Bed bugs -- Beware!
We were so disappointed to discover bed bugs in the Chalet, and we were forced to cancel a 3-night, special weekend away. We had booked online over a month in advance, and we were really excited about visiting the Red River Gorge. We were fully refunded, without any problem, the following day--we took that as Jonathan's acknowledgment of the bed bug problem.
Upon our arrival, it became evident that there were unwanted residents in this small cabin near the Red River Gorge. We had carried our belongings up the 3 flights of stairs (about 30 steps), only to discover that the heat was--strangely--turned up to about 120 degrees. We couldn't even breathe and only 2 windows would open, so it was slow to cool down to a reasonable temperature. That should have alerted us that something serious was amiss. (Jonathan told us the thermostat was broken, but it appears he had removed it in order to set the heat above the thermostat's allowed maximum.)
Then we inspected the beds. The mattress on the lower level had clear evidence of bed bugs, along all the seams! In fact, all over the mattress. The mattress upstairs looked cleaner, and Jonathan denied that they had ever had that problem there. He proposed that he would move out the bed that looked worse, and move down the cleaner bed from the loft. That seemed a very odd offer, at about 9:00 p.m. and did not seem an acceptable solution. There was fake leather furniture in the sitting area, and no way to inspect that for bedbugs, so we knew we wouldn't relax at all. Also the whole place is built of unfinished wood planks, giving bed bugs innumerable cracks and crevices in which to hide... So we had to leave.
The name of the place, Quiet Waters Retreat, had sounded so great to us. But in fact, the cabin is surrounded by deck, not woods. The chalet has other cabins immediately adjacent to it on 3 sides. Very little privacy. More like Manhattan than our own urban home. There was a hot tub as advertised, but it was right by the stairs leading to other cabins. Also it smelled of mildew, was filled with debris, and a very faded sign posted by it read, "This hot tub does not meet health department standards. Enter at your own risk."
We were so disappointed, because we have teenagers and this was to be a special weekend for us, a rare event. It was clear that Jonathan was aware of the problem, but had not informed us. So we not only lost our chance to get away, we spent a lot on gas, schlepped all our stuff, and had to drive 6 hours round trip for NOTHING. We couldn't find an alternative (not even a hotel in Lexington) on such short notice, due to the Veterans Day holiday weekend--everything was fully booked. So we ended up driving back home. VERY discouraging. read more