Do you even want me/us to put a review in writing??!! Might be the worst property rental management experience I have ever had! From the time we arrived in the driveway, there was ZERO accountability and no contingency plan for a property that was not clean, not up to expectations that we were ready to walk away from on Day 1. House had not been inspected by Stowe Country Homes prior to our arrival and we had to deep clean the property ourselves to make it presentable. We were refunded a cleaning deposit. The driveway had been plowed but a huge 4 ft snowbank was left in front of garage doors that we had to shovel on our own to even access the garage for the cars. Happened again mid-month without acceptable intervention from Stowe Country homes. I would appreciate a phone call from the company manager to discuss all the shortcomings but no one there wants to address anything once the reservation has started; and we were there for the entire month of February. Should I mention the Lady Bug and black fly infestation?! If Stowe Country Homes insists on laying the blame on the property owner, than that house (Elmore Meadows) should not be considered for your rental pool of homes. I/we expected more!! read more

Company website reflected available units based on the dates I input. I selected one of the properties which again reflected as available and reflected different dollar amounts based on midweek and weekend dates. Reservation request requested and accepted my credit card information. Later I receive an email stating property owner will only rent for 30 day stays. Called Katrina who had previously apologized in email yet claims there is no mistake when I point out the customer experience and financial risk. Next stop complain to BBB on their bait and switch tactics. Asked owner Nancy to contact me but doubt the coward will based on reading other reviews. read more

The Mountain Dream house is gorgeous with many issues that for the price of the rental that should not be prevalent. Here are the issue we saw: Peeling paint in the main big bathroom. The tub in the main big bathroom drains very slowly and is very old looking. Shower head in the main big bathroom needs to be cleaned. The computer monitor in the main big bedroom does not turn on. The main big bedroom should have a headboard and it does not. Peeling paint in the basement bathroom. Basement cellar stairs need to be cleaned. Basement metal baseboard falling off. Basement foosball table needs to be cleaned and is damaged on two of the sides. Stairs leading to the basement has a huge paint chip. Top floor bathroom has a Jerry rigged glued piece of marble triangle in the shower. Top floor bathroom shower head needs to be cleaned. Top floor shower head and shower faucet are easily pulled out of the wall. Top floor bedroom headboard is extremely loose and needs to be tightened. Kitchen has opened food containers in the refrigerator which in our binder says not to do. The Internet is DSL which is really surprising in 2024. Garage door opener doesn't work. The signs that say please remove shoes before entering on the front and back doors are missing letters. The hand soaps provided in the bathrooms were very water down and gross. They only provide shampoo and conditioner so no body soap, toothpaste, lotion or other small amenities you may find in other places. At night it is so easy to miss the main turn to go up the road to get to the house. It would be nice if there was reflectors or something to denote when where to turn. 10 AM check out time is a little early. Here are the amazing positives: The views are absolutely stunning. These are some of the best views I have ever seen within the United States. The outdoor porch is great for sitting and watching the sunrise and sunset. The space of the house is absolutely amazing. You can fit several people in the house comfortably. This could probably accommodate more than one family and not feel like you are living on top of each other. The house is amazingly located in Stowe so easy access to where you would like to go. The beds are pretty comfortable and spacious. All the closests in the room are extremely large. The kitchen and serving area is very large. The upstairs and downstairs living rooms are amazing to sit and watch the views. Very private feels like you can get away from it all. The wood ceilings are so neat! Drink cooler in the kitchen is a nice touch. The cow skin pillows are a cute touch to the house. They have foosball, board games, DVDs and TV for entertainment. read more

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Hidden camera - Customers beware!! We found a hidden camera / recording device INSIDE the rental house!!! Unethical, unprofessional, uncaring company!!! I will try to keep this saga as short as possible... We rented a vacation home from this company for 3 nights while on our Fall Foliage road trip. On day 2 we discovered a camera downstairs- up in the corner of the room. This hidden camera was NOT disclosed to us before we rented this home. We would NEVER rent a home with a camera inside the home! Not sure this is even legal!? We were instantly creeped out when we spotted the camera. We have stayed in 100's of vacation rentals across the country and never found anything like this!! The wire powering the camera goes into a locked room with a big sign on the door that reads "Authorized Personnel Only"! Even more creepy- most places will post "owner's storage" or something like that. After finding the camera we were instantly grossed out and wondering if there are other hidden cameras in the house!? Are they recording us? Listening to us? Are there a bunch of TV screens in that locked storage room downstairs!? We decided to wait until we left the next day to complain and report this camera. We didn't want anyone coming there while we were there. It's creepy since the front door lock is a keypad so who knows how many people have the code to open the front door. There is no way to double lock it when you are sleeping at night. After we checked out I immediately reported the camera to Stowe Country Homes. I requested a refund. I was immediately told "Internal cameras are prohibited in our properties. We are sending someone over immediately to investigate and see if it is a live camera". I didn't hear anything back from them so I emailed the following day and then I was told the camera is "live" and the homeowners did not think they needed to disclose it". Really!? WTH!? They offered to refund me 1 night. I told them I wanted a full refund, not just 1 night. I also asked if the camera was recording voice as well (I never got an answer to that). Six days later I got an email from Melissa Sheffer, Property Operations Manager at Stowe Country Homes. Melissa tells me that the max they can refund is 1 night. I emailed her back to ask how she would feel if she walked downstairs not fully dressed and later found out she was recorded on camera while on vacation!! I again asked for a full refund. Later that day Melissa responded by email to tell me they have retracted the offer and would not be offering us any refund at all- zero! I guess I upset her! LOL, she was going to punish us now by not refunding anything! I then told Melissa that she seems mad at me for reporting the camera issue. I thought she should be thanking us for reporting this since it's "prohibited" at her company and all. She then replied one more time with this, and I quote "Even greater than our customer service, is our integrity. We also value honesty. And we are deeply invested in the welfare and well-being of others". OMG - it's comical......And so ironic. Schooling me about her company's "integrity" and "welfare of others". After doing the complete opposite!! She really said "integrity"! OMG- hilarious! So basically- steer clear of this company and rent from a reputable company- look at Vacasa or VRBO. Just not this company! . This place is super sketchy! read more

Stowe Country Homes - Camera we found INSIDE the house! Super Creepy!! - Guest Houses Near Me - Stowe, Vermont

To be clear, I want to start my review by saying that my partner and I have been using short term vacation rentals together for over 25 years. In the beginning even using VRBO, it was direct communication with the property owner and no service fees. Now that is almost impossible. There's almost always a management company involved. Again, we are very familiar with the process and have worked with many management companies. So, my absolute disappointment with Stowe Country Homes is well justified and a bit shocking to be handled so poorly after recently renting one of their properties. The property itself was exactly what I expected it to be and seemed clean upon our arrival. One of the things we confirmed about the rental was that it had a clothes washer and dryer. The photos didn't show them but it was in the list of amenities. The management company confirmed that it had the laundry machines and that they were located in the downstairs / basement. On day 2 of our stay we were downstairs doing laundry and happen to notice a camera placed in the corner near a storage room. That was so unusual and we thought are we even supposed be down here? But then yes we did confirm the downstairs and laundry was available to guests! Now I'm feeling a bit uncomfortable and unwelcome. Are there other cameras inside the home? It's very common to have cameras on the exterior but it could not be possible that the management company would allow ANY interior cameras! After checking out we contacted the management company about the camera. They were shocked to learn about this and confirmed that no interior cameras we allowed. We had also asked for a full refund given the circumstances. They said they would have someone from their team go over and inspect the property and get back to us. They eventually did get back to us and offered a one night refund. We did explain again how disturbing it was to find the camera, that it wasn't properly disclosed and we would never stay at any property that had any interior cameras. We asked for a full refund. Next reply we get from them is that they retracted their original offer and considered the matter closed. We did send a reply to that asking that they consider having someone outside of the company tell them how they might feel if this had happened to them. We never got a reply on that. So that's that. Worse treatment we have ever experienced with a short term vacation rental management company. Until now we always felt like the management companies had the guests best interest at heart. read more

STAY AWAY IF YOU WANT A GOOD VACATION! We spent $15k (~$2k/night; peak rates) to stay in one of their rentals for Christmas Week 2023. We have stayed in over a dozen AirBnBs since 2020 and this is easily the worst place we've ever stayed in - 455 Thomas Village Lodge. Here are some key points to the horrible stay. - An incredibly smoky fireplace, to the point where we couldn't use it without the windows open because the fireplace couldn't develop the correct updraft. It took us 3 days of trying. We chose this place because it had a wood-burning fireplace. We had 3 young children in our group. It's a carbon monoxide hazard to have this kind of situation. - The beds were listed as queens. They are full-size. We measured them. This is false advertising and again, a key reason we rented this place. How does a primary bedroom have a full-size bed in it??? - The beds were the most uncomfortable mattresses we've ever had the pleasure of sleeping on. We all continued to rotate beds throughout the house to see if any were better than others. They weren't. Actually, the basement couch (not a pullout) was the most comfortable "bed" in the whole house. Good foam mattresses are $250 on Amazon. For a $2k a night rental, stop being cheap. - There was a giant pile of dog poop on the back deck from the moment we got there and remained there when we left, despite us alerting the management company the first day. We had the pleasure of walking past it each time we left the house. - I slipped and fell on the icy steps one morning and dislodged their shoddy stonework on the main stairs with my fall. The initial response was that we took out the accident insurance so we wouldn't be fined for the damage. No concern for my well-being or an apology for not coming to de-ice the steps that morning. - There was a full bag of dirty laundry left in the laundry room upon our arrival. - Not one sink had any hand soap. The containers were there, but they were all empty. Yes, all of them. - Multiple windows were left cracked open upon arrival, which led the house to be quite cold upon arrival. - Multiple dead light bulbs, dirty cookware, and a lack of any general surface cleaning solution. If you think this is unacceptable for $2k a night, the management company offered a whopping $700 refund (total). We pushed back and they said it was good enough. So, we paid $14,300 for a terrible week's stay. Lastly, it took multiple attempts for this company to even respond to these concerns. At one point, I asked if they even cared about us having a good time ... no response. I felt compelled to detail our stay for the general public. On the positive side, it's likely the worst place we will ever stay in. I hope that others read this and forego a stay with Stowe Country Homes. I wish we did. read more

Unresponsive to phone calls and email. Nancy does not respond. What gives? Is this place operating???

The home I rented, Lazy Bear Lodge, from Stowe Country Homes was almost as expected except for one vital thing. There was no hot water. I immediately notified them and they tried to fix it but couldn't. We were there for two nights for a birthday celebration. I stayed in contact and touched base several times. Unfortunately it took them until the evening of the second night to offer to see if they had anyplace available to move us, but that was in the middle of the celebration dinner we had underway. They did send someone to hook up a mini portable hot water heater to the washing machine line which gave enough hot water for two to shower (8 guests) on the morning we left. They offered to let us stay a bit longer for it to reheat the water so more could shower before we left and also apologized profusely and said they would speak to the owner about compensating us for this.In the end they didn't credit us at all. read more

A house of horrors does not always mean ghosts, witches, and goblins. We had our own house of horrors in Stowe, VT. It seemed like a great idea. A cabin in the woods. Near a stream for fishing. With a deck and an outdoor jacuzzi. We got there late at night and started to settle in. There were tons of bugs in the place and we all started to get bitten up. It was also very hot and tried to turn on the air conditioning with no luck. We called the handyman who checked it out and found that there was no air conditioning. While he was still there we pulled out the bed from the pull out sofa. The mattress was extremely soiled. We turned it over and there was some type of crap underneath the bed. The handyman said it was dog food. I did not get close enough to check if was really dog food. I can't imagine why dog food would be at the bottom of a sofa. I think it was probably some real animal crap. Totally disgusting and unacceptable! Stowe Country Homes does not own this home. They are just the agent that rents it out. However, I do feel they should be aware of the type of place they are renting. Make sure potential renters know they are renting a house without air conditioning in the middle of summer. Most important, make sure the the places that you are renting are clean and not bug infested! I did add an extra star for Stowe Country Homes because when we told them we were not staying for our committed time, they did not protest. In fact owner of the property charged us an extra night as a penalty but Stowe Country Homes took away all taxes and fees to make up for the penalty. We had paid in advance so we were lucky to get most of out money back. Still, it was not easy finding another hotel st such short notice. It ended up being a very pricey option, but it was worth it to get out of that hell hole. read more

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I previously had a contract with SCH. The contract included article 16 which covered theft or damage to my property. I as an owner had keys. SCH had keys. I had a 7k theft during a rental. Stowe Country Homes refused to pay. They refused to honor the theft clause in the contract. I had to file a police report with The Stowe Police Department and use my own personal insurance company. I rescinded my contract with Stowe Country Homes. SCH knew it would cost me more to use a lawyer and go to court. They simply refused to pay it. read more

I have been going to Stowe with my family for about 15 years. We have had great experiences up until recently. We rented "Mountain Dream" and it ended up being a nightmare. We were there with 8 adults (including my 80-year old grandmother) and 2 young children (toddler and newborn) and came from many hours out of town. The more time we spent here the more clear it was that this place had not been properly cleaned nor inspected. There were about 10 things that happened during our stay that we documented and flagged to Stowe Country Homes, but I will just touch on the most major for the sake of time. When we arrived, our toddler found a Smith and Wesson knife sticking out from under the bed. This is not just a regular kitchen knife, but a very very dangerous knife. Thankfully, we were just a few steps behind her and were able to grab it before she could pick it up. We decided to overlook that even though it was very unnerving as we had just gotten there. The next day, we opened a drawer in the bathroom to find a roll of toilet paper that was torn apart by a mouse and nested inside/mouse poop all over the drawer. This clearly was not new and had been there for a long time. Under the sink in that bathroom was disgusting and also had mouse poop inside. If that wasn't enough we found mold/grime under the table cloth on the dining table and the dishwasher was not anchored into the cabinetry, so almost fell on top of us when we first pulled it out. We made Stowe Country Homes aware of all of this and they were apologetic. I told them we couldn't be inconvenienced to leave because there were 8 adults and 2 small children and we tried to make the best of it even though the conditions were really below any standard that a vacation rental company should be renting out to their customers. I told them that I would want to come up with some sort of settlement to make up for the 1) Obvious lack of cleaning and 2) Failure to inspect the property for hazards/dangers. I mean the mouse nest in the drawer shows a severe lack of cleanliness and is borderline severely dangerous to the health of their guests. I asked Stowe Country Homes for 1 night off (around $700) plus the cleaning fee of $400 for a total of around $1100. We paid around $3,000 altogether. but they were only willing to offer the $400 for cleaning fee credit. They basically stopped answering me and procrastinated enough that the time/energy spent on it was not worth it to me in the end so I ended up accepting the $400 credit even though I didn't feel it was fair. Ultimately, I was going to try to overlook all of this and book with them again next year but really don't think I can after the lack of accountability and ability to settle on a fair credit back. This was just our experience, and it may be an anomaly but from other reviews on here it doesn't seem to be. Stowe Country Homes lost a loyal customer. read more

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The house is absolutely gorgeous, great location, the owners decorated the spaces beautifully. The mgmt company however, destroyed the experience. Seems to be no communication among the staff; prior to booking I got my ESA approved, at check in no one knew of my pet causing an unpleasant moment. Requested early check in, I was there 45 mins before regular check in, said they still needed to do last minute checks. The trash was full from previous renters and in a full week no one came to collect the overflowing trash. I unfortunately left a jewelry box behind. There was zero sense of urgency in retrieving my valuables, only searched for it days after. The jewelry wasn't worth much but had sentimental value. I received many contradicting messages, not delivering on updates and call backs. After me calling almost every day, they said it was finally mailed. Took TWO WEEKS, only to be told they "lost the tracking info" so there no proof it was even mailed. I was told that ny valuables would be delivered a specific day but the lady who had mailed it had lost the info and receipt. Very irresponsible staff. Still have not received my valuables. read more

This is the shadiest operation in Vermont. They consistently favor the renter in all circumstances and offer no protection to the products they profit from (the home being rented). Be warned, this is NOT a company to engage in business with, if you value your home. To renters: the little consideration they pay to members of the Stowe community will surely reflect on the visitors they service too. Find your rentals elsewhere. read more

We rented Mountainview Condo 2 from them and it was really bad. We entered to a musty smelling condo which was nothing like the pictures in reality. There was 1 light in the living area. The dishwasher was full. There was a piece of drywall under our bed. There was a open safety pin and burnt match on the carpet. The toilets were not clean and there were hairs in the bathroom. We could not get the fireplace to work I called and was told they would text me the manual and refund the cleaning fee. Manual was not helpful and I got a text saying they would send someone by to check it and no one came. overall Terrible. read more

New build condos in Stowe! Fully loaded and functional appliances. Highly recommend for a 4 (or more) person group on a weekend trip. Admittedly it is quite expensive at about $2k for a long weekend, we split it $500 per person. Exceptionally clean and tons of space, also centrally located to the city center where you can get breakfast, go to shops and have fun. Will likely stay somewhere cheaper next time to save money, but if you can afford it I would say it's a must try. read more

I will preface this by saying that my preferred means of stay is Vrbo/homeshares. I have stayed at 50+ rentals & never had a bad experience/written a negative review. We stayed at the "Cozy Villager", 406 Maple Street. While the house is a little creaky, outdated and creepy, it's otherwise like the photos. However, it was IMPOSSIBLE to sleep in. My husband & I tried to sleep in the main bedroom & the metal framed bed squeaked every move. The bed was wrapped in plastic, the quality of the bedding was that of a hostel. We couldn't get comfortable or fall asleep and really, we are NOT picky. I thought about sleeping in my car because surely it must be more comfortable than this. The house is directly on a main road so all you hear through the old windows is cars passing by. We live in Brooklyn & are used to car traffic, it's just that the house has no insulation. We got 2 hours of sleep before dawn broke and my husband got on the mountain with zero rest. I contacted management, Stowe Country Homes, to let them know these beds were not an acceptable option for the remaining 3 nights of our stay& they offered no solutions. I let them know we will not be torturing ourselves for the remainder of our trip with the prospect of no sleep. We returned the keys that morning with the understanding that a financial agreement for the remaining 3 days would be reached, instead in an via email management/owners decided that while it's not necessary for them to provide adequate accommodation, it's necessary for them to keep our thousands of dollars!! We have rented with Stowe Country homes prior to this and will NEVER stay with these scammers again. read more

Beautiful homes but horrible management team. They booked us in a house without informing the owner. The owner's family was living in the house. When we arrived (which was late in the night) the person living there walked out with a gun on us. He had no idea about Stowe Country Home renting the house. We were terrified (living in NYC never been in a situation where someone walked out with a gun on us). We called Stowe Country Homes' emergency number and they treated it like an everyday matter. Even after us telling them that someone was in the house we rented, we have a gun situation and they risked our lives, they didn't seem to care much and said everyone had guns in Vermont. The emergency contact called us back and said the owner was not informed about our booking and they will find an alternate accommodation for us. The emergency contact did not know the location of this new house and trespassed on another couple of properties trying to find the right house. As you can imagine we did not want to be in the vicinity when he was trying his key in every door. All this went on for a couple of hours before we were provided an alternate accommodation. The experience ruined our trip, and Stowe Country Homes wished us a great stay in Stowe and congratulated on the upgraded house! It felt like this was all a joke to them! When we asked for a refund, they said we were able to resolve the issue and got you a place to stay so we will only refund a part of your payment. Think twice before you book with them. read more

Everyone I have dealt with at Stowe Country Homes over the past two seasons I have rented with them has been friendly and helpful. They are honestly the nicest group of people and have gone out of their way to find my family the perfect place each time. Their inventory of homes is easily the nicest in the area, and I have spent many hours searching for rentals over the years! Any issues are handled immediately. Having an entire local, experienced team available to you for recommending different properties and dealing with anything that arises really makes a difference. I can't recommend them enough! read more

HUGE thumbs up for my experience working with Stowe Country Homes and staying at one of their properties listed in Stowe, VT. My boyfriend and I booked the cabin in anticipation of a very relaxing weekend with no distractions. We were looking for a place that met the following requirements: 1 - pet-friendly (for the adorable border collie Bo) 2 - a great view of nature 3 - modern amenities, but in a rustic setting 4 - CLEAN property 5 - fireplace, hot tub, and good kitchen 6 - reasonable price What did we get? EVERY single requirement, exceeded. Granted, Stowe Country Homes manages a variety of properties, but to be sure, our accomodations were Absolutely Fantastic. Some things I found helpful in working with this company: 1 - the site offers very accurate photos of its properties - at least according to what we saw and what we got 2 - the staff is very helpful, and friendly - the woman we worked with immediately contacted me after i submitted an email inquiry, and once she listened to what we were looking for, she offered the property we ended up staying in as a better choice, and she did not disappoint 3 - the contract is not confusing, and negotiable, which we found helpful in determining our check-out time, for instance 4 - the cleaning service is thorough. in fact, they found my scarf after we'd left, emailed me to verify, and sent it back to me in the mail immediately 5 - the after-hours pick-up of our keys was a cinch. and!! the keys came with a wonderful packet of brochures, maps, coupons, etc. for the Stowe area I was also very pleased with the thoroughness of service that followed through to little touches at the property, such as: 1 - dark chocolate bars sitting on the kitchen counter for us upon arrival - a big plus for my other half :) 2 - great instruction manuals for all the equipment on the property, like the fireplace, television/satellite, hot tub, and hot water 3 - plenty of extra sheets, towels, etc. In short, I could not have been happier with my experience working with Stowe Country Homes, and as proof, we've booked our next trip already at the very same cabin for a ski weekend this winter. read more

Our unit, 5A, did not have AC. We arrived during 90 degree weather and our unit was brutally hot. They offered to drop off a fan but that was the extent of it.. disappointing to pay so much to stay somewhere so uncomfortable. Owner would not allow us our money back to stay elsewhere. Beware of staying here if you are booking for the summer! read more

Largest selection of houses for rent in Stowe, but an absolutely awful management company that regularly rips off homeowners / cheats renters via claimed "cleaning fees" (e.g. bill 20 hours cleaning for 4 actual hours). We have cameras at our house and have caught Stowe Country Homes overbilling for cleaning services never performed. We will not be renewing our contract with them. read more

The house we stayed in was very nice. But there was one thing that left a bad taste. Though we paid a cleaning fee, there was an envelope left for tipping the cleaners. I researched it and nearly everyone says it's not necessary or expected to leave a tip for Air BnB or similar weekly rentals. Unlike a hotel, the cleaners are not cleaning a room that the guest will stay in again. They clean after you leave. It's not a personal service. We left a tip, but it's really petty that they ask. The company should pay the cleaners a sufficient wage. read more

I had a horrible experience with this group of unprofessional, unethical, and incompetent property managers. My group lived in squalor for 3.5 months although we paid for biweekly cleanings and had pest control in the house on several occasion. Instead of rectifying our insect problem Jeannette and her management group ignored our constant demands to remove the inordinate number of flies that littered the premises. Furthermore, they ripped us off with third party vendors---paying 1100 for snow removal and over 400 for trash removal over a 14 week season left our group feeling a bit uneasy. They topped it off with a fraudulent cleaning bill totaling 1750 upon our departure and forced us to pay for property that was damaged prior to our rental period . Keep this simple and seek another management company or rent directly from the owner. The owner of the property that we rent is seeking another property management company for obvious reasons. read more