Idyllic Castle in Need of Maintenance

Booking with Third Home was simplistic. Photos of the house are pretty accurate. Description needs to be redone for accuracy and full disclosure. We were looking for adequate space and bedrooms for six siblings and spouses and there was plenty. The house has many unique features of a craft room, large garage and nice deck for stargazing. Great location to things in Flagstaff and easy day trips to two national parks. Well appointed with numerous kitchen utilities (NO table setting teaspoons), pots and pans, cutting boards, double refrigerator, double dishwasher (although one in bad shape) etc. Grill worked but starter has a short in it requiring a fire stick light. We changed the battery which died the next day. Overall this house needs a huge maintenance makeover in the worst way! Seems as no one is hands on with the property as the booking was with the owner (Dad), he passed us to the son, who is extremely slow to respond with inaccurate information. He passes you to the property manager, who lacks professionalism, keeps the voice mailbox full and never picks up, will only text excuses. For the name of “castle”, update the gravel driveway to a wow factor of at least concrete or asphalt. There are so many burned out lightbulbs you can’t count them all and many in key areas. After requesting lightbulbs for three straight days from the property manager and no results, we gave up. There are NO window treatments!! Think master bedroom, floor to ceiling, 20 feet, glass with no privacy and morning sun making sure you are up early. Prior guests reported being told to wear eye shades to bed. Built in coffee system is a disaster. It needs to be recalibrated to the size of pots provided as it floods or provide larger pots. Good thing an ole fashion slow drip Mr Coffee was in the pantry. Guest bathroom with spa tub has a broken off handle and various broken knobs, drawers, etc., furniture worn and mismatched throughout. No frills furniture on deck with a broken chair. Sliding door to deck needs lubricating as you can barely open and close it. The ‘smart’ system to operate lights and fans is a disaster. Stuff randomly turns itself on and off. Should be able to operate lights and fans from each room versus two master panels. “Number 5 Bedroom” (per key pad not description, has no fan control at all. Bring your own coffee (no starter pack), shower gel and towels (many with moldy odor) as these items are not provided. Need luggage racks and hangars in the closets. Minimal air movement, especially upstairs, need air conditioning (think Mitsubishi Mr Slim units since the duck work doesn’t exist). Provide more than one box fan. Had two service vendors show up unannounced. While trying to reach the property manager to find out if they were authorized/ scheduled, the hot tub cleaning guy says, I don’t need to come in, can scale the wall to get to it! Oh great - that’s a heartwarming security feel! Overall is a unique house that could provide a great experience, but the devil is in the details that are totally overlooked and those are your daily operations that change your experience. It’s the little things that count and make or break your experience. Read several reviews in advance of booking between Third Home and VRBO and thought it can’t be this bad, yes, it is! Look beyond the photos. Ratings Booking 5 Location 5 Amenities 3 Communication and follow-up 1 Maintenance 1 Quality of property 4 Overall 3”

Unique Property

This was definitely a unique Castel like home. We had some issues and suggestions that we related to the owner and he is in the process of taking care of them. I believe when he gets these items completed it will be a much better experience. We would go back after these items are addressed as the property itself is beautiful.”