- Joined
- Jul 16, 2010
- Messages
- 11,438
- Reaction score
- 7,730
- Location
- The Weirs, New Hampshire
- Resorts Owned
- Innseason Pollard Brook
So we rented here last week through booking.com (Vacasa property) since it was Bike week where we live and we like to get out of town.
The location is great- right in Stowe off the recreation path and convenient to everything the town has to offer. Though it wasn't heated they had a really nice big outdoor pool as well as an indoor pool and a small old style hot tub and sauna. Grounds were mowed and had beautiful tall, old growth trees. Very nice. But no frills landscaping, except for around their welcome sign with lovely flowers.
The units are town homes. Ours was a loft with 2 bathrooms downstairs as well as the master bdrm and another bedroom (2 twins) downstairs, and a full or queen ? size bed and twin up in the loft.
The living room furniture was actually fairly comfortable (which is unusual in timeshares and rentals). Ginormous TV as well. Books and games provided.
The 3 mini splits for AC in the master bedroom, living area and loft worked well, but I thought it was weird there wasn't one in the second downstairs bedroom.
BTW- there are several different kinds of layouts at this resort. I made sure we got one with everything we needed on the first floor.
Here's the thing: This was a full ownership unit. (most there are full ownership, timeshares or quarter shares). In any case, the resort does not get involved in any rentals at all. What I find with renting from full owners, or airbnbs, or vrbo's that the units are never really kept in pristine condition. This particular unit was clean, but run down. The tiny kitchen's wallpaper was peeling. The kitchen cabinets and drawers were a mess. One big pot I used for pasta had to be scrubbed as it was dirty and had no lid so I had to make one out of aluminum foil. Another non stick pot was so scratched up it was unusable. Thankfully all the appliances worked ok. No counter space to work on. Only one kitchen garbage pail, though in Vermont they recycle. We got some bags from the front desk though they said they normally don't get involved with Vacasa properties.
In Vermont they also do that food scrap recycling for compost which I personally find gross and a small pail was provided for that, and the management at the resort said they had no mechanism for the food scraps anyway- only garbage and recycling, so they felt Vacasa would probably just throw it in the garbage as well and we could also if we wanted to.
In New Hampshire we don't do any of this. In fact in Vermont we always have to get used to the fact that we had to bring our own bags to the stores or pay 5 cents per bag. LOL!
There were a ton of light switches everywhere in the unit and it was still very dark. The bulbs were not bright. The light for the kitchen table was on a wall it was up against. Strange. There was a big window in the living room which helped a bit, but still dark. We go to hang up our clothes in the master bedroom closet and it is stuffed with blankets piled on the floor, lamps and fans. We skipped it and put everything in the drawers. I mean- how welcoming is that- here's your closet- just squeeze your clothes into it around all the junk piled in!
The master bed only had a sheet and a very thin kind of worn bedspread. The blankets in the closet were not king size- mostly full or twin. Skipped that also . Bathrooms were ok. (more modernized), though seemed to have a humidity problem even with the fans on the walls had some water dripping on them all the time.
The building itself seemed dirty- the outside- windows not cleaned. Soffits filthy. Needed a power wash. Most of the buildings seemed that way as well, including the reservation/recreation building. The decking coming in to the front door the paint peeling off. Weather strip was peeling off the door. You come into the front door into a kind of mud room/vestibule that at times smelled a bit like sewerage I think because there is a sewer/septic cover right next to the unit. BTW- the key to this unit was a single very small key you put into a keyhole kept in a lock box. That's it. Easy place to break into - not that I was worried as Stowe is a very safe place, but still.....You would think they would upgrade the lock system. Use key cards, etc. But then again last year at Sterling Ridge Log Cabin Resort they also used just regular keys. And in fact they left most of the log cabins open until someone checked in! I kid you not! LOL!
The back door you could open up to a storm door, but the problem was there was such a large gap below it we were afraid to keep the inside door open for fear a critter or bugs could slip in. So we had to keep the inside door closed. So much for letting some light in!
Anyway, I am not saying it's a bad place to stay because it was ok and the location was perfect. I do think $2400 for the rental was a lot for what it was though. And it was still off season. But I find with these full owner or house/ condo/cottage rentals we have done they just aren't up to the standards of a lot of timeshare rentals through a resort or a timeshare owner. Not always the case, but more so than not- at least for us that's the way it's been.
Next year we have a unit at Smuggs this same week through Vacasa- an OWLS unit-so hoping it's better. I got it for a much better rate and it's a 3 bedroom and very modern.
Does anyone else find these private type rentals are not as well kept? Maybe it's me and my OCD?
The location is great- right in Stowe off the recreation path and convenient to everything the town has to offer. Though it wasn't heated they had a really nice big outdoor pool as well as an indoor pool and a small old style hot tub and sauna. Grounds were mowed and had beautiful tall, old growth trees. Very nice. But no frills landscaping, except for around their welcome sign with lovely flowers.
The units are town homes. Ours was a loft with 2 bathrooms downstairs as well as the master bdrm and another bedroom (2 twins) downstairs, and a full or queen ? size bed and twin up in the loft.
The living room furniture was actually fairly comfortable (which is unusual in timeshares and rentals). Ginormous TV as well. Books and games provided.
The 3 mini splits for AC in the master bedroom, living area and loft worked well, but I thought it was weird there wasn't one in the second downstairs bedroom.
BTW- there are several different kinds of layouts at this resort. I made sure we got one with everything we needed on the first floor.
Here's the thing: This was a full ownership unit. (most there are full ownership, timeshares or quarter shares). In any case, the resort does not get involved in any rentals at all. What I find with renting from full owners, or airbnbs, or vrbo's that the units are never really kept in pristine condition. This particular unit was clean, but run down. The tiny kitchen's wallpaper was peeling. The kitchen cabinets and drawers were a mess. One big pot I used for pasta had to be scrubbed as it was dirty and had no lid so I had to make one out of aluminum foil. Another non stick pot was so scratched up it was unusable. Thankfully all the appliances worked ok. No counter space to work on. Only one kitchen garbage pail, though in Vermont they recycle. We got some bags from the front desk though they said they normally don't get involved with Vacasa properties.
In Vermont they also do that food scrap recycling for compost which I personally find gross and a small pail was provided for that, and the management at the resort said they had no mechanism for the food scraps anyway- only garbage and recycling, so they felt Vacasa would probably just throw it in the garbage as well and we could also if we wanted to.
In New Hampshire we don't do any of this. In fact in Vermont we always have to get used to the fact that we had to bring our own bags to the stores or pay 5 cents per bag. LOL!
There were a ton of light switches everywhere in the unit and it was still very dark. The bulbs were not bright. The light for the kitchen table was on a wall it was up against. Strange. There was a big window in the living room which helped a bit, but still dark. We go to hang up our clothes in the master bedroom closet and it is stuffed with blankets piled on the floor, lamps and fans. We skipped it and put everything in the drawers. I mean- how welcoming is that- here's your closet- just squeeze your clothes into it around all the junk piled in!
The master bed only had a sheet and a very thin kind of worn bedspread. The blankets in the closet were not king size- mostly full or twin. Skipped that also . Bathrooms were ok. (more modernized), though seemed to have a humidity problem even with the fans on the walls had some water dripping on them all the time.
The building itself seemed dirty- the outside- windows not cleaned. Soffits filthy. Needed a power wash. Most of the buildings seemed that way as well, including the reservation/recreation building. The decking coming in to the front door the paint peeling off. Weather strip was peeling off the door. You come into the front door into a kind of mud room/vestibule that at times smelled a bit like sewerage I think because there is a sewer/septic cover right next to the unit. BTW- the key to this unit was a single very small key you put into a keyhole kept in a lock box. That's it. Easy place to break into - not that I was worried as Stowe is a very safe place, but still.....You would think they would upgrade the lock system. Use key cards, etc. But then again last year at Sterling Ridge Log Cabin Resort they also used just regular keys. And in fact they left most of the log cabins open until someone checked in! I kid you not! LOL!
The back door you could open up to a storm door, but the problem was there was such a large gap below it we were afraid to keep the inside door open for fear a critter or bugs could slip in. So we had to keep the inside door closed. So much for letting some light in!
Anyway, I am not saying it's a bad place to stay because it was ok and the location was perfect. I do think $2400 for the rental was a lot for what it was though. And it was still off season. But I find with these full owner or house/ condo/cottage rentals we have done they just aren't up to the standards of a lot of timeshare rentals through a resort or a timeshare owner. Not always the case, but more so than not- at least for us that's the way it's been.
Next year we have a unit at Smuggs this same week through Vacasa- an OWLS unit-so hoping it's better. I got it for a much better rate and it's a 3 bedroom and very modern.
Does anyone else find these private type rentals are not as well kept? Maybe it's me and my OCD?
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