The residence we stayed at prior to this felt a lot more welcoming, honestly.
At this place, after you book, you're confronted with a "welcome packet", (which doesn't feel very welcoming; It feels like you're being reminded by your mom to clean up your mess with a checklist of chores that *must* be completed regarding the house and also mentions to "treat it like you would a friend's house." )
At first, this was fine with me. Everyone wants their house taken care of.
My boyfriend actually said, " wait, so are * we * the cleaning crew, then?" And I told him, "They just want to maintain their house, it's honestly not a big deal."
Then, we get inside. And the signs begin.
Literally in every room, there's a sign that says, " don't do this, make sure you do that. "
My boyfriend said, " Oh, I thought this was a *vacation* house. "
Also, don't bring your pets. It's not very clear on their listing that they aren't allowed, but my boyfriend brought his, and after we left, I felt scolded by the owner, and was informed I will be charged a cleaning fee because they had to do a "special cleaning." I said I will gladly oblige and felt the need to apologize, which I did, which is weird because you shouldn’t feel like you have to apologize for being a *PAYING* guest.
I didn't sleep well the last night of the stay because I was going through the list of rules double-checking if we missed any, and spent most of the morning on the day of leaving sweating to make sure those were met up to par, only to be told it wasn't. LOL!!! Oh well.
Anyway, they seem like decent and well-meaning owners, but having stayed at a way more laid back environment (which was even cleaner than this place - this place was clean, but the place prior to this was even cleaner despite not having a daunting list of rules), my overall experience was less than five stars, and I hate giving anyone less than five stars on here because I know so many pour their heart and souls into their homes they rent out.
We were told "thank you for coming" at the previous house on our departure. I was informed I would be charged more money at this one and I still have that same " I'm not welcome vibe; how dare I screw up house-feeling " as I did when we entered. There's really no comparison to my real five-star experience at the other one not only as a CUSTOMER, but as a GUEST.
Great location, though!