We love Smith Mountain Lake. This house was a little quirky but comfortable and perfect for our stay. The beach was a real plus for our two-year-old granddaughter.
Stayed here the week of July 4th. Rented a pontoon boat for 4 of the days. I was really excited about spending the week here with my family. Overall we had a great week, but the house was just "okay". The layout is great, the space is really nice. The view is AMAZING! I think the pictures give a fair representation, but it seems obvious this is not a home frequented by its owners. The upkeep strikes me as superficial.
The bar downstairs is NOT a wet bar. It serves to store games and stuff. There is no running water to the sink at the "wet bar" and there is not even a refrigerator downstairs in the game room / "wet bar".
The kitchen was adequately stocked. Nothing special.
Charging for a linen service seems ridiculous for a home I am paying nearly 7k for a week.
I do not expect the owners to rid the property of spiders. Some attempt clearing the ridiculous amount of webs at the beginning of each week would go a long way. The outdoor patio tables and chairs were covered in webs making the cleaning of each chair we wanted to sit in a nuisance.
The bare minimum of "water toys" was disappointing. The kayaks are present and functional. BUT there are no lifejackets, so unless you bring your own, you can't really use them.
The unattached cabin is not inhabitable except as a place to sleep. The AC only functions to cool the bedroom. It was literally 87 degrees during there during the daytime. It is very rustic and only served as an extra refrigerator and an extra bedroom.
The view from the house is truly amazing. The sunsets with the mountains and the water were awesome from the hot tub. The kitchen was fully stocked and I did a lot of cooking and baking. 1 criticism was that there was only 1 place to watch tv and it was in the basement tucked away from the beautiful views. We have three children and getting them to all decide on one thing to watch in the evening made it difficult. The master bedroom is also dated. Thereâs a large hot tub/Jacuzzi in the middle of the room surrounded by mirrors. The cabin on the property is absolutely adorable. My 15 year old daughter claimed that as her own and felt quite special to have her own space. The other thing worth mentioning is the linen service. You are required to make all your beds and then strip them prior to leaving. This isnât that big a deal, but given the cleaning fee associated, it was more of a hassle than I wanted to deal with on vacation. They were also very strict rules about garbage and trash removal . The checkout process seemed very stressful like we werenât doing everything we were supposed to, and it truly ruined the last day of vacation. I do not believe I would rent this house again for the above reasons.