Technically, the cabin itself is as shown in the photos. It was clean upon arrival with relatively easy access to Maggie & Waynesville. Internet works, water pressure is passable if not exactly invigorating, etc.
The first negative impression that greets you is the *undisclosed* Ring camera...despite Vacasa/VRBO policy requiring cameras to be disclosed in a property description. It's just a little creepy because it's located such that it would be able hear conversations from the screened in porch if activated, but the guests would have no way of knowing the camera was active since you can't see the indicator from there. In the search that lead me to Charlotte's Cabin, we actively ignored properties that had cameras so would obviously have skipped this one had we known.
The outside photos and lake view are clearly old and taken in winter. Current summer reality is a view of nothing but leaves and trees. I'm not even sure you could see sky directly over the cabin. Which, I think, contributes considerably to the relative humidity in the cabin always being around 70%, no matter how long the A/C runs (more on that later). In turn, the cabin smells incredibly musty. A little pruning would not only improve the "feel" of the place, but probably reduce maintenance costs for the exterior as well.
The word that comes to mind most is "user unfriendly". Like I said in the beginning, it's technically not bad, but the place just ends up being a little disappointing overall.
For example, the security code for the door appears to be someone's full 10 digit phone number. So, you have to remember a full 10 digit number that has no meaning to you rather than the owner/management resetting the number to some portion of the guest's phone number, which both increases the property's security by constantly changing and is more convenient for the guest. But, to add insult to injury, they've disabled the lock's manual throw so the code has to be entered *every* *single* *time* you enter...hope you didn't bring a lot of luggage or groceries.
Same with the WiFi password. Instead of something resembling real words, it's clearly been created by a password generator...long, random combination of symbols, numbers, and infrequently used letters.
Then there's the HVAC I mentioned earlier. I actually resorted to downloading the manuals for the mini split and the 3rd party thermostat to see if I was doing something wrong. Nope, it just wasn't behaving as one would expect. Once it starts cooling, the system just runs nonstop until you manually turn it off...woke up with the room temp at 62 with a set point of 70. As a matter of fact, once it started cooling, it kept cooling even if you raised the set point above the current room temp.
The TV is literally just a big monitor on the wall. If you don't have one or more streaming service accounts with apps in the Samsung OS, you're limited to Samsung's version of PlutoTV. Even with Netflix/Prime/HBO/etc., it's nice to be able to view local programming (news/weather/info) while you're visiting. Even if the owner can't justify a basic TV package to go along with the internet and Ring subscriptions, TVFool predicts the location should be able to get a number of OTA channels for the one time cost of installing an antenna.
Even the linens make you say "why"? They were clean, fluffy, relatively new...nothing wrong with quality. But, there were exactly 4 towels/wash cloths/hand towels to match the limit of 4 guests, I guess. Not really a problem for us as a couple, but could be with a larger party. As it is, the SO has lots of hair so the hair needs its own towel and the body gets another one. Add in the high humidity that never lets the towels get completely dry after use. Same with bed linens...if there were backups in case of an accident of some sort, I didn't find them. ...