Condo Problems??—You bet in Motherlode Unit #8387 (A-9) at Breckenridge, CO! We rented a condo in Breckenridge, CO to go skiing March 14-20, 2010. Although the condo was nicely located and had adequate facilities, the owner and the property management companys created problems which ruined our vacation.
First, the owner of Motherlode Unit #8387 (Unit A-9), Pam Chavez, from Denver, advertised that the condo had a wood fireplace, which we really enjoy sitting around as a family, and that wood was provided free of charge by the condominium association in a centrally located woodshed. One of the reasons we rented this condo was that it had the fireplace, and wood was provided. One week before our arrival and after paying the full rent, the owner sent us an e-mail indicating that wood was no longer provided and we'd have to buy our own at the grocery store. That was problem #1. It’s always lots of fun buying over-priced wood in small bundles and lugging them back in the car from the grocery store!!
Problem #2 was when we arrived and entered the condo. Sitting there in the entry hallway was a five gallon tub of drywall plaster. Scattered around the living room and hallway were paint chips, dry wall plaster dust and other debris. We had just walked into our vacation condo and it was under repair for a roof leak that had damaged the ceiling. Apparently, the property management company -- Blue River Property Management (BRPM), started the dry wall repair, forgot they were doing such, and left the mess for us to walk through. We tried to vacuum up the paint chips and dust only to find out that the condo vacuum cleaner was broken. Great start to our vacation—but it gets better from here!
The next thing we discovered as we brought in the groceries and food for preparing our first dinner, was a dirty kitchen! Problem #3. My daughter looked at the kitchen counters and the cutting board and immediately said, “I’m not preparing dinner here! It’s too dirty.” So here we were spending the first hour or two of our ski vacation cleaning the kitchen so we could prepare dinner and eat after a long and tiring trip, and trying to sweep up paint chips and dust from the living room hallway with a broom and dust pan. Just what you want to do at the beginning of a vacation after paying a steep rental rate. Blame the dirty kitchen on Rocky Mountain Resorts Management, the company the owner pays to “clean” the condo and manage the rentals.
But problem #4 was the worst, and this problem was caused by the Blue River Property Management Company, and partly by the owner. And is even a potential violation of State law! On the last day of our stay, we left the condo early in the morning to go skiing. With three lap tops, cell phones, jewelry, cameras, cash and other valuables left in the condo, we carefully locked the door handle and the deadbolt lock, as we did each day, and went off to enjoy the snow. Upon returning in the early afternoon, we found that the condominium door was unlocked and workers had entered the condo, and left the condo unguarded. They did this without providing us any notice. The workers had entered our condo unit - A-9 - to access the roof of the condo building to remove snow from the roof. There were towels spread throughout the condo to protect the rugs, and a step ladder was in the loft bedroom which allowed the workers to go out the window and on to the roof. Power cords were plugged into internal outlets for the worker’s power tools. We could hear the sound of the workers working on the opposite side of the condo building but could not see them. Realizing that our privacy had been invaded and our security compromised, and we did not want workers tromping through the condo while we were enjoying the family discussions about the day’s skiing activities, cooking dinner and showering and getting cleaned up, we asked the workers to leave immediately. They had to check with their boss, Brant Newdon of BRPM first, who showed up at the door 10 mins. later and said basically tough luck, they needed to do the work. Finally, after expressing extreme anger, the boss told his workers to pack up and leave and we were able to have our privacy and attempted to enjoy our final evening at Breckenridge, which of course was ruined by the unannounced intrusion, and my daughter being concerned the workers might return later during the night. And, we had to conduct an inventory of all our belongings to check if anything was missing. Real peace of mind!
So that was our vacation experience in Motherlode Unit #8387 (A-9) at Breckenridge, CO. Want a fun, restful and carefree vacation??? Then don’t stay here!
Motherlode #8387 (Unit A-9) is advertised and rented through Vacation Rentals By Owner (VRBO) of Colorado.