Rita’s Retreat Main House ~ Indoor Saltwater Pool ~ with Lake View!

Bottom line: this is a fun place to stay, and I think you will enjoy yourself if you stay here. House needs (and deserves) some TLC. The house could comfortably accommodate 8 guests, and maybe 2-4 more. We were not really familiar with Rita McNeil prior to our visit, but if you are, this place will be a thrill for you (it's her former home). The indoor pool is a lot of fun, and the backyard is vast and very nice. Its a quick drive to Sydney. The property is large but not isolated. It even has a piano. So I give this place 3 stars instead of 4 because 1: the owners were almost impossible to reach. I sent them 4 separate messages on VRBO and even a direct email to the address on their website just to confirm that they had our booking. I asked for advice on local activities and got a five-word response about kayak rentals. I didn't see the check-in instructions until the day before. 2: The bedrooms and bathrooms are nice, but much of the furniture in the house is dated and in rough shape. A lot of the trim pieces around the pool are missing or damaged. Swing by the waterfront needs to be fixed. 3: The kitchen needs a good cleaning with scratch pads. cabinet handles are gummy. It has plenty of pots and pans and utensils, but most of these were in bad shape. Appliances are dated. Outdoors, we saw cigarette butts between the deck boards and in the yard. I'd say this house could easily be a 5-star destination with a little work and investment.

We celebrated my parents 70th anniversary at Rita's. We had the entire place. This is a very large property and it was perfect for our event. Very clean and well equipped. Mike the maintenance man stopped by to ensure all was good and said to call at any time if we needed anything. The pool was amazing and was loved by all from my 8 month old great grandson to my 89 year old mom. The young adults loved all the room for lawn games and the fire pit at night. Everyone is already talking about the next time. Im aware that this is an investment property and it was heart breaking to see this grand house needing some updating. I truly hope the owners will invest in this property to maintain what they bought. It would be such a loss to continue to let it slide.

:)