We previewed this house a few months ahead of time. It is on a street busy and noisy 24/7. We would have not rented it, but owner assured us that double paned windows on first floor (4 bedrooms are on the first floor; the so-called 5th bedroom - which is one very large space/bunkroom with a bed, a sleeper sofa and a kind of futon - is 1/2 flight up and does not have double paned windows and so is very noisy) and air conditioning our stay would be quiet and comfortable. On arriving, owner showed us the "spa timer" he had installed on the thermostat. This, then, required that one return to the thermostat every 60 minutes in order to keep the AC on. Because several windows, including the sliding glass door in the living room opening to the back yard - the only way to get any outside air into the living room - did not have screens, every time we opened these windows/door for air, we got a huge influx of flies. Also, a possum that we saw in the backyard near the door into the living room resulted in no one being comfortable ever leaving that door open. Owner explained that previous renters' excessive (?) use of AC prompted him to install this timer. Consequently, we were very hot and uncomfortable every night -- couldn't leave windows open due to excessive noise and didn't choose to get up every hour to turn the spa timer. It was choice of not sleeping due to noise vs. not sleeping due to heat vs. not sleeping due to setting alarm for every hour -- so we were tired all the time. Complaints to owner didn't result in problem being solved. Additionally, we had concerns re safety of hot tub due to cover of mechanical equipment (which was in the water) being broken so that it wouldn't stay closed. Not fixed despite telling owner. Ice-maker in frig. did not work - a big inconvenience in the hot weather. We had to request that he bring us adequate pots and pans because they were not in the house on our arrival. No soap, shampoo or conditioner supplied, as they were in other vacation rentals we've had. No dish towels (we went out and bought some) and only one roll of paper towels! Wi-fi went out so many times that a member of our group could not meet a deadline for submitting paper for publication; and cable TV failed right before Olympic women's world championship soccer game - a huge disappointment for us. While the space was sufficient for our group of 11, and the owner is a pleasant guy, we would never have rented if we'd known all of the above.
