We noticed a mouse problem about an hour after arrival when we opened the sofa bed. The inside was filthy. It was clear it had not been cleaned in a long time. There were food, candy wrappers, a scissors (?!?), and copious amounts of mouse droppings inside.
We reached out to the property owner immediately. We repeatedly offered to send pictures as proof. We indicated that we did not feel comfortable with our children sleeping on the sofa bed, but would make do (ie., have them camp out in the car) if she would comp us the extra fee we paid to have a 4th person stay in the cabin.
Instead we got multiple long, rambling phone and email messages in which she:
- Repeatedly insisted she’d never had a complaint about mice and could not possibly have mice (despite a prior review in which the guests reported the mouse issue to her).
- Said we must be lying about having seen food and candy wrappers in the sofa, because no one allowed in the cabin would eat such things.
- Blamed prior guests for bringing a gerbil into the cabin.
- Indicated that her husband was a lawyer (which we took to be a threat).
- Accused us of being in cahoots with the last guests because we apparently came from the same general area.
- Indicated that she will be taking legal action against the prior guests.
We felt extremely uncomfortable and opted to leave for a nearby hotel that would take us and our dogs. VRBO has indicated that they will only give a refund in cases of black mold, cockroaches or bed bug infestation. For mice, they would send a cleaner over. Expensive lesson learned; stick to rentals with good reviews.
Other things you should know:
- The cabin is in a group of cabin condos just off of the main street in Three Lakes. There is a shared pier and fire ring near the beach.
- The boat is a row boat stored behind the cabin that hasn’t been cleaned or readied for use and would need to be carried a good distance to the lake. Owner indicated that the oars are “around somewhere”, but we did not find them before leaving.
- Only bedding was a new package of sheets that the owner’s realtor dropped off for the bed, some throws on the sofa, and some old sheets stored in the base of the bed. The owner said there were blankets stored in the bed frame, but we could not find them and the property manager said that he had to throw out the bedding because it was soiled. Bring your own sleeping bags?
-Extra fees for more than 3 family members