Brandon R.
2/5
TL;DR: Beautiful cabin, but after an invasion of privacy, losing electricity and water for over 24 hours, and experiencing a stunning lack of hospitality from the hosts, we won't be returning.
My wife and I stayed at the Big Pine Tree House for our first wedding anniversary. We made a reservation for 3 nights, Saturday to Tuesday, and had prepared a packed schedule with several reservations. Our first night was perfect. The cabin is beautiful, with personal touches everywhere. We felt welcomed and right at home.
On Sunday, while we were away from the cabin, I received a text from the host explaining that her husband had mistakenly entered the cabin. According to the host, he did not know the booking schedule and thought we had already checked out. We were confused as we had left several unopened and personalized gifts (and multiple pairs of shoes) in the den which would have been seen immediately when entering through the front door, making it obvious that we hadn’t checked out, but he continued to walk throughout the whole cabin to turn off lights and fans. It was an invasion of our privacy and made us feel uncomfortable, as if our stay was being monitored for any wrongdoing.
We returned to the cabin at around 6:30 and found that we had lost electricity from a storm earlier in the day. We then discovered that when the electricity goes out, the water goes out, too - so the sinks and showers ran dry, and toilets couldn’t flush. Losing electricity is one thing, but access to water is a basic necessity. The power did not come back on until 9am Monday morning, but had gone out again by the time we returned around 4pm. After hearing that the new estimate was 6:30AM Tuesday morning, we decided to drove home that night.
Throughout the outage, we were in contact with the host who did provide occasional updates from the electric company. But we felt that we were on our own to figure out solutions. Not once did the host reach out to ask if we needed anything, like bottled water or information on nearby bathrooms. We had to drive to a gym and purchase a day pass to use their showers and electricity so we could get ready for a photo session we had reserved. We had to drive 20 minutes to a Wal-Mart to use their bathroom. As far as we know, the host did not maintain any stores of emergency supplies (bottled water, power banks for phones, lights). There was no backup generator to at least power the water pump so toilets and sinks could be used. We do not blame the hosts for the outage, but they were unprepared and unwilling to handle a situation that seems to happen regularly.
The host did offer a one night partial refund due to the outage. But we felt that this was not sufficient for the stress and discomfort we felt for most of our stay, as well as the many amenities we could not use. Although we believed it would be fair to request a 2 night refund (as we didn't have epectricity or water for 2 nights), we requested a 1.5 night refund as the outage was beyond their control. The host outright declined, stating that the refund they offered was a “courtesy” based on the rental agreement, which absolves them of any liability for lost amenities, including electricity and water.
The next morning we were notified that we would not be getting our security deposit back. We had mistakenly left a shower head on when the water was out and did not notice while packing and cleaning up, as it was dark. When power came back on after we left, the shower turned back on causing a leak. I apologized and explained that this was due to the chaos of leaving early and having to pack in a dark house. I didn't receive a response.
I rated 2/5 stars only because our first night was an amazing experience. But the rest of our stay ranged from disappointment to disaster. Book here at your own risk and don't expect and help or or refunds if anything goes wrong during your stay. Based on our experience and according to the rental agreement, they won't owe you a thing.
