Grand Tara Lodge

Best family trip ever!
We had a wonderful time at Grand Tara! It has every amenity you would ever want! From the fully stocked kitchen, to every game you might ever want to play, it has it all. There were tons of towels, linens, and most of all space. We went for Christmas, so we didn’t use the tether ball, fire pit, or football field, but we NEVER ran out of things to do. It was very easy to book on line, and the owner was responsive to all communications. We felt safe there, as there were cameras in the front where the road was. Not only would I not hesitate to rebook, we actually did less than 48 hours later. And to put it in perspective, I travel 100+ nights a year for work, so I am a bit of a snob. My only hope is that someone bails out on their week in the summer, so I can snatch it up!

Not very happy with this establishment. We stayed here beginning of April. Owner watched the house cameras the whole time. He actually called 4 – 5 times to tell us to close the door. He emailed us at 10pm the day of departure informing us that we would be charged our deposit. His claims were nothing more than normal use. Complained that chairs were left out, ice was left in the sink, a crockpot was left on the counter. Claimed that his entire cd collection was ruined, when our group literally only used 2 of the karaōke cd’s. Then only after I noticed that he did not refund all of our deposit, I emailed asking for an itemized list of damages. He said that he found cigarette butts on the ground and by the front door. This is completely false because no one used the front door or the porch. And the cigars that were smoked in the rear of the house were picked up the next day when we cleaned the outside area. His comments were very rude and his response was: «Here is your itemized statement, $ 300 for smoking. Even on his clean up policy it states that if any cigarette butts were found on the outside there would be a $ 100 charge. However, how many people have stayed in the lodge since our stay? He says that he may even bill is more when he finds more damages. We cannot be held responsible for damages that new renters could be potentially making. The good thing that we have on our side, is that we took a video of the entire place upon arrival and departure. Due to the fact that last year he charged us for a tear in a 10 year old leather couch.
This place is very unseasonal when it comes to their expectations of normal wear and tear. We even left a $ 40 tip for the cleaning crew as he asked. If they wanted everything placed back in the exact spot that it was in, they should mention that in their contract. But to charge me because you felt you could because a chair wasn’t put away or a crock pot was left out, and ice was left in the sink? If I would have emptied the ice in the yard, he would have complained about mud.
RENTERS BEWARE-​PROTECT YOURSELF– TAKE A BEFORE AND AFTER VIDEO.