6/10 Okay
Lisa m.
15 July 2019
Liked: Cleanliness
Nice, but many concerns
We recently stayed at Sunset Cottage. The home is magazine worthy, furnished and updated to maintain the character of the 1800’s architecture it possesses. The home is well maintained, but we feel it was not clearly represented in the listing. There are some deficiencies which were not straightforwardly addressed. Had we known of these issues, we would have selected another home. We would not recommend this home for older adults, or for young children for safety reasons.
We are a middled-aged couple and we are active and like to walk. We have rented countless VRBO/HA properties, without issue. This home posed some definite challenges for us:
1) The photos shown on the internet do not reveal the 32 steps up a narrow staircase to the kitchen. One can barely spot the staircase in the internet pictures because photo is taken where a tree blocks all but the lowest exterior stairs. The photos don't convey the steepness/narrowness of the exterior stairway.The very narrow stairwell makes it difficult to carry luggage and groceries up 32 stairs. It is almost impossible to open the basement door if you are carrying anything -very narrow/step.
2) There are no handrails on two very steep and narrow stairwells. Near the bottom of the exterior stairway the handrail ends with 7 concrete steps to negotiate without benefit of a handrail. The steps are steep. The house sits right on the roadway with no setback, and a very narrow road. One of us fell off the step into the road.
3) None of the bedrooms are on the main floor. One is in a loft and two are in the basement. Both require steep and narrow stairs to access. Again, no handrail down 10+ steps.
4) While the listing shows 2 bathrooms, only one has a shower. The other has a tiny toddler tub. Impractical to accommodate more than 4 people comfortably in this home. Because of that, we advised our family members not to travel up to join us. There is no bathroom in the loft, so you would need to go down to the main floor for bathroom runs.
5) There is a new house being built right outside the bedroom window. Work starts early 7:00 AM. This was not disclosed on the internet.
6) Cable TV very limited: no World Cup soccer
7) The deck (32 steps up) overlooking Lake Michigan, but the extremely close proximity of the neighbors meant we had to listen to neighbor's a/c vs. Lake.
We have rented 2 other homes in Macatawa Park and for about same cost, were provided homes in easier location, twice the size.
Lisa m.
Stayed 7 nights in Jun 2019
