Prompt Images
Jane Datass Doe
Milford, CT
👥1 Friend ⭐️1 Review 📷0 Photos
“Long time reader, first time Yelper”
Reviews
Killington Ski Area
$$$$ – House Rental
Killington, VT
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 stars 2/26/2017
Hey guys, is this thing on? LOL. Sorry, I never wrote a Yelp review before but my friend Morganza is an Elite Yelper and recommended I try it, so here goes.
This weekend I rented a ski house in Vermont, but the story doesn’t start there. In early January, I started doing some research. I was looking for ski-in/ski-out properties, but couldn’t find any to accommodate our big group. I found 2 properties pretty close to the mountain and reached out via skionskioff.com and VRBO.com.
My first review is for skionskioff.com. It stinks! Don’t use it! Well, not like you have a choice LOL, because I sent an email to a homeowner for one of the top houses in Killington, but I don’t even know if they ever received it. You get NO confirmation. NO page telling you “thanks, your response was recorded” or anything. I was like, did I just get ghosted by a house?!?!?!!!? LMAO
So then I used the contact form on VRBO.com, which worked perfectly fine… it was just the user who had some, uh, technical difficulties. Maureen responded to my request within half a day and all seemed fine. We spoke on the phone and shortly thereafter I had electronic confirmation for the house, which fit all my crew’s requirements (decent kitchen, washer/dryer, sleeps 16) plus a bonus hot tub, sweet! Maureen seemed a little confused throughout of conversation, but I chalked it up to her being an outdoorsy New Englander. Like she smoked a lot of pot or something, IDK. I mailed her a check the following day.
Two days later, Maureen called me and basically introduced herself all over again. I politely explained that we had already spoken and I was set to rent the ski house. She apologized and told me she was under a lot of stress. Whatever. I noticed she had cashed the check a few days later.
The next week, she called AGAIN. A little less patiently, I told Maureen that we had already connected several times and that she had deposited the check for the house rental. “Don’t get mad,” she said, as if that ever had a calming effect on anyone LOL. I don’t even know why she said it? It was almost like she could see my Arthur fist through the phone.
As our trip grew closer, I noticed on the house listing there was a charge for linens. I emailed Maureen to ask how much. She never wrote back. I called her the next day and once again she was totally confused. ACTUAL transcript from our conversation:
“Hi Maureen, this is Jane, I’m scheduled to rent The Lakeview House next weekend?”
“Jane? Who? No you’re not.”
I sighed. “Yes, we’ve spoken several times, you deposited my check—”
“Ohhhh JANE. No, you don’t have The Lakeview House. You have the Let It Snow house.”
“No, I have The Lakeview House, I have the confirmation. I can forward it to you if you’d like?”
“No that won’t be necessary, I have you down for the Let It Snow house. The family that rented The Lakeview House rebooked from last year.”
“OK then why do I have confirmation that MY group has it?” [I had already forwarded it to her.]
“Ohhhh I see. I think what happened is I clicked ‘confirm’ but then I never accepted it. The Lakeview House was already rented out. That’s why I put you in the Let It Snow house.”
“Ohhkkkkaaayyyyy,” I said, collecting my thoughts. “This is probably going to be fine. But this is the first I’m hearing of any of this.”
Maureen proceeded to interrupt me a bunch of times to tell me how the Let It Snow house was wonderful and totally comparable to The Lakeview House, that my group would love it. “Don’t be mad,” she finished.
“I’m not mad, I’m just trying to sort this all out,” I replied. “I think it will work but this is all new information and I have to—”
“I understand, you’re shocked, but I promise it’s a great house. And if you don’t want to rent this house please let me know, I have a waiting list of people who—”
“LET ME FINISH MAUREEN!” My voice sounded like Gretchen Wieners LOL.
I explained to Maureen that there had been A LOT of confusion, all stemming from her, and that I would do my best to make it work for my group, but I had to review the property because for the past month-and-a-flipping-half, I was under the impression that we’d be getting a different house. I mean, gosh!
Maureen ended up throwing in the linens for free and gave us a late check-out. I accepted but the whole experience was painful. Sorry, but I’m gonna have to give Maureen, the person, one star.
For the house itself, let me start by saying, I’m like the least picky person ever. For example, I’ve never sent back a meal, even though I seem to find a disproportionate amount of hair in mine.
Anyway, the house was big with lots of bedrooms, which, as a group of 16, we needed. My fiancé (wedding 9/15/18, what whaaat!) and I passed over the queen sized bed and selected a room with a double bed. This turned out to be a huge mistake, not because of the size of the bed, but the quality of the mattress. It felt like it was 50 years old! The middle was a crater. That’s where we slept.
Our friend Sean had it even worse. His room contained two beds, and I guess he didn’t realize that one had sheets and the other one didn’t, so he slept beneath just the comforter ON THE BARE MATTRESS. I’m sorry, but if that was me, I would rather sleep UNDER THE SNOW LIKE IN A JACK LONDON BOOK, so gross! Overall bed experience: one star.
The hot tub was nice, roomy with cupholders and jets, and it stayed nice and hot. There was also a sauna, which was a bonus compared to The Lakeview House. The dining room had a long table that seated all of us, the kitchen was adequate, and a living area had plenty of seating. The TV wasn’t a flat screen LOL, so we didn’t turn it on once. Strange collection of movies, too. Almost Famous, All The President’s Men, and something called Osama, which is not about bin Laden. There was a game room, which I guess is cool, but nobody used it. For these features, I’ll give the house three stars.
I really try to see the positive in everything, so I won’t say much about the finishes and decor. Two stars.
A few additional areas for improvement: the water pressure. Even though there were three showers, you had to shower one at a time, unless alternating scalding/ice water is a new spa treatment I’m not yet familiar with? (sarcasm) The dishwasher was also pretty shabby, which may or may not be related.
The driveway was a disaster, no offense. Unpaved and a strange texture. My fiancé speculates kitty litter LOL. Sounds funny but he’s really smart so that’s probably right. Friday was was unseasonably warm so it was puddles and mush. It made carrying in groceries extra tricky. Then my friend’s van got stuck and they had to push it out!
Last but certainly not least, the washer/dryer. Remember earlier when I said it was a requirement? And sorry, but my list was reasonable, not like those hostiles on House Hunters. Anyway, yeah, THERE WAS NONE. Sorry, Maureen, but the Let It Snow house IS NOT comparable to The Lakeview House if it doesn’t have a washer/dryer, one of our three mere requirements. Minus one star.
Overall, I would say I’m not mad, just disappointed LOL. Like I said, I tend to see the glass as half full, so I had a great time. But I also wanted to provide valuable information to future guests who may be considering renting from Maureen. But I also didn’t want to post this review on VRBO or anywhere Maureen might see it because I don’t like being mean. I guess I was a little conflicted LOL!
Amendment: I just realized this review is supposed to be for Killington Mountain, which was awesome! Best skiing on the east coast. Everyone was super friendly—the staff, the locals, even the AAA guy who broke into my fiancé’s car when he locked his keys in it, oops LMAO!
Was this review…?
💡Useful 😂Funny 😎Cool
RELATED
