and I hope you have learned to report deficiencies in the future RIGHT AWAY. I am truly mystified why you felt the need to slander me like this. My correspondence was filled with the utmost courtesy and invitations to let us know if you were having trouble. I don't want to upset you but I am only stating the facts of which this is the most important: The VV is a BEAUTIFUL grand old house with comfortable furniture and all the conveniences of home which is kept as clean as humanly possible. I have nothing but praise for my cleaning staff whom I have exonerated from your allegations. You have a right to your opinion but the fact remains NOBODY else had an issue with general cleanliness. I wish you the best of luck in finding accommodation more in keeping with your standards in that regard. If you are a prospective renter reading this then I can assure you I will do everything in my power to make sure you have a nice memorable stay as all the other groups up to this point certainly have. Regrettably thus far only one of these had time to leave a review. Use Google Translate for that if you don’t speak French. Most of the others sent me emails saying they enjoyed their time here. Sincerely, Dave