When traveling, part of the joy is to enter a clean welcoming space where there is room to relax, unpack, and a place to set the items used in everyday life. This house did not provide any of this.
The “parlor” is furnished with older furniture, in keeping with the age of the house. This is wonderful for photo ops or for perching to talk with an acquaintance. There is no place to curl up with a book, lounge in pajamas and enjoy a glass of wine, or to share a movie with your family. There was no luggage rack or unadorned table on which to set a suitcase; there were no hangers in the wardrobe. Counter space and table tops throughout the house were either already used for nick-nacks or the tools of the wedding venue business run out of this same space.
I contacted Faye to ask some questions and to let her know that we were disappointed. She was unable to talk at that time but was willing to text. Her response was defensive, saying that she has never had anyone that wasn’t happy, that her guests have loved the property and thanked her for sharing it with them. She was not hearing that we had concerns.
There was a broken windowpane, peeling paint, peeling wallpaper, a corroded drain in the kitchen sink, an unused chandelier on the floor of the parlor, bare lightbulbs in a light fixture with the glass covering for the light fixture sitting on the desk, all of which I sent her pictures.
After sending pictures of what looked like a year’s worth of dead bugs in the windowsill, toilet bowl rings in both bathrooms, an air conditioning intake vent caked with dust, Faye did not communicate with me for three days. On the third day she informed me that she had called VRBO and had me red flagged as a “do not rent”.
We were ready to walk away from the money we had spent. We did ask for a refund because VRBO said that was our only recourse. Because we asked for a refund, I was accused of searching for something wrong with the property, that Faye was certain that I had found a cheaper place to stay and had to figure out a way to get our money back.
Again, rather than speak with me, she claimed she had red flagged me with VRBO.