Good things:
1. Beautiful and peaceful setting and property
2. Attentive and proactive property manager
3. Exceptionally well-stocked kitchen
4. Great access to the Willams Lake Trail, The Bavarian, Ski Lift
Bad things:
1. Large COVID cleaning fee ($850). The property was clean and what I would expect under normal circumstances, but it was clear that enhanced cleaning was lacking. E.g., a shower door had a finger drawing on the glass door, showing it had not been wiped. I was expecting more given the high fee.
2. Broken oven in main kitchen (the one in the other kitchen worked). I was alerted about this a few days prior, but not having a fully functioning main kitchen was inconvenient given that we cooked for the duration for a large group. Likely due to supply chain issues at the time, but not as advertised on booking.
3. We lost water for several hours in the afternoon on two consecutive days of our stay. The property manager was responsive via text and it was resolved both days by evening, but was disruptive, as we had planned to cook big meals, had kids in the party, and started looking for alternate hotel arrangements. We had been hiking and on both afternoons someone was soaped up in the shower when the water went out. The water was eventually restored, and we were able to stay in the property, but not as advertised.
4. Utility workers dug a large trench blocking the drive up to the property for the water project. We had people from our party blocked on both sides of this trench. After we talked with the utility, they accommodated us by creating a temporary road, but it took a lot of time and the road was not compacted and therefore affected by rain. I find it strange that this wasn’t planned or considered ahead of time, and that we had to take action to resolve this issue.
5. No prior notice of water or road outages. These were the action of the county, not Natural Retreats, but this result was not what we paid for.
6. Natural Retreats refunded 5.9% of my total bill without asking for the inconvenience, which was appreciated. However, given the above, I requested a 25% refund (1 night of our 4-night stay). I was blown off twice by Natural Retreats Management. It is for this reason that I will not do business with them in the future. Even with the above concerns, I likely would have returned to stay at this beautiful property if they responded with some consideration, even if a 25% refund wasn't possible.