A beautiful property in a great location near St. Charles and its streetcar lines. The old home appears to have been completely rebuilt on the inside, with modern fixtures, clean lines, and good room arrangements (although one ābedroomā had no windows and a low ceiling that 6-footers will want to avoid). Strong wi-fi on all three levels of the house. Kitchen and bathrooms have all new stone/marble countertops. Kitchen has new appliances. Flatscreen TVs throughout, and a laundry room with washer and dryer. Memory foam mattresses on all the beds. Nice linens and towels. New and refinished hardwood floors. Plenty of space for our family group of 12 (adults and 1 teen). Friendly management who responded promptly to our messages through the VRBO app.
But ā¦
New construction means small āpunch listā deficiencies that must be identified and remedied. Many of these items were not fixed prior to our rental, making our stay less comfortable than it should have been. Given the full-market rent charged at this property, these itemsāall of which could easily have been addressedābecame even more annoying. A sample:
ā¢ The first of our group to arrive found the kitchen floor flooded. Why? Someone (cleaning crew?) left the kitchen tap open, a towel blocking the drain, and an overflowing sink. We spent the first 20 minutes in the house mopping up water.
ā¢ Low water pressure in the kitchen and one of the double sinks in an upstairs bathroom. So low in the kitchen that the spray head would not come on, making dish cleaning laborious. And the bath sink had just a trickle, rendering it almost useless.
ā¢ Nice powder bathroom on the main floor with sink and toilet. But the sink drain was seriously clogged, making the sink useless.
ā¢ No towel bars in any of the bathrooms and no useable hooks; also, no shelves for clean clothesāa real pain when trying to find a place to dry towels and store clean clothes when dressing.
ā¢ No dressers/shelves in any of the bedrooms for clothes or other items.
ā¢ Too few hangers in each closet (hardly enough for 12 people).
ā¢ Some roaches. Not an invasion, but some pest control is needed.
ā¢ And to come full circle: Heavy rain on the day we were leaving poured through the French doors in the kitchen, which had absolutely no weatherstripping on them. We mopped up, just as we did when we first came.
Management noted our concerns and did bring more towels but did not repair or remedy any of the issues we identified.