If it wasn't broken it was missing. First, the online photos of the "Quail Cottage" were from the past when the previous owners kept it perfect. Missing from the photos: white wrought iron headboard, antique lamps, comfy blue couch, antique wingback chair, telescope, bin full of firewood, Adirondack deck chairs, and UGLY bedside lamps.
We spent a lot of money for 4 nights and found only a half roll of TP, 2 sticks of green firewood and no kindling, no garbage bags, corroded batteries in the remotes, a heater that barely worked. We had to buy TP, firewood, kindling, garbage bags and AAA batteries (and then the Roku remote still didn't work). A groundsman was chopping rounds into firewood and he told me they were green (and wet). The fireplace was our only source of heat with a freeze watch. We tried to make the best of a birthday weekend and said, "at least we can watch our one Netflix show on the iPad and on Sunday the WiFi went out. We didn't call the owners and decided to just stick it out because there were too many things wrong and we didn't want to waste our time waiting for someone to show up, if they were even capable of repair. Twice I had to go out on our deck at night and give directions to guests that were lost due to poor check-in instructions. They had driven up to a dead end hill and bottomed out on the eroded driveway. We wondered what happened to the deer, chipmunks and quail running around as in the past and saw a guest laying in the hammock down by the fire ring while his 3 Pit Bulls ran free, harassing the chickens in the coop. Ya Think?
Oh, and a lovely, dead, 6 foot plant in the living room as a centerpiece. We started coming up to the Victorian Farmhouse 23 years ago, sometimes twice a year and always looked forward to the personal touches of Jo and Fred, the home cooked breakfast, the beautifully decorated rooms, no dogs allowed, and the quiet wildlife. I have just 2 more words for the new absentee owners, Daphne and Richard:
NEVER AGAIN.