My husband and I rented a chalet from Mt Laurel Chalets (Above Laurelwood) for our honeymoon from Oct 27 - Nov1, 2014. We found the chalet to be quite below expectations.
There were massive cobwebs in the windows, on the banisters and even connected from the dining room light to the dining room table. The kitchen was ill equipped w/ no dinner forks, no frying pans, and no pasta pot. We were told that we could've called the office and they'd have supplied us w/ these items but nothing stated that in our literature. The ceiling fans and bathroom exhaust fans were caked w/ dust. The furnace wouldn't run on HEAT due to dirtly furnace filter; we had to operate it on EMH. The icemaker made a terrible noise and made little to no ice. A bug had crawled up into the oven clock. There was very poor water pressure and not even enough hot water to fill a jacuzzi tub which left this feature useless to us. The light over the hot tub didn't work. The doors of the chalet leading to the outside were flimsy at best and could easily be kicked open had a would-be attacker wanted in. The bathroom upstairs had water damage by the shower and the shower was only big enough for a small child to bathe in. The shower curtain had water stains. The king bed felt like a piece of cement and the pillows were equally as hard. The bed to the full bed on the first floor was broken down at the foot of the bed.
Believe it or not, all of this we were willing to 'overlook' since the last 3 chalets we had rented in previous years were simply lovely. However, upon our last nite there, a snow storm came thru knocking out the power; which in turn left us w/out heat, hot water, and any means of cooking food. We were w/out power for 16 hrs; most of which was overnite as we slept. I had a terrible head cold the entire week and it started to get better the last couple days of our stay until this disaster. I now have bronchitis and walking pneumonia as a result of breathing in the cold air w/ no heat and no emergency supplies. I've missed an entire week of work as a result.
The part that is most disturbing is that I called the office 4 times to report no heat, electric, no food and being stranded. There were also NO phones except what cell reception you could get. We were told emergency help was on the way after the 1st call. An hour later when I called back, I was told to 'sit tight', that a tree was down and roads were too bad to leave. Mind you, 4x4 vehicles could pass, but not our Toyota Corolla! At no point did the staff offer to send extra blankets, food, or alternate heat source. The fireplace was wood burning NOT gas and there were NO extra blankets, throws or anything to cover up with. Upon the 3rd time calling down, we were told to 'sit tight' until 1pm, that another tree was down but would be cleared out in 20 mins. Again, mind you, larger vehicles are getting thru, even in front of our chalet but no offer of assistance to get us down so we can check out and get home before the second storm comes thru.
Approx 1:07pm on Nov 1st, we got in our car and started down only to find the tree was NOT cleared. Roads were still slippery but it was supposed to be a short distance to the office. I called from the car this time was still told 'sorry, please sit tight, they're doing all they can do'. I said waiting is no longer an option, we're in the car and we need an alternate way out! So they DID stay on the phone w/ us and reroute us until we got to safety but that was after I yelled and cried in fear and in sickness that I was unhappy. Once reaching the office to check out, they only wanted to refund 100.00 of a nearly $1000.00 stay and that was refunded begrudgingly and still hasn't shown up on my credit card as a refund. I believe that due to all of the issues w/ this 'vacation' and the chalet, Mt Laurel Chalet should do the right thing and refund our entire stay! We will definitely not be back NOR will we recommend this to anyone else! They're great when all goes well but TERRIBLE in the event of a crisis.
Mountain Laurel Chalets Reviews
My husband and I rented a chalet from Mt Laurel Chalets (Above Laurelwood) for our honeymoon from Oct 27 - Nov1, 2014. We found the chalet to be quite below expectations.
There were massive cobwebs in the windows, on the banisters and even connected from the dining room light to the dining room table. The kitchen was ill equipped w/ no dinner forks, no frying pans, and no pasta pot. We were told that we could've called the office and they'd have supplied us w/ these items but nothing stated that in our literature. The ceiling fans and bathroom exhaust fans were caked w/ dust. The furnace wouldn't run on HEAT due to dirtly furnace filter; we had to operate it on EMH. The icemaker made a terrible noise and made little to no ice. A bug had crawled up into the oven clock. There was very poor water pressure and not even enough hot water to fill a jacuzzi tub which left this feature useless to us. The light over the hot tub didn't work. The doors of the chalet leading to the outside were flimsy at best and could easily be kicked open had a would-be attacker wanted in. The bathroom upstairs had water damage by the shower and the shower was only big enough for a small child to bathe in. The shower curtain had water stains. The king bed felt like a piece of cement and the pillows were equally as hard. The bed to the full bed on the first floor was broken down at the foot of the bed.
Believe it or not, all of this we were willing to 'overlook' since the last 3 chalets we had rented in previous years were simply lovely. However, upon our last nite there, a snow storm came thru knocking out the power; which in turn left us w/out heat, hot water, and any means of cooking food. We were w/out power for 16 hrs; most of which was overnite as we slept. I had a terrible head cold the entire week and it started to get better the last couple days of our stay until this disaster. I now have bronchitis and walking pneumonia as a result of breathing in the cold air w/ no heat and no emergency supplies. I've missed an entire week of work as a result.
The part that is most disturbing is that I called the office 4 times to report no heat, electric, no food and being stranded. There were also NO phones except what cell reception you could get. We were told emergency help was on the way after the 1st call. An hour later when I called back, I was told to 'sit tight', that a tree was down and roads were too bad to leave. Mind you, 4x4 vehicles could pass, but not our Toyota Corolla! At no point did the staff offer to send extra blankets, food, or alternate heat source. The fireplace was wood burning NOT gas and there were NO extra blankets, throws or anything to cover up with. Upon the 3rd time calling down, we were told to 'sit tight' until 1pm, that another tree was down but would be cleared out in 20 mins. Again, mind you, larger vehicles are getting thru, even in front of our chalet but no offer of assistance to get us down so we can check out and get home before the second storm comes thru.
Approx 1:07pm on Nov 1st, we got in our car and started down only to find the tree was NOT cleared. Roads were still slippery but it was supposed to be a short distance to the office. I called from the car this time was still told 'sorry, please sit tight, they're doing all they can do'. I said waiting is no longer an option, we're in the car and we need an alternate way out! So they DID stay on the phone w/ us and reroute us until we got to safety but that was after I yelled and cried in fear and in sickness that I was unhappy. Once reaching the office to check out, they only wanted to refund 100.00 of a nearly $1000.00 stay and that was refunded begrudgingly and still hasn't shown up on my credit card as a refund. I believe that due to all of the issues w/ this 'vacation' and the chalet, Mt Laurel Chalet should do the right thing and refund our entire stay! We will definitely not be back NOR will we recommend this to anyone else! They're great when all goes well but TERRIBLE in the event of a crisis.