Cabin in Rileyville

My fiance and I along with another couple stayed in a cabin on Overlook Drive in Rileyville Virginia in June of 2008. The cabin was called ';Mountain Escape';. This was our first visit to the mountains in Rileyville Va and unfortunately an unpleasant one. First it was a pain making reservations for this place, we reserved this cabin through mountainwelcome.com. The man handling the reservations was very rude, and slow in responding. Two days before we were to arrive he decided to tell us that he required a security deposit, we had to pay $14.00 to overnight the $100 security deposit to him (yeah I know he got us). Second when we arrived at the cabin there was a musty smell in the cabin as if it hadn%26#39;t been cleaned or lived in for years, there was a dead bird on the deck, over grown weeds/trees blocking the view, trash under and beside the deck, poison oak growing on the deck, the hot tub water looked as if it hadn%26#39;t been drained in a long time, I do not recommend this cabin to anyone, avoid it at all costs.

Cabin in Rileyville

Was there a rock festival there lately? A common thread among the recent critics is their alternative rock group names.

Cabin in Rileyville

No, I don%26#39;t think so, we went there to go to Luray Caverns, I guess there could have been though I%26#39;m not familiar with the area, first time there.

When my fiancee and I were recently planning a visit to the Mountain Escape cabins, we came across this post and were very concerned about the quality that we had committed ourselves to. Certainly, this poster (Judy1956) painted a very unnerving picture of her experience.

Fortunately for us, this person Judy, was entirely wrong ... or at least her experience was not representative of the average experience at the Mountain Escape cabins.

Let me start with each of her claims:

1. The making of reservations was nowhere near a painful process. The responsible person, a man named Steve, was very responsive by email and by phone. He answered any and all questions that we had for him with volumes of information regarding both his cabin offerings and regarding the local area around there.

2. There was no such thing as a security deposit. We were only asked to have our payment upfront, either by cash or money order.

3. Upon our arrival at the cabin, unlike Judy, we could not have been more impressed. It was later in the evening as we had to drive to Rileyville from the Baltimore area following work on Friday and it was mid-March (so still pretty dark by 10:00pm). Our first positive impressions of the ';cabin'; (more of a cottage) came with our view from the outside ... a nicely lit stone walkway to the entrance and with a soft glow of lights emanating from the windows. When we entered the cottage, it was warm, cozy and incredibly clean. Moreover, in contrast to the description from above ';as if it hadn%26#39;t been cleaned or lived in for years';, we found it decorated and fully stocked (kitchen supplies, blankets, board games, books, television, radio, high speed internet, etc, etc) as if someone lived there and were letting us borrow the place for the weekend. Yet, it did not feel as if we were intruding on someone%26#39;s house (no coats in the closets or other signs that it was actually otherwise inhabited). The property management had set a fire going in the wood burning stove before we arrived as well as had set up the hot tub so we could relax after we settled in. In fact, they even added the nice little touch of having the radio playing at a low volume and a complimentary bottle of wine on the table ... so we really walked into the place feeling as if it were ';our home'; for the weekend and we could just settle in. All in all, we were flabergasted at the quality - especially given how reasonably priced it was for what was offered.

To add a few comments of my own: the surrounding area was beautiful. While two neighboring houses could be seen during the day (because Spring had not yet hit, the trees around the cottage were still without leaves ... as they grow in I am sure the place takes on a more secluded feel yet), in the evening one was feeling as if it was only them and the starts overhead. The view down into the valley, with the lights of the neighboring town (Luray) twinkling miles away was gorgeous ... and, of course, that same view in broad daylight was excellent.

The management really went out of their way not only to make us feel at home, but to also let us to ourselves. That is, other than meeting with a property management assistant to turn over our money order when we arrived - as well as to verify that we found everything to be satisfactory - the management left us alone the whole weekend. It really was a great way to get a weekend to ourselves.

My fiancee and I are certainly looking forward to returning to the Mountain Escape cabins again in the near future ... it was an exceptional weekend and I am glad that we did not let Judy1956%26#39;s review disuade us.

Perhaps the difference is as follows: my fiancee and I were looking for a nice quiet get away and that is the type of customer that the Montain Escape cabins seem most suited to cater to ... looking at some of Judy1956%26#39;s other posts on TripAdvisor makes her seem interested in partying (I believe I read one post where she referred to herself as ';a partier'; and seemed to have a bit of knowledge about bars %26amp; clubs in Ocean City) ... maybe there was a difference in expectations.

To be clear, these cabins are for those who want a quiet getaway ... not for those who want to go have a party in the mountain woods ... I don%26#39;t know if that is what really makes the difference between our experience and that described in Judy1956%26#39;s post ... but it is one explanation.

Another might be that the cabin owner has his own side to the story and certain things, like the security deposit, were incurred because Judy1956 led the property owner to feel uncomfortable renting to her.

Final specifics (for those interested in the real details), we rented over the weekend of March 20th, 2009 and the specific cabin we had was called ';Mountain Top';. It was a two-level, three-bedroom, two bath cabin (cottage); fully furnished with beds, couches, side tables, nick-knacks; satellite TV (DirectTV), high-speed internet (not wireless); full-size hot-tub (would seat about 6 people comfortably); stocked kitchen with most all implements that would be needed to cook a nice meal; other appliances included coffee maker, microwave, stove/fridge, etc .... the minor downsides included (1) the only staircase between the two levels was a somewhat tight spiral staircase ... fine for us, but would be a problem for anyone with impaired mobility, (2) the shower in the downstairs bathroom needed minor maintenance (the shower head seemed clogged and not much water came out) ... but the upstairs shower worked just fine and (3) you have to remember you are in the mountains ... so you can%26#39;t be bothered by bugs (we had some ladybugs decide to infiltrate the house during the course of our stay ... but they were not bothersome and mostly hung out on the ceiling by the inset skylight window).

All in all, it was a great little find and we will definitely be back.