Paradise On Brandy Pond - Sleeps 8 - 10. Booking for 2026 now!!

Hi Erika. We are so glad that you and your family enjoyed yourselves. Our goal is for your vacation to be a perfect one. It was a pleasure having you and we're looking forward to seeing you next year!! Best wishes, Michael

Hi Nancy. I'm so glad that everyone had a great time! Hope to see you next year!!

Hi Jeff. Thanks for your review and we're so glad that you and your family had a wonderful time. Our goal is for you to have the best time possible and we are always working to make things better. We look forward to having you back next year!

Heidi, we are so glad that your entire party enjoyed their stay at our home. We work hard to maintain a very high standard, so that everyone's vacation is not "just an ordinary vacation", but an "extraordinary" one. It makes us feel good to hear your positive feedback and lets us know that we're doing the right thing. We're looking forward to seeing you next year!! Best wishes, Michael

Hi Brian. We're so glad that you and your family had a great time at our home. We have been working very hard to make your vacation the ultimate, memorable time. It was great having you at our home. Glad you enjoyed the beautiful sunsets!! See you next year!!!

Hi Becky. We are so glad that you and your family enjoyed yourselves so much. We honestly do everything we can to make your stay the best ever. So, we'll make a couple modifications to eliminate the last minute pressure you felt on checkout day. Looking forward to seeing you next year!!! Best wishes, Michael

Dear Kirsten. Thank you for staying with us. We're so glad that you enjoyed yourselves at our home. The majority of people who stay at our home, along with ourselves, enjoy our great location on Brandy Pond and the close proximity to Long Lake, the beautiful scenery, shops, and eateries around the Causeway, plus the Causeway Marina, the Long Lake Marina, and the Naples Marina. Most of our guests enjoy watching all the different boats go by while sitting on the deck or on our dock, on a beautiful afternoon. But, what's so great, is that we're located in a "no wake" zone on Brandy Pond, which means that all boats must travel at 5 mph while going by. So, it feels like you're watching a "boat show" with little or no motor noise. Most guests love it, especially boating enthusiasts. But, it's all personal preference. We don't consider our cleaning expectations high or unreasonable. We do express our expectations clearly in our rental agreement. Our intention is for our guests to leave our home in the same, perfect condition, as when they began their stay, in order for the following guests to enjoy the same clean, neat, and inviting environment as when they moved in. Because our home is large, some guests may find it a little overwhelming (on their first stay) when it comes time for cleaning, especially since they've been in "vacation mode" for a week. For our regular renters, it's very routine for them, and there's no problem. Upon request, we can line up a cleaning crew (at our guest's expense) to come in after your stay is over. But, we find that most of our guests prefer to keep that money in their pocket, and do the cleaning themselves. It's all a personal preference. Lastly, we find that most guests enjoy a personal tour by the owner. They appreciate being shown around the house, learning where everything is, and what the procedures are for various activities. Not only do they enjoy the "personal touch", but it also saves them time from "hunting around" for this and that. But, once again, it's all a matter of personal preference. Overall, we enjoyed having you and we are looking forward to seeing you next year!! Best wishes, Michael

Dear Mary Ann: Thanks for your review and we're so glad that you had a great time at our home! Sorry that you found the daylight too much for you in the bedrooms facing the lake. Ironically, we used to have coverings on those windows, but renters either complained that they were a nuisance to use or that they blocked too much light. We changed the coverings 5 times and couldn't please everyone. So, we ended up removing them to see it worked out. On your next visit, we can arrange to erect some coverings for you and your guests. Also, our basement room is the coolest one in the house, and is usually a favorite, together with a 50" diagonal high-def tv, sectional sofa, couches, plenty of lighting, and a walk-out right to the water. But, I suppose it's all a matter of personal preference. With regard to the fees you mentioned, all of them are discussed in two locations in our ad in plain sight, and of course, they are mentioned in the sample rental agreement, which is posted in the ad. With regard to the damage insurance, it would be ridiculous if we did not collect a security deposit for anyone's stay. We would have to collect at least $2,500.00 from a renting party to cover any damage which may occur. That may seem like alot. But, as you know, everything is so expensive these days, like a couch, oriental rug, dining room table, etc. We felt that this is a lot of money for a renting party to put up-front in addition to the money that they are already paying. So, VRBO provides the owner the opportunity to offer damage insurance with a coverage of $5,000.00, for a mere cost of $99.00 to the renting party. When you make your payment, this money gets taken out of the amount directly by VRBO, and they send it to their agent to bind coverage on your behalf. So, you and your renting party are covered for $5,000.00 worth of damage. As I mentioned to you previously, this money is non-refundable because it is an insurance premium which goes to the company who is providing the insurance. You must have received an email from the insurance company shortly after you made your payment. This amount is also listed in our ad in plain sight, in more than one location, plus it is listed as part of your costs when you make your payments, and it's mentioned in our Sample Rental Agreement, which you reviewed be you booked your stay. It's not a fee that the homeowner keeps. I hope that clarifies your concerns. If not, please reach out to us by email, phone, or text. I hope we see you next year! Thank you for visiting our home and taking good care of it! Best wishes, Michael

Dear Allison, I would like to bring some things to your attention. First, with regards to your criticisms about our swimming pool area. Evidently, you did not completely and thoroughly read the Short Term Rental Agreement, which you signed and agreed to. Because, if you had, you would have seen on Line 13 in the “Rental Rules” section that renters are not allowed in the swimming pool area, and that it is to remain locked at all times. This should have been obvious to you, as well, because all entrances to the area were locked and/or blocked by furniture, when you moved in. However, it seems that you took it upon yourself to move the furniture, unlock to doors, and go inside. For your future reference, just because you are renting someone’s home, it does not give you the right to wander around in places that you are clearly not allowed to be in. Secondly, our home, as with most homes in the area, use a well for its water supply. I simply informed you that any well, in general, can have traces of things like sediment, odor, minerals, arsenic (or similar), in the water, but that we have a very expensive ($3,500.00) Reverse Osmosis system, which filters our water for drinking and cooking purposes, and that it is dispensed by an individual spigot located on our sinktop. My point of explaining this to you, was to inform and instruct you to use the R/O spigot for your cooking and drinking water purposes, and not the sink faucet spout (which would be for washing dishes, etc.). Of course, you could have used bottled water, if you preferred. Anyone who uses a well for their water supply understands this. However, this can be something new to people who are on a public water supply. But, these days, many people who are even on a public water supply, use a filter system. Thirdly, when we receive a booking inquiry from a rental party for the first time, we like to “know” who we are renting to. We like to confirm the number of people, pets or not, etc. Lastly, we always ask the Primary Renter if they have any questions, and if they have read the Sample Short Term Rental Agreement which we have posted in our listing. While we always respond immediately, sometimes it takes time for the Primary Renter to respond, which can tend to drag out the process a little, such as in your case. In addition, as owners, we believe in meeting and greeting our renters, showing them around, and personally handing them the keys. We feel it makes for a better working relationship and our guests really appreciate it. However in your situation, when it got to the point that you were an hour late for check-in (3pm), I called you to find out your ETA, so I could plan my schedule accordingly (I had a 5pm appointment). At that time, we spoke for 17 minutes. As you know, I ended up meeting your son and his friend at 5:45pm (since they drove separately), and ended up showing them around, and handing them the keys. Evidently, you showed up at midnight. On the next day (Sunday), I called you at noon to make sure all is well. However, you weren’t able to speak at that time. So, you called me back 20 minutes later. At that time, I offered to walk you through the house by phone. You said, “that would be great”, and our conversation took 34 minutes. Sorry, but to say that I called you “early on a Sunday” and that the “communication process was painful, and required hours of phone calls”, is purely an exaggeration and not the truth. Fourth, to say that our home was not clean before you moved in, is an outright lie. I know this because I personally inspected every inch of our house before you arrived. I always clean, fix, test, and straighten out anything that is below my standards. So, if you felt that something in our house was not clean or otherwise deficient, why didn’t you mention it during the entire week that you were there, as indicated in Line 20 in the “Rental Rules” section of the Short Term Rental Agreement? Fifth, our Short Term Rental Agreement clearly specifies in Line 19 of the “Rental Rules” section, what is to be expected upon move-out with regard to the bed linens and towels, and the house, in general. Our Rental Agreement a full disclosure document, with nothing implied or ambiguous, and all terms are spelled out clearly. Since I personally inspected our home after you left, it was clear that you did not feel that it was important for you to abide by these terms in the agreement. So, although you agreed to the terms in the Rental Agreement, you decided not to abide by them. And now, you are complaining that they were “ridiculous”. I’m curious. When it comes time for you to make your mortgage payment, do you call your bank and tell them that you don’t want to pay them because it’s “ridiculous” for you to send them money every month? Most of our renters do a great job cleaning, leaving nothing additional to be done. Sometime, they will miss one or two items. However, you did not even make one bed, and the sheets on every bed still had crumbs on them. So, they obviously weren’t washed. In one bathroom, the sinks were dirty and the countertops still had your dried toothpaste drippings on them. The top surface of the toilet seat was filthy and the underside of it had feces on it. There bathroom floor was dirty, and the tub bottom had dirt and grime on it, combined with hair on the area where the glass door slides open, and in the drains. This was just one bathroom and the other rooms were not any better. Should I mention the food stains on our furniture, the drink stains on our TV stand, and the food crumbs in the beds and on the floors upstairs? How about the food stains and dirt on our kitchen floor? Is this the way you clean or the way you live? It’s obvious that you didn’t feel the need to clean up. We make it very clear (in our agreement) that our home must be restored to the same condition, as when you moved in. We have a responsibility to provide a perfect (or as close as possible) environment to every renting party and your negligence caused us tremendous aggravation and stress. You are lucky that I did not give you a negative review that you deserve. Rather, I preferred to not give you a review at all. We have had so many people rent from us and leave our home in excellent condition. However, it seems that you felt that you are above all of that. For the same reason, you felt that disposing of your trash was not important enough get done. However, you did have plenty of excuses why you couldn’t do it. In the end, I had to clean up your mess for 4.5 hours and dispose of your trash before the next renter was due to arrive (only 4 hours after you checked out). In fact, we had to request that they wait an extra half-hour for us to finish. Lastly, anyone reading our reviews can see that we always score between 4 and 5 stars, and that your low review score is merely your way of retaliating for not receiving your cleaning fee deposit. In all of our years, we have never had to keep a cleaning deposit, until you came along. Please do not make a booking request to us again!!

Hi Guy. We are so glad that you had a great time. Sorry about the can opener. We'll make sure to have one available next year. Looking forward to having you over again!! Thanks, Michael

Hi Carol and Robert. It was great seeing you and your family again and we are so excited that you enjoyed yourselves so much. It really does mean alot to us because we really do work hard to make your stay a great experience. But, we can't claim responsibility for the gorgeous sunsets you saw. Those were out of our control!! We are looking forward to seeing you again next year!! Thanks for the kind words and you can be sure that we'll keep doing more to make your stay a memorable one!! Enjoy the rest of your summer. Cheers! Michael

Hi Dottie. Thank you for the kind words. We were happy to have you and your family back this year. Every year, we try to make your stay even more enjoyable. The door is always open for you. See you next year. Best wishes, Michael

Dear Ken: We are so glad that you and your family enjoyed yourselves at our home. We take great pride in opening up our home and work hard to offer you as much as possible so that all of you will have the best possible time during your stay. Each year, we try to make improvements so that you will have something to look forward to. But, as you mentioned, the beautiful view is something you never get tired of. Looking forward to seeing you again this Summer!! Best wishes, Michael

Hi Dottie. We're so glad that you and your family had a great time at our home. We are looking forward to having you back this year. Best wishes, Michael

Hi Betty. We're so glad that you and your family had a great time at our home. We have been working very hard to make your vacation a memorable one. It was great having you at our home. Glad you enjoyed the great dock and the sunsets. See you next year!!!

Hi Carol. We're so glad that you and your family had a great time at our home and that it was a memorable time. Thank you for taking such good care of it, as well. Glad you enjoyed the beautiful sunsets. See you next year!!!

Hi Lisa. We are so happy to hear that you had a wonderful time at our home. It was a pleasure having you and your family. Thanks for the suggestions about the blinds and additional storage space. We are looking forward to seeing you next year!!! Best wishes, Michael

I'm so glad you and your family had a great time. We love this area and appreciate that you feel as compassionate about it as we do! Please come again! Best wishes, Michael

Hi Susan: Thanks for your review. It was a pleasure having you stay at my vacation home, and I'm so happy that you enjoyed yourself so much. I look forward to having you back to enjoy the updated, expanded dock, and deck. Best wishes, Michael

Hi Jeff. I'm so glad that you and your family had a great time and caught some great sunsets. We look forward to seeing you next year! Best wishes, Michael