Crazy Idea by Taylor Made Deep Creek

Duck Cove at Wisp, a Taylor Made rental at Deep Creek, is in a great location, but the property was nowhere near as advertised. The photos must be very old. Many listed amenities weren’t available during my stay, and the house was run down. Thick dirt and cobwebs covered many interior windows, and cracked drywall on nearly every main-level wall or corner kept falling to the ground. Blinds were broken in every room, far beyond a couple of missing slats, and were basically useless. The game tables were taped together with duct tape and couldn’t be used. Outside, the porch was covered in green slimy mold and was unusable. A leaking hot tub left a trail of the same mold. The bigger problems made the house difficult to use. A broken window meant there was no A/C upstairs, and Taylor Made refused to address it. The shower faucet broke off within an hour of arrival, and it took days to hear back from TM. The refrigerator and freezer didn’t work, so we used coolers all week. Its door shelves were all missing, and it was a small-capacity, 20-year-old fridge, not suited to the house’s advertised capacity of 16. I looked up the model and ID number to confirm its age. I could have overlooked the cosmetic problems if the major issues with the fridge, shower, and window had been handled. TM dropped the ball and left such a bad impression that I won’t use them again, though I’d never had a bad experience before. Departure instructions said to leave the sheets on the bed. I’ve never had a rental tell me that instead of stripping the beds, so I can only assume they don’t launder sheets between guests. Horrible experience.

The Airbnb rental looked as if nobody had cleaned after the previous guest. There was a dead mouse on the floor, trash under the furniture, and a filthy bathroom with old towels still hanging over the shower. The hot tub code hadn’t been provided either, so I contacted the company about both problems. They offered to send someone to clean, but they were slow, and we’d already dealt with the mess ourselves. When I followed up asking for an explanation or some compensation, they stopped replying. They took no responsibility, and we won’t stay at any Taylor made properties again.

The hosts stocked the house with top-notch cooking utensils, and there were so many rooms we could have played hide and seek. We loved the place. It was beautiful and very accommodating, with a deck and outdoor furniture that really impressed us. We also enjoyed sitting outside around the firepit.

We love the Haven’s layout for our large family, and this was our third stay. Check-in and checkout were easy, and the house was extremely clean when we arrived. This year the ice makers worked, too. We’ve come to expect a few minor maintenance issues at a rental, and there were several again: one oven didn’t work, the trash cabinet track was broken, the basketball hoop was broken, the fireplace remotes needed new batteries, and the washer had mold. The bigger problems came on day two, Thanksgiving, when the pool water was so low that the filter and heater shut off, and the hot tubs were green. I contacted TM Friday morning and was told someone would check, but nobody came. I contacted them again Saturday, and still nobody showed. We saw in the pool log that the last service had been 12 days before we arrived. They gave us just $400 in compensation. We really love this house and hope the next stay goes better.