My wife and I stayed the weekend to celebrate our wedding anniversary. The house and property and location are all wonderful. We loved our time in the house and have nothing but great things to say about the space and appointments. It's all special and memorable. Unfortunately, we can't give a more enthusiastic review because of two significant issues that both took place when we arrived.
Unbeknownst to us before our arrival, the tea house on the property was undergoing a roof repair/replacement. When we arrived, a roofing truck filled with trash was parked at the end of the driveway and another was parked in the driveway. Roofing shingles and building materials were stacked up under the carport, workers were around, and their equipment was all over the place. Considering this visit and house were both a surprise for my wife, and one I'd been planning for a few weeks, this was not the magical scene I was hoping for when we pulled up. To make matters worse, Sue and Gary, who are caretakers of the property and parents of the owners, did not offer much of an apology or even an explanation until I asked what was going on. The workers soon cleared out and made most of their tools and materials scarce, but only after I made it clear I was put off and didn't want to look at their tarps and tools and equipment all weekend. The truck filled with trash spent the weekend at the foot of the driveway, and our view of the woods and teahouse included the blue tarps covering it and the roofing materials around it.
At the very least, I think I should have been notified ahead of time that work was being done on the property. Gary and Sue told me the workers were meant to be gone by the time we arrived, but it was clear they hadn't made any attempt to get to the property early to make sure all was in order for our arrival.
The second issue had to do with pandemic safety. When we came to the door, Gary was inside and took a moment to locate and put on his mask. Sue emerged a few minutes later from one of the back bedrooms with her mask around her neck. She put it on as she gave us a tour of the house, during which she touched half the light switches and faucet handles and cabinets in order to demonstrate how they work. She did not wear gloves for any of this. To my wife and I, all of this was a little shocking. We expected that the space would have been professionally cleaned, and that no one would be in it immediately prior to our stay. That was not the case.
