'Sanctuary' in Metro DC in Washington

Clean, relaxing, and QUIET!

Rmm235 (Tecumseh, MI)
Review submitted: April 3, 2013   Date of arrival: March 28, 2013

Our stay with Alex, Lara, and Sophie was great. We so enjoyed the quiet, the privacy, and the comforts of home. The studio was just what we expected and more!

As a guest after the horrible review below, I'd like to counter nearly everything that was mentioned. The place is CLEAN! I can't even fathom what the reviewer is talking about in saying the bathroom was filthy. I've never seen a cleaner bathroom in any vacation rental we've used.

The linens are fresh, clean, and very comfortable. The pillows are down, the mattress has a great memory foam topper, and there is a VERY nice heavy town comforter on the bed. We did find a couple of feathers from the bedding, and I am wondering if that is what the reviewer mistook for hair. It was clearly feathers poking out from the heavenly blankets. Regardless, comfort is bar none.

The reviewer's greatest complaint was the noise. First of all, you are staying in a studio apartment in someone's house. You have to expect a certain level of awareness to their comings and goings. They also have two adults, a baby, and a dog. That being said, we never heard a single voice. Nothing. No barking. No music. No TV. Nothing. We werent even aware of the dog until he greeted when we met him in the yard on the 3rd day. No dog claws on the hard wood. No jumping or running. I will admit that we heard the family two times when they were walking around. Twice. In 4 days. I honestly thought no one was home the entire time. Turns out they were, we just never heard them. The studio is quiet, relaxing, peaceful. In fact, I was nervous that the noise coming from us might bother them.

We found the location to be great. It was a short drive to the Metro, and a 15-20 minute walk. Not a big deal. There was no traffic in the neighborhood which we found to be refreshing considering the traffic you encounter one mile down the road.

Our fridge was stocked with all the essentials - milk, cream, yogurt, cream cheese, english muffins, coke, orange juice. All fresh! There was oatmeal and cereal on the counter, as well as coffee, sugar, honey, tea, popcorn and fresh fruit. We loved this feature as meals are so pricey in the city.

Our stay was great. We got excellent advice for restaurants and traffic tips, as well as daily fresh towels and our garbage was removed. There was free street parking and the neighbors were friendly. Lara and Alex were excellent hosts and we are so glad we chose their rental.

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

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Helpful votes: 0 / 0

Wost stay ever! Had to leave early!

mercedesj8 (Cary, NC)
Review submitted: March 18, 2013   Date of arrival: February 26, 2013

The Sanctuary is not a 1 bedroom but a small studio in a basement. There is no sound barrier between you and the first floor or smell barrier between you and their kitchen. The house is an extremely old house and every step came along with a loud squeek througout the entire studio. From the sounds of it they did nothing on their second floor.
Cons:
*The toilet was filthy. When you raise the toilet seat there was other people's urine all over the toilet seat. I paid for cleaning but had to buy cleaning supplies to clean up a toilet myself.
*Shower is old, outdated and dirty, had to clean that too, hair in sink and on sheets in the bed.

*Worst of it all the noise, we could not even hear ourselves talk with all the back and fourth upstairs it was ridiculous. I lived in apartment buildings, been to many hotels and never had an issue with this much noise that was constant! The worst part is that Lara was talking loudly on and off all day, and walking back and fourth all day long, along with her 6 month child I am assuming, dog etc. it sounded like grand central station. The second night we had to endure hours of smelling fish from their dinner and noise until midnight. Lara was aware that we had a sick child but the noise went on until midnight. Our daughter, who had an ipad, still could not take the noise. I was hoping we could at least sleep in before we left early the next day and the noise started at 7am. The worst situation for someone trying to enjoy their day and rest.
*There is nothing around there. Some of the locations on the map qiven when we arrived were closed. If you drive just a few blocks out you end up in the ghetto and we were asked for money and harrassed a few times.
*By the way the so called extra items in frig etc. We were excited until we noticed the the jars were half eaten. GROSS!
If you expect to get any form of relaxation don't bother renting here. We were so tired of being disturbed we could not wait to leave.The set up is not appropriate for rental. Perhaps there was less noise before the baby was born but now impossible to enjoy your stay at all. At some point it sounded like there was a ball hitting the floor on and off for hours. I would rather pay more some where else than be miserable. Spare yourself the misery, Sancturay? Not even close.

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Helpful votes: 2 / 4

Great haven in DC

hammerhd (Chicago, IL)
Review submitted: October 25, 2012   Date of arrival: October 23, 2012

Great location for getting out of the hussle and bussle of the main city. Exactly as described. Was a great home base for our visit to DC. Wife even went for a run this morning in the neighborhood! Lara is a great host. Gave us plenty of space, but was right there if we needed her!

Recommended for: sight seeing, tourists without a car, romantic getaway

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Helpful votes: 3 / 4