In town to visit family, we typically stay with my parents, and have only recently tried VRBO. The first time was last summer, when we wanted to see family, but wanted also to maintain some distance during COVID-19; and now again, as my parents’ home is under renovation. Last summer’s property was not available for our preferred dates, thus, we chose this one.
We’re new to VRBO, but we rely heavily on reviews when making a selection of hotel/resort/rental, therefore I’ll do my best to be thorough and objective here.
First, the neighborhood is lovely. A bit out-of-the-way, but not inconveniently so, the area is very quiet (the train tracks nearby are no issue at all), there’s very sparse traffic, and the natural environment is green and pretty. My impression is that it’s very safe for walking or jogging, free from both excessive vehicle traffic and nefarious characters.
The house is good. It met nearly all of our needs, based on the VRBO listing. When we arrived, the code given for back door access didn’t work, but a quick call to the property manager for the correct code resolved the minor hiccup. There was a plate of beautiful cookies in the kitchen, along with a bottle of Prosecco—a charming and unexpected welcome. Bedrooms are close together, which is helpful given that we have young children. The kitchen/family room area is spacious and open, so it’s easy to gather, eat, watch tv, and all be together. The beds were comfortable. Bath linens and bath mats were plentiful and high quality. The carpet in the bedrooms and the rug in the family room are rather dodgy in a few places, but we had house shoes for padding around the house, so if spots bother you, bring house shoes of some type. The carpet didn’t seem dirty, just spotted from years of heavy use. I suppose that may be typical of vacation rental. The house was very clean—not a single insect or arachnid and no cobwebs.
We had a misunderstanding, hopefully resolved satisfactorily, regarding garage use. Even though the code which opened the back door from which we accessed the home also opened the garage door, the garage is not available for guest use. This is a bit of a concern to us during hailstorm season or severe winter weather trips. Again, new to VRBO, we now know to clarify things like that before assuming that accessibility means available for guest use.
In all, this is a fun, very clean, safe property at a very reasonable price.