Heidi from Portland, ORSeptember 28, 2017 at 9:42 PM
I’ve been meaning to post a review of The Big House Lodge since our stay August 7-9. To be honest, I can’t begin to describe how disappointed we were. I had no idea that only HALF of the house was air conditioned, and that ALL of the large gathering areas would be about 105 degrees. The billiards and music room were so hot they were virtually uninhabitable, not to mention the loft. Not only were we all dripping with sweat the whole time, but the house had literally dozens and dozens of flies all over the place. We had to cover our food every single meal as we were preparing it because they were swarming everywhere—I don’t know if that is because the house cleaner left the windows open or what, but they were a huge nuisance. And even with the rising temperatures in the house, we couldn’t open any windows or doors without letting in even more flies and mosquitos and other bugs because there are NO screens on the windows?!!! Screens aren't that expensive, for heaven's sake!
Regarding the kitchen, the stovetop functions very poorly. It took about 40 minutes to get a pot of water boiling, and the ovens were also unreliable and one didn’t seem to heat up at all. We finally found 1 out of 3 ovens that kind of worked and 1 out of all of the burners that would heat things at a reasonable rate. This made our fly-ridden meals even more miserable as we had kids starving and waiting for twice as long as we would have anticipated it taking.
Bedrooms were in great shape other than some of the mattresses. Apparently the king size one was sunk in in the middle, sleeping more like a hammock and extremely uncomfortable.
In addition to air conditioning (which I thought we were getting), one of the things that attracted me to this house was the large outdoor area, the “secret gardens,” firepit, campgrounds, and shipwreck cove… well our group was told, upon arrival, that there is a wasp infestation in the bushes and not to go near them or through the path unless we were willing to get stung. So we basically had 1 lawn to use and nowhere else for kids to play (requiring us to abandon several outdoor activities we’d planned beforehand and come prepared for—weeks of planning this reunion had to be changed once we got there).
Last, but not least, I’m assuming it was because the housekeeping staff was rushed (even though we still were not able to pay for and have an early arrival) but all of our towels were wet! Seriously—they were folded up and on the desks in the bedrooms, but they felt like they’d maybe been in the dryer for 10 minutes at the most. They were wet and cold (and why not at least hang them up in the bathrooms if they’re not dry?!). I can’t imagine what he/she was thinking, but that was kind of icing on the cake.
This was the most money we’ve ever spent for a family reunion location, and it was by far the least comfortable of all of them. I know some things (bees) are out of your control, for the most part, but I don’t feel this home is accurately described or maintained well at all. I did get a nice note back apologizing for this and saying that if we'd come to see the property beforehand they would have made sure we knew that only the sleeping areas--not any of the gathering areas--had A/C... but two family members tried multiple times, months and then weeks before our date, to contact you to set up a time to come--most calls were never returned, and once they were told it was impossible because it was booked. It's a beautiful home and location but we weren't able to enjoy either of those due to the heat, flies, etc.
All USA
Heidi from Portland, ORSeptember 28, 2017 at 9:42 PM I’ve been meaning to post a review of The Big House Lodge since our stay August 7-9. To be honest, I can’t begin to describe how disappointed we were. I had no idea that only HALF of the house was air conditioned, and that ALL of the large gathering areas would be about 105 degrees. The billiards and music room were so hot they were virtually uninhabitable, not to mention the loft. Not only were we all dripping with sweat the whole time, but the house had literally dozens and dozens of flies all over the place. We had to cover our food every single meal as we were preparing it because they were swarming everywhere—I don’t know if that is because the house cleaner left the windows open or what, but they were a huge nuisance. And even with the rising temperatures in the house, we couldn’t open any windows or doors without letting in even more flies and mosquitos and other bugs because there are NO screens on the windows?!!! Screens aren't that expensive, for heaven's sake! Regarding the kitchen, the stovetop functions very poorly. It took about 40 minutes to get a pot of water boiling, and the ovens were also unreliable and one didn’t seem to heat up at all. We finally found 1 out of 3 ovens that kind of worked and 1 out of all of the burners that would heat things at a reasonable rate. This made our fly-ridden meals even more miserable as we had kids starving and waiting for twice as long as we would have anticipated it taking. Bedrooms were in great shape other than some of the mattresses. Apparently the king size one was sunk in in the middle, sleeping more like a hammock and extremely uncomfortable. In addition to air conditioning (which I thought we were getting), one of the things that attracted me to this house was the large outdoor area, the “secret gardens,” firepit, campgrounds, and shipwreck cove… well our group was told, upon arrival, that there is a wasp infestation in the bushes and not to go near them or through the path unless we were willing to get stung. So we basically had 1 lawn to use and nowhere else for kids to play (requiring us to abandon several outdoor activities we’d planned beforehand and come prepared for—weeks of planning this reunion had to be changed once we got there). Last, but not least, I’m assuming it was because the housekeeping staff was rushed (even though we still were not able to pay for and have an early arrival) but all of our towels were wet! Seriously—they were folded up and on the desks in the bedrooms, but they felt like they’d maybe been in the dryer for 10 minutes at the most. They were wet and cold (and why not at least hang them up in the bathrooms if they’re not dry?!). I can’t imagine what he/she was thinking, but that was kind of icing on the cake. This was the most money we’ve ever spent for a family reunion location, and it was by far the least comfortable of all of them. I know some things (bees) are out of your control, for the most part, but I don’t feel this home is accurately described or maintained well at all. I did get a nice note back apologizing for this and saying that if we'd come to see the property beforehand they would have made sure we knew that only the sleeping areas--not any of the gathering areas--had A/C... but two family members tried multiple times, months and then weeks before our date, to contact you to set up a time to come--most calls were never returned, and once they were told it was impossible because it was booked. It's a beautiful home and location but we weren't able to enjoy either of those due to the heat, flies, etc.