We rented this property from Brian Bolton in September. I wish I would have done a simple search on reviews cause I would have saved our family from unnecessary stress and salvaged our vacation. There is another review in 2011 and another in 2010 off another travel site. I hope you are reading this in advance to booking the propertty. DO NOT RENT this specific property OR from this person. Completley unethical.
We are 3 families, a total of 10 adults and 1 baby (my son at 8 months). We arrived and everything was very small and totally cramped. OK - no big deal. My husband and I rented out (for an additional expense) the back room since we had the baby and needed a quiet area. They had set up an air mattress which we were not told about, instead of the pull out bed that was listed on the site. The sofa bed was still in the room so it just made the space even that tighter. I don't even want to know why the sofa bed was no longer a sleep option. Air mattress was horrible. We slept crappy for the 4 nights we stayed. This back room also boasted a full kitchen. It looked like it was put together from a close out showroom (Retail signage on the sink/dishwasher). No refrigerator so I couldn't keep my son's foods in with me.
The major complaint is the pest infestation and which made us captors in the trailer itself. There are two decks advertised... And they look beautiful. A top sun deck with chairs and umbrellas. And a lower deck that has a pool and ping pong table. When we arrived, everything was dusty and unkempt. We spent $4k for the week so I would have expected some prep in getting the property ready, but nothing. Myself and 3 other people worked on the bottom deck and immediately you could tell there was an infestation. Bugs everywhere! Disgusting. I thought Okay, let's just clean this up so that we can enjoy during our stay. We brought down cleansers and towels and started wiping down the games and spaces. Dead bugs everywhere. Took us about an hour and was just disgusting. After though, I realized that the bugs just kept coming back. So then I thought, okay maybe the river is just having a higher degree of bugs this year. Wrote it off and the day/night was done. We could not be outside at all.
The next day we traveled up and down the river. I noticed no bugs like at our rental property. When we got back to the property, I spoke to the neighbors (also renters). Again, no bug problem there. Walked over to the other neighbor. That property was vacant but I inspected their decks and dock and again, no bug issue at all. Apparently the bug infestation is limited to this property only.
We spent $4k for the 5 nights, 4 days. We choose to only stay 4 since the bugs were simply intolerable. Here is a summary of the property:
PEST INFESTATION. Decks are completely uninhabitable. It is why we rented and justified the cost.
MAIN HOUSE ISSUES:
Refrigerator never cooled anything. We adjusted the settings to the highest but nothing was kept cold. We had to use our coolers and get ice every 2 days.
Broken Dining Table Chairs. They look OK, until you set in them. Someone just "put them together" but the fall apart with weight (I weigh 115 lbs).
Light Fixture in Living Room. Do not work.
Bathrooms. They all have clogged drains. So you end up with residue marks on side of tubs.
BACK HOUSE ISSUES:
No actual bed as advertised. You get an air mattress.
Hodge podge kitchen. Parts were pulled from a showroom and installed. No refrigerator yields the kitchen unusable.
Clogged drain in tub again.
DOCK ISSUES:
They have a floating pontoon dock. No one will deliver a pontoon boat to this property (locals know this property well). We had to go out and meet them to pick up a boat and then understood what they meant. The floating dock is not safe.
The ramp into the water is very narrow. Brian claims its all up to code, but barely. Brian's handling was extremely poor.instead of helping and trying to mitigate situation, he actually accused us of not being intelligent enough to enjoy the property. They also have pictures of their grand daugther in the advertisement for this property. Totally unethical as there is no way this property is safe or enjoyable for kids. I kept my son indoors simply due to the pest infestation.
We paid top dollar for this property and we made the best of our week there. But this guy is a total scam. The posting from 2011 is accurate although it seems the AC has now been fixed as we had no problems with that. Renter beware. Stay clear of this property and specifically with Brian and his 777 vacations dba Home Sweet Home Vacations businesses.
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