Stunning Houston Home w/ Private Backyard!

Reviews

• VRBO Rental

  3/5

  The home was generally clean and we were provided with plenty of towels and toiletries. The kitchen was stocked with everything we needed to stay for the week. The owner who lives on-site in garage apartment was friendly. However, the home had many plug in air fresheners so there was a very strong air freshener smell even when we unplugged the air fresheners. If you are at all sensitive to fragrances this is not the house for you! Even after leaving the home all of our clothes and luggage needed to be washed or aired out to remove the fragrance smell. There was also critters living in the attic. We saw a possum daily on the fence or window sills of the home and a racoon on the last day. Not sure which is living inside the house but would hear it moving around at night. We told the owner and he was not concerned and even mentioned how other guests love the possum.

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

• Beautiful Neighborhood

  5/5

  Came to Houston for Christmas to spend time with our son who attends Rice University. Easy walking distance to Rice University. Nice neighborhood. Wonderful cozy backyard. Many windows and light. Well stocked kitchen. We had a wonderful Christmas. Thank You!

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

• Peaceful location conveniently located

  5/5

  We came to Houston for a medical procedure. I was accompanied by my husband, sister, and adult daughter. We had enough space to spread out and be comfortable, but also come together and make some meals. The home is well equipped for cooking but close enough to restaurants for eating out. We enjoyed watching movies, relaxing, and sitting outside in the backyard area. The host has constructed a beautiful plant wall like I’ve never seen before. Perfect for quiet meditation moments.

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

• Great House, Great Location

  5/5

  We loved everything about this home. Great location, comfy beds, plenty of towels, kitchen is fully stocked, amazing backyard. We did not have any issues at all and look forward to returning.

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

• Appearances can be deceptive

  1/5

  We had lived and worked in the neighborhood for many years so accepted the substantial owner's fee as necessary for a nice house in a good location. Our actual experience was very disappointing. Ease of access to the one off-street parking space was made difficult by an apparently underivable car permanently parked, hood up, and loaded with junk occupying much of the narrow driveway. The access gate with key-pad appeared ordinary but the actual locking mechanism was unnecessarily complex. Pictures and initial impression of the interior were of a nicely designed and decorated house, but when we actually made use of the facilities we encountered a repetition of unnecessary complexity and/or poor quality. Examples are: a large pile of blankets and linens heaped upon the sofa on the upstairs landing-not in our way but why were they there? Digital thermostats with no instructions how to operate that had been left in system-off mode despite our scheduled arrival and a cold winter storm. There was also a very nice TV that looked great hanging on the wall, but try to figure out how to access desired programing without instructions and once figured out proved to be the cheapest selection of programing we had ever encountered. There were multiple types and locations of lights and switches, inside and out with dimmers and instruction about what we were expected to do but not how to do it. While we have encountered examples of these challenges previously, it was never all at once.

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

  Manager's Response:

  Owner's response: "Randall, It is our mission to provide a 5-star experience for all our guests, and we are disappointed that you ran into some issues.
  - Regarding the vehicle in the driveway I would like to explain. First, it is not sitting with the hood up, the hood is down resting on a safety latch that gives a space big enough to allow me to connect a charger because the car is only driven a couple of times a month. I use it to deliver recyclable materials from our guests to a plant in Houston. This vehicle is a small car and occupies no more than it's half of a normal two-car driveway. We have never received any comments about this vehicle being in anyone's way.
  - The front entry gate is fitted with a perfectly normal industry-standard lock and latch configuration. We have not had any guests with issues using this and it works very well for us.
  - The sofa you are referring to is a fold-down bed and is used to accommodate extra guests. The cleaners place the blankets and linens for this so that they are in plain sight if needed. If they were not in your way, we're not sure why you are complaining about it.
  - We recently installed the Honeywell Pro controllers and we asked the HVAC representative about instructions they said it was easy to use and no written instructions were necessary. We have used them with no issues as have many of our guests. If you needed assistance we would have been happy to help. As for winter storms, we have had no storms and the weather has been exceptionally mild.
  - Our TVs are configured with a standard web browser-style user interface, with this dozens of preselected program icons can be chosen or you can access a desired program by name, you can log into your account and watch what you desire. This is standard practice for most Airbnb's and hotels.
  - As in most houses, you have switches for lights and fans in each room, we are not sure what you had problems with since this is the first complaint of this nature.
  
  We were confused by some of the comments in your review as they were general complaints, but if you needed assistance we were only a phone call away. We would never try to deceive anyone and the history of our past guests speaks for itself, we have obtained numerous 5-star reviews with so many kind things to say about our home."