Natural RetreatsReviews of naturalretreats.com

We will not rent from Natural Retreats again. We had a stay booked at a cabin 2 minutes from Dollywood 6/23- 6/27. We got a call around lunch time on 6/23 saying our cabin was flooded and the bed was through the floor so if we were ok with staying there they could block off that bedroom. They had nothing else open to move us to. So after a couple of hours of searching for something with availability (since we were already there and couldn't just cancel and needed that extra bedroom so had to find somewhere else) they called back and had a place that "just opened up" they could move us to. We requested airbnb fees back at this point since we had wasted a couple hours dealing with this and because our cabin we had to move to was 40 minutes out of the way and also since were going through Natural Retreats directly and not airbnb at this point. They agreed and asked for me to send them a screenshot of the amount. Fast forward to arrival. There are 3 work trucks in the driveway. The power had been out all day to replace chewed electrical wires. Our rental was unbearably hot and the a/c couldn't catch back up do to the temp in the 90s all day. The place was in need of a deep cleaning. Bees were making huge holes in many beams outside. Couch cushions were full of tears/holes. Just not worth almost $600/ night! We had to have someone come fix the refrigerator within 2 hours of being there because it was not cooling. A fully exposed tack strip the length of half of the doorway had to be ripped up. It was one thing after another. Couldn't even do laundry because the washer was moldy!!! There was a piece of white thick paper folded up in the main door lock to keep the piece forward so the door would latch. Master bedroom/bathroom locks didn't work. The man on night one left his drill on a side table next to the kitchen ans came back without our knowledge the next day to get it. I asked if that was allowed and I was upset we werent atleast sent a quick "heads-up." I was told no he shouldn't have done that. He didn't take anything but it was just knowing someone was in there without our knowledge that I didnt care for. When these issues were all brought to their attention all they would say is the owner is aware of the repairs that need made and some owners take better care of their property than others. We, unfortunately had a less than ideal owner. The holes all over the outside of the cabin are from the carpenter bees and then the woodpeckers coming in and eating the larvae of the bees. I hope it is not effecting structural integrity in the cabin. But if the owner doesn't agree to treatment natural retreats won't do anything about it! So, after days of waiting on this airbnb refund amount I was told it was already refunded on the first day. I had gotten 4 emails from airbnb on that first day saying natural retreats wanted to move our reservation (from flooded cabin to new cabin) and our refund amount was $416 and then 3 emails later dropped to $293. That was fine. Still more than the airbnb fee we requested back... I assumed these were the amounts that they were messing with the refund the airbnb fee. Well after all of the issues we had over the 4 days on the last day there they said they had already refunded the airbnb fee day one and were then willing to refund our cleaning fee and our 1st night stay due to how hot it was ($602 total). So 2 days later I get this $602 amount back on my card but still not the first refund amount for airbnb fees that were supposedly refunded over 10 days prior. I am getting the run around over and over every time I called natural retreats. So I got airbnb involved. Come to find out the initial emails regarding the refund we were owed was the OVERAGE amount we should have been given to switch cabins to begin with. I was lied to straight to my face saying the price difference was in our favor and we were getting a more expensive cabin. So at this point they decide to refund me $391 (which doesn't even cover the full amount of the $416 I was owed due to the cabin switch.) And on top of that I was NEVER refunded that initial airbnb fee. Airbnb cannot do anything because natural retreats has refunded us all that they are willing to. Natural Retreats has some nice people who work there but they also have several who were not pleasant. After complaining to the front desk lady after our first hot and miserable night and requesting the tack strip be removed she said "We could have just told you too bad." That is a less than helpful attitude and not very professional in my opinion. I feel like they are very sneaky and do not document what they tell you at all so be sure to do everything by text message. I had a lot of evidence I was thankfully able to send them of things that were said. In the end we got most of our refund but I have had to fight for almost 2 weeks for it. If there are not recent positive reviews... do not rent it!

Within 20 mins of entering the cabin we were faced with not using the bedroom on the main floor due to it flooding from the rain. Water was pouring through the ceiling so one of the promised (paid for rooms) was unusable until it stopped raining. The walls were water damaged on most of the floors and noticeable even mold looking. This was not a new issue. When we called the office I was told that's part of the cabin experience. Next we noticed the fireplace on the main floor under the underwhelming and under sized tv has been non functional since 9/1/21, this was prior to our booking but no notification was given to this. Next the TV remote did not work for the underwhelming TV so all week we had to stand on something to make it function. Next after 2 hours of being there we noticed the fridge was not working properly as a matter of fact blowing warm air. Maintenance came to the cabin and said the settings on the fridge were wrong and he adjusted them and said it should be fine. So the next morning when our $70 worth of food was spoiled due to warm air in the fridge we called again and at some point that day a loaner fridge was dropped off at the cabin. But prior to that the night before rodents were witnessed running through the kitchen on several occasions and droppings were noticed under the stove. All of this was reported by phone and email. 3 emails were sent, to this moment none have been responded to. What stunk is we were debating leaving the cabin to go to a hotel room. Can you imagine? This was not very cheap averaging almost $400 a night. We would have definitely not booked this if these issues were known and losing almost $100 in food on top. In addition 2 of the bedrooms had very small TV's for the room size. All 3 were small but 2 were almost iPad sized. Very bare bones. The only reason I did 2 stars instead of one was the location and the cabin was nice just had a lot of problems. In addition to the response. No one ever asked us if we wanted reimbursed for the lost food and it was a large leak making the room unusable the first 2 days we placed 3 buckets to catch the water which filled there is water damage all up and down the walls on several floors which tells me this has been an issue before. We have pictures and videos of the so called minor leak. I can share the water damaged wall pictures too if requested. This is the 1st response we have gotten other than when I called with the issues. I should have looked at BBB before booking.

Listen to the reviews about their contract. I wish I would have researched this company before we booked. When TWO acts of God combine to ruin our vacation spot, they would not budge. I fully admit that it says right in the contract that even if they can't make the property available to you due to things like evacuations, you're still on the hook to pay! I was dumb enough to sign it, but one would just hope that someone there would have a heart and realize how incredibly horrible their policies are. I was wrong. Two stars because at least the people I spoke with on the phone were very kind. Not their fault who they work for.

This was our first time booking a vacation through Natural Retreats. We found a beautiful home at Lake Toxaway Country Club in NC. We booked in January 2017, and over the ensuing 6 months prior to our stay, we somehow got the week of our stay wrong in our heads and showed up on a Saturday a week early. The Coursey home was already booked from that Sunday, and when the property maintenance crew showed up on Sunday morning, we realized our mistake, but had family coming in from all over, and needed to make that week work. Natural Retreats was very helpful in getting us into another home they managed at the club. The cost was quite a bit more, but we bit the bullet and ponied up so we could have the week we had planned. Because the Coursey home, our original choice was so fantastic, and even better than we had hoped, we felt that Natural Retreats must have a rigorous vetting process and that all of their homes were very well maintained and indeed, luxury. This is were things went terribly wrong. After paying about 40% more for the McCord lakefront home, we arrived to find the home in less than satisfactory condition. First, the house was filthy. Cobwebs, dead bugs, crumbs and food scraps in kitchen drawers, dust piles under beds and furniture, and mouse traps under cabinets, in the living room and bedrooms. The windows, window sills, and blinds were caked with crud. There was also a horrible smell of mildew and dankness. Secondly, the furniture, beds, accessories, pillows, and decor was old, broken, and non-existent. I mean, the mattresses were so old, they sank in the middle. The master bed comforter was a sleeping bag. The sheets were cheap. The pillows were $5 Walmart specials. The towels were mildewed and faded/miscolored from being just plain OLD. There was no blender, not enough pots and pans, kitchen utensils were old and mismatched. All the knobs on the dressers were broken. Appliances were dated and dirty. Some door locks were gone. Lakeside furniture was falling apart with nails sticking out, and dangerous. There were exposed TV and cable wires. Lamps were missing lampshades. The shower door in the master did not close properly, and the fixtures in some bathrooms were coming loose. We felt like we were the first people to stay there in a long time. We did not get a good nights sleep the entire week. Once we got in there, we communicated with Amanda Reid from Natural Retreats with some of the issues, and I must say, she was wonderful with getting us some new towels and a blender, so Natural Retreats does have some pretty good people. Even Alan, the maintenance fellow was very pleasant and understanding. This home should have NEVER been allowed into the line up at Natural Retreats. It is not a luxury home. We are not snobs, and can deal with a few inconveniences, but this place was filthy! Just because the McCord home was lakefront, and maybe a higher value piece of real estate, does not make it an upgrade. It was clearly a downgrade to us. And when we asked for a partial refund, we were flatly denied. It seems that Natural Retreats either cannot hold their property owners to any kind of standard and demand price breaks for clearly substandard upkeep, or, they are unwilling to fight for their PAYING customers. In my opinion, they are hurting their own brand by maybe offering quantity over quality. Buyer BEWARE! So, Natural Retreats local personnel may get 4-5 stars, but the McCord home gets a 1. The Coursey home gets a 5++...too bad we only got one night there. This site won't let us add pictures proving our point, but you can see them on my FB page.