Harlow House in Lake Anna

Save your sanity...rundown property

getaway from the city (dc)
Review submitted: October 8, 2011   Date of arrival: August 26, 2011

We were trying to find a nice weekend getaway for the family on the lake. It ended up being the weekend of the hurricane and rained all Saturday and Sunday. The owners were nice enough to let us "check-in" at noon on Friday and enjoy the weather, which the rest of the family did while others arrived that evening.

Sadly, the home was quite run down and dirty. Bugs were crawling everywhere and the entire basement area, which makes up 2 of their bedrooms and a large living area, was so musty. They had a dehumidifier in one of the rooms but it didn't help. The carpets were filthy and the whole place smelled. On top of that, the power went out the entire last night and it was quite hot. There was a gaping whole in the side of one of the closets downstairs that anything in the house walls could have crawled in or out of. The pots and pans were grimy and had seen much better days. The dishwasher wouldn't turn on either, so we couldn't use it. We checked the breaker but that didn't help. We called the owners but they couldn't do anything about it.

The whole weekend was a wash...the view was beautiful but other than that, it felt like bugs and dirt were all over us. I would look elsewhere if you are looking for a clean getaway. This would be great for a group of college boys or kids looking to party all weekend. It was nice that it was pet-friendly, and I honestly felt more safe with my dog there. Good luck!

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Helpful votes: 1 / 1

Wonderful Vacation

linda (Arlington Va)
Review submitted: July 12, 2011   Date of arrival: July 6, 2011

Great views and waterfront. They have a wonderful sandy beach and a large dock with electric. The beach walks out slowly to deeper water and is sandy. The hous esits close to the water and adjacent to the property is a boat ramo and is very convienant. The community is very quiet and relaxing.The house is wonderful for kids as well as adults. Our kids loved the loft and has a ton of room. The house has a large deck for eating and large grill. We can't wait to return.
Linda Pointer

Recommended for: age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers, girls getaway, pet-friendly

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Helpful votes: 4 / 4

keep looking for other properties

jpandkatie (Arlington VA)
Review submitted: July 20, 2010   Date of arrival: April 30, 2010

My wife and I stayed here for our 3rd anniversary and we really enjoyed getting away from DC -- the solitude was great and the major functions of the house were in working order (i.e. no plumbing problems or issues with getting into the house). The scenery was also great and we enjoyed reading on the dock watching water skiers go by.

The customer service was a bit lacking, however, and we waited almost two months to get our security deposit back, after many unanswered emails and voicemails to the owners.

This poor service seemed to translate into the overall condition of the property. For example the deck was in need of sweeping when we got there, the screens on the screened in porch were torn. The hot tub was half full of dirty water and clearly not ready for use, and the grill (which we were very excited about using) did not have any propane. When we called the owners, they said there was a place to fill the tanks, miles down the road, but when we asked in advance if they would reimburse us for filling them they said no.

We also had to call because the breaker on the AC tripped -- in this case the owners were very helpful in instructing us how to access the breaker box and get it working.

All in all, there are probably better managed and more well-maintained places we could have stayed for the money. If we return to Lake Anna, we would not stay here again.

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Helpful votes: 27 / 29