Two Brooks Lodge

Housekeeping and maintenance were very poor. The drought had left the well very low, and we found out when we couldn't get water to flush or shower. Once we understood what was happening, we were careful to conserve. VRBO charged my credit card instead of putting a hold on it. We cleaned and repaired anything that wasn't working, or reported it to the owner. He said I shouldn't have been charged, but also said it was up to me to get the charge removed.

After our Expedia booking was confirmed, the owner messaged to say we had to send a cleaning fee and refundable deposit through Cash App. That was a big red flag, and made the rental much more expensive than the listing suggested. The place was fairly dirty and poorly maintained when we arrived. The shower soap dispensers were almost empty, which didn't give me confidence that the cleaning fee was being used for cleaning and upkeep. After checkout, the owners came up with reasons to keep our deposit. First they said we'd displaced half the hot tub water, though we never used the hot tub. Then they claimed we hadn't cleaned enough and had left dishes in the upstairs bedroom. We did clean and wash dishes; I had only forgotten one plastic water cup by the bed. Since we'd already paid a large cleaning fee, I don't think that justified keeping the deposit. They also said we'd left the door wide open, which is simply untrue. They acted as if we'd had a party, but there are cameras that would show it was just the three of us and a service animal. Fair warning, don't rent from these thieves.