Rural Seneca House w/ Yard Near I-80

Reviews

• Clean, but Inconvenient

  4/5

  The Pros: The property was comfortable and clean.

  The Cons: The keypad for the door was confusing and difficult to use. We ended up getting locked out in the dark for almost 15 minutes because it took 12 tries to get it to unlock, and it had a 10-minute lock-out after 10 failed tries.

  The kitchen is woefully under-equipped. The cooking and serving implements as sparse and mismatched. It was very difficult to prepare and serve meals.

  When we checked in there were only two towels in all the bathrooms combined. Later we found all the towels still sitting wet in the laundry machine, so we were forced to do the previous visitors' laundry to have towels.

  Overall: While affordable, clean, and comfortable, I would not recommend staying here to anyone. There are serious concerns that need addressing first. Thankfully they are small concerns and could be fixed in as little as a day, but need to be fixed.

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

• Family visit

  4/5

  Worked exactly for what we needed.

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

• Modern Country Plains House

  5/5

  We enjoyed our 3 night stay. Modern decor with spacious bedrooms. Excellent birding opportunities! Somewhat noisy road.

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

• Fair price

  4/5

  Everything was fine, it will only change. the bed in the main room and the stove is very dirty from the oven. the place is very nice and the house is very big and spacious. I would rent it again on my next visits to Illinois

  Positive:

  Negative:

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

• Great space, accessible host

  4/5

  The house is spacious, with little bonus rooms, which help if you are traveling with teens who like their space. Furniture was comfortable, yard was great. We had an issue with one of the beds coming off the frame, so we put the mattress on the floor. The host said he would repair it, so hopefully it isn't an issue for future guests.

  Things to be aware of:

  You may want to bring bottled water to drink as the tap water has a sulfer smell.

  Being in a rural area, there are more bugs than you might have in an urban or suburban neighborhood. It house was clean, but we did have ants in the kitchen during our stay... kind of to be expected on the very hot days we were there. Child and pet safe ant spray was available.

  There's a good sized laundry room with an iron and board, detergent, dryer sheets, etc., but they dryer requires two cycles to get a load fully dry. There is a clothesline outside as well, so that's an option.

  The host was friendly and accessible. He set up a hose for us so we could hook up a sprinkler for the kids. He offered to come over with ant traps, but we just picked some up some we were grocery shopping anyway.

  Some tidying is asked of guests at the end of their stay - loading and running the dishwasher, gathering used linens into a pile, sweeping and taking trash out - not too taxing, but a bit more than other places we have stayed, though it all probably makes a significant difference at keeping the ants at bay when guests do their part.

  Overall, we had a nice time. There are indoor waterparks nearby, great hiking, and lots of great little shops in nearby Ottawa all within a 30 minute drive. Fyi, there's a fantastic Harry Potter party for kids at Prairie Fox books in Ottawa the last weekend of July every year! Its a great Indie bookstore even when there isn't a party! Check out Goblin Games for board games and A Mess of Things for a whole bunch of random secondhand, handmade and boutique items.