In July, we decided to take a last-minute family vacation to Door County. Those who have traveled to the area before know that properties are booked months in advance and can be extremely hard to come by at the last minute. And luxury properties are...well, non-existent. But that's alright - we were willing to "rough it" for a few days for the sake of having fun at the beach with the kids.
I sent my fiance several available properties that I found on the web site airbnb.com, and asked him to call to see what was still available, as many property owners don't update their calendars regularly. The first call he made was to Sharon at Dreamland Vacation Rentals, who convinced him to forget about the rest of the properties on his list and make the smart choice by booking a recently renovated mobile home in Sturgeon Bay.
I'm going to be quite clear about how I feel about Sharon here - I feel like this seemingly sweet little lady conned my fiance into taking a property that he was not interested in by offering him a "low" price. When he expressed concern about the pictures on the web site, Sharon told him not to worry - the entire property had been redone and was brand new and beautiful. She said she would send him pictures just as soon as she could, but he should book immediately to avoid losing the property. She actually told him that if he was looking for "luxury," he would find it at this property.
In fairness, the property did undergo quite a bit of work - it appeared there was new carpeting and we knew the bed linens were all completely brand new. But when we arrived, it was missing several things Sharon listed on the web site, including a DVD player (we'd brought movies), cable television, wireless Internet, a fire pit, and a grill. When we mentioned this to Sharon, she blamed the homeowners, saying, "I told them to have all of this ready." At one point, she actually admitted that the homeowners had just had cable installed the previous day (and in my book, that means Sharon shouldn't be listing it on her web site a month prior).
In the end, the homeowners brought over a gas grill, called the cable company about why service wasn't working (and got it to work), and ran over to Walmart for a DVD player. They weren't able to do anything about the wireless Internet, but we were able to plug our laptop into the modem for a direct connection. And the property itself was absolutely fine - the homeowners, by the way, were wonderful people who went out of their way to ensure we had a good time. Sharon, on the other hand, never called us again.
I would avoid using this property company when booking a vacation in Door County. I don't believe that what you see (online) or hear (via telephone or email) is necessarily truthful, nor do I honestly believe this company has your best interests/vacation needs at heart. read more