Mtn View Anchorage Escape ~ 15 Mi to Downtown

Reviews

• Great summer house with plenty of room

  4/5

  Overall, the house is a great summer getaway. It is private and mostly secluded from neighbors. There is plenty of room for 4 to 6 people. You have a view of the mountains and Anchorage lights at night in the distance. It is surrounded by natural vegetation.

  The kitchen is well equipped and includes K cups. (We bought regular coffee and there is a pot for it as well.) The refrigerator provides plenty of ice water. (Select ice cubes - the crushed ice freezes in the doorway like most of these fridges do.)

  The primary bed is comfortable. You have a choice of tub or shower upstairs or combo downstairs. There was plenty of hot water for showers. There is a crib in 1 of the downstairs bedrooms. The furniture is on the small side. The recliner was perfect for my 5'3" wife. It has really tiny toilets. There is no men's elongated toilet in the house.

  Children would probably have to remain indoors. It is on a sidehill, and the only flat place is the driveway. The kitchen/living room does provide a large area to spread out and enjoy the view.

  I'm glad the other review mentioned there is no cable or satellite. You can stream some from the TV. We brought our own NVIDIA shield pro from home, which worked well. The internet connection is fast and reliable.

  The drive from Seward highway 1 is about 15 minutes uphill. The first part is paved but the last is a steep gravel/dirt road. Winter driving probably requires a very good 4-wheel drive. We rented a Chevy Traverse with all wheel drive available, but only ran 2-wheel drive our entire time in Alaska in July. (Outside the Anchorage area there are numerous high mountain roads with sheer drop-offs and no guardrails, so be warned exploring if you have a heights thing.)

  We had a 10AM arrival at Anchorage and asked ahead of time if we could check in early. We were told that they would put the house to be first cleaned that day. After arrival we spent time wandering around downtown. When we called to ask about the house we were yelled at and told it was only guaranteed for 4 PM. We did get notified at 3 PM.

  Maintenance is lacking in some areas but good overall. The house was very clean. The water filter in the fridge was past due when we arrived. When I took the large garbage can to the curb on Thursday it was so full that I could barely fit our small sack with 2 days of garbage in it - must have been at least a month since it was emptied. The bottom front step is very soft and feels like it could give at any time.

• Nice but lacking

  3/5

  As stated there were stairs to access the house. What we did not expect was the build up of snow and thick ice covering the steps making it precarious. The listing promoted basking on the deck and warming up by the wood burning fireplace. As people accustomed to vacationing in the winter we expected to be able to sit on the deck and enjoy the afternoon sun however the deck was covered with 3 feet of snow and ice.

  As for the wood burning stove at this price point one expects the wood to be provided. It was not but there were about 10 unfolded grocery bags just thrown onto the interior wood rack.

  What was not disclosed about the TVs is that there is NO service. Only if you have your own streaming service which you have to log in to. Not even a local news channel! The master bed had no top sheet. It was in the maintenance closet. Also there is no closet in the "master suite" for the guests. All usable closets were on another level. K-cups were not supplied as was indicated and only half of a role of paper towels. The ceiling fans did not work properly and several light bulbs were out.

  This could have been worth the price if more care had been taken. At the end of our trip we were told that no one had been in the house in over a month so the host was totally unaware of the condition of the unit before guests arrived.

  Manager's Response:

  Hi Richard, we’re sorry to hear your stay did not meet your expectations. We followed up with the homeowner after reading your feedback, and they wanted to share the following:
  - We're disappointed to hear your stay didn't meet your expectations and want to take a moment to address your concerns.
  - We have a contract with a snow/ice removal service that plows and shovels the driveway to the home and shovels the steps to the front of the house. With it being Alaska during the winter, there is always going to be some snow/ice present as it snows nearly every day. The deck is not shoveled by this service as the only access is from the interior of the home. We will look into having a snow shovel available for guests during the winter should they wish to use the deck.
  - We do not advertise we provide wood for the wood-burning fireplace, should guests wish to use it. We appreciate your feedback and will consider adding this as a disclosure to our listing so future guests are not caught off guard by this.
  - We do not provide cable TV but provide WiFi, so guests can use either one of the smart TV's to stream.
  - Although the master bedroom does not have a closet we do provide a dresser for clothing, in addition, there is an empty closet with hangers in the entryway, and two large empty closets with hangers in the other two bedrooms for our guest's use.
  - The ceiling fans are operated by remote control, and in order for them to be operated, both the wall switch and remote have to be turned on, we will further look into this to ensure they are working correctly. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
  We do all we can to make the best possible stay, and we look forward to this property hosting many satisfied guests.

• Great property

  5/5

  The property was clean, as described, and overall pleasant.

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo