Blue Ridge Mtn Escape: Home w/ Deck & Fire Pit!

Reviews

• 4/5

  The house had everything we needed and lots of room for our crew to sleep. We love Sapphire Valley! The house was everything advertised. Comfortable beds and living space. A couple of small things to note. We did have to stagger showers and take short showers because the hot water runs out quick. An easy adjustment after night one. The driveway is vert steep. We had great weather so it was not an issue but I am not so sure a wet, frozen, or snowy driveway would be navigable without 4 wheel drive.

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

• Family Reunion

  5/5

  Our group came from Milwaukee Wisconsin for a family reunion. The house was perfect for our gathering and was in the middle of an absolutely beautiful area. We found the house very clean and well stocked. The sleeping arrangements worked out perfect for our group. It was located within close proximity to local attractions, shops, and restaurants. We will be visiting the mountains and staying at this home again.

• Not the property for asthmatics and allergen sufferers.

  3/5

  This home was in a great location and very clean and spacious. However, it was evident in the downstairs basement/bunk bed room that was meant for kids, they definitely had a mold issue going on. They had a noisy humidifier going with some type of febreeze air freshener going. The mold/mildew smell was still readily detected despite the efforts to mask it. Mold is a health hazard to the neurologic and respiratory systems especially in children, and my sister and I did not feel comfortable having the kids sleep down there. Also, I am a bronchial asthmatic that is triggered by mold, and I ended up getting a horrible case of bronchitis staying there that wiped me out, required a trip to a health clinic an hour away, and had me in bed for 2 full days of our vacation. The couple of times I went down to the basement very quickly to change the laundry, I would start gagging with a bronchial attack. I felt so much better once we were out of the house and home. The bronchitis still had to be treated with meds to prevent from turning into pneumonia. If you have any health sensitivities to allergens, mold, etc. this is not the property for you.

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

  Manager's Response:

  Lindy, 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 have been working on the issue in the basement, and this is something that caught us off guard.
  -We've had much rain and flooding in the area. We purchased a dehumidifier but also had a professional come to the property at the end of September. Their results concluded that there was no mold.
  -It turns out the only problem with the room was that another renter closed all of the vents into the room, therefore there was no circulation in the room for weeks.
  -We've installed a mini-split in the basement bedroom, so guests can enjoy complete control of the humidity and temperature.
  
  Thank you for taking the time to tell us about your experience.

• Basement Bedroom Unusable; House Needs Deep Clean

  2/5

  Please note that the 4th bedroom (bunkbeds) is in the basement and not usable - it is extremely damp and smells terribly of mildew and the air freshener used to try and cover up the mildew smell. The owner has 2 dehumidifiers, 2 fans and 2 air fresheners running in the tiny room. We rented this house because we needed 4 bedrooms to accomodate 2 families. Given the condition of the 4th bedroom the other family in our party had to find last minue alternative accommodations at great expense and inconvenience. Overall the house feels old and in need of updates and a deep clean (e.g. stained carpets and linens, dirty pots and pans in the cupboards). The house was also lacking basics such as hand soap in the bathrooms, dish / dishwasher soap, etc.We really do not want to have to write a negative review but do want to make sure others don't find themselves in a similar situation. The homeowner should clearly disclose the limitations of the 4th basement bedroom and adjust the nightly rental rate accordingly. We did share our concerns with the management company. They were very responsive. However, the solution was to provide a very small refund which felt inadequate given the issues and the addition expenses we incurred.

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

  Manager's Response:

  Owners response: "Chloe, we take it seriously when guests let us know that we missed the mark, and after sending your feedback to the homeowner, they’d like to share the following:
  - We have been working on the issue in the basement and it is mostly taken care of and will be resolved completely with air testing by the end of September
  - We hoped the refund would have made things better as we tried our best to be accommodating
  
  We do all we can to make the best possible stay, and we look forward to this property hosting many satisfied guests. We will continue to deliver the 5-star experiences we are known for. FYI - it turns out the only problem with the room was that another renter closed all of the vents into the room, therefore there was no circulation in the room for weeks. Further, I have installed a mini-split in the basement bedroom, so the renter can have complete control of humidity and temperature. Also before I started installing the mini-split, I had a professional "MOLD" inspection by a local company, and the results were negative - no mold"

• Nice stay but had to clean and organize during stay!

  4/5

  Overall, we enjoyed our stay. Nice location. Nice home overall. The property manager was friendly and easy to work with. The house overall was large and relatively spacious with comfortable furnishings, but it was not as clean and organized as we would have liked. There was trash and dust noticeably behind and under furniture all over the house. We understood that the last tenant left the house a disaster so the cleaners did not have enough time to do a proper cleaning. However, this home is a need of a deep cleaning, touch up, clean out, painting, and a refresh. This should have been done in the off-season! Here is a list of specific problems we encountered:1- The hot water handle on the master bathroom sink was loose and not turning the water off properly.2- The fire pit area was full of trash when we arrived. Two of the chairs around the fire pit were cracked and broken also so that they were not usable.3- The garage was a mess! Boxes, trash, and stuff everywhere. We organized it the best we could. Shelves need clean out and organization.4- The downstairs bedroom (bunk room) is not usable. The smell of mildew down there is awful and definitely unhealthy! We had to move the mattresses upstairs during our stay so that the children would not be exposed to the smell. A dehumidifier was running, but it is not enough to remedy the problem. The owner needs to call a specialist to diagnose and fix the problem. It is not healthy for anyone to spend any significant time down in there.5- The cooking knives in the kitchen are not practical or usable. Too flimsy and all are serrrated knives.6- There was old, dated, and used food in the pantry and refrigerator that we had to clean out.7- Doors, door frames and walls had spilled stains on them in various places. We cleaned them the best we could.8- Some closets had no doors or no working door and were full of junk and stuff. Looks very unorganized and messy. Dangerous for little children too. This was true of the garage too.9- Interior walls need painting. This should have been done in the off-season!10- Behind and under furniture is dusty and filthy! This house should have been deep cleaned in the off-season!11- Dishwasher is not anchored! Very annoying! You have to hold it steady with your knee to open the door. It is jiggly, noisy, and comes out of its slot.Despite this, we had a nice stay. Issues should be addressed ASAP!

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

  Manager's Response:

  Owners response: "Rebecca, the right vacation home is everything, and we're disappointed if this wasn't the one for you. You state that you enjoyed your stay and it was a nice home overall, but your review leads me to believe the opposite.
  - If you had contacted us we would have made every effort to fix the issues you were having to make things better for you
  The hot water handle in the master bathroom works fine there is nothing wrong with it
  - The fire pit was cleaned out and the broken chairs were discarded, I understand that the cleaners were there when you arrived to get this all taken care of
  Not sure what to say about the garage, it's a garage and we did not ask nor would we ever expect a guest to clean it out, we use the garage it's not going to be spotless or empty
  - I have scheduled a specialist to come out and see if they can find any problems with the downstairs I don't believe it is dangerous and it is something simple
  The knives in the kitchen work just fine there is nothing wrong with them, I'm not sure what you expect
  - There is no outdated food in the kitchen, the cleaner informed me that they had inspected the refrigerator and the only things left were a few condiments
  - I'm not exactly sure what you mean about the spill stains on the walls and door frames, but again the cleaner informed me that this is not true and we do a deep clean twice a year, as some items are not a standard cleaning
  - There is only one closet on the main floor hallway that doesn't have a door, all others function well
  - When the home was purchased we did a lot of painting
  - A standard clean does not include moving all the furniture to clean underneath and behind, we have a deep clean scheduled
  - We have fixed the dishwasher there should be no problems with this in the future
  
  We are the new rental homeowners (we have only owned the home for 9 months, not a full rental season), and we know that we will have to learn the ins and outs, but we do not expect any guest who rents to go over things with a fine tooth comb and find so many personal issues. When we vacation we don't look for issues we enjoy the time we have to spend with our loved ones, I'm sorry that you didn't find our home to your liking and you felt the need to clean and organize what we consider a clean comfortable home for people to rest and relax."