Home in the Berkshires

The house was perfect for our needs— graduation weekend at Williams College. Plenty of room for everyone and about 15 minutes away. Only recommendation is that many rooms were dimly lit (no lighting in front room with puzzles/ games?) and some existing lamps either didn’t work or the outlet they were plugged into didn’t function. Not a big issue but odd and made reading in the evening challenging.

Very pleasant and convenient location for our visit to Williams college.

This home was in a perfect location. In the middle of the mountains and great trailheads nearby. The home was great and the hosts were very easy to work with about the place. Di, Jon Marc and Tuscany (our pup) too!

We had an extremely negative experience with Elena den Dooven, the house owner. While our initial interactions with Elena were pleasant, we feel she acted in bad faith once we had a problem due to a covid crisis in our family. First our grandson came down with covid and then our adult son came down with covid and was very sick for more than a week. We had been planning for a long family weekend with the grandchildren in the Berkshires but covid was now preventing that. When the covid crisis hit our family, we immediately wrote to Elena, as the VRBO website suggested, and asked about our options. We then wrote the next day to inquire about cancellation or rescheduling. We were still within the cancellation period and thought Elena would be agreeable to allowing us to reschedule (which would have enabled her to keep the full rental payment). We did not hear back from Elena until the following morning, just after the cancellation period expired. We would have been satisfied with merely rescheduling the family trip, but Elena wrote to us informing us that covid has a 5 day quarantine period (which was wrong in this case) and she suggested that she did not believe us. Elena remained inflexible, she wanted her money and would not permit us to reschedule; she also mentioned bringing a lawyer in to discuss. The VRBO policy states that “hosts determine the cancellation and refund policies” and that “if you want to make changes outside the cancellation policy window, contact the host”. We were within the cancellation policy window when we reached out to her and we were hopeful we could work things out with her. This covid crisis in our family, understandably, was completely unexpected and we feel that she acted in bad faith, letting the clock run on the cancellation period and then not giving us any flexibility. As a result, we lost 100% of the rental fee (which was quite expensive being over $2,000) with no option to reschedule. Please be aware of this. It is not what we expected of VRBO hosts with such a high rating. We will never work with her again as she has not shown either good faith or compassion, only greed.

The home was clean, spacious, and cozy. The owners were super communicative if/when we reached out. The checkin and checkout were well communicated and easy. Kitchen and bathrooms were well stocked. And it was 5 minutes to Jiminy Peak, which was an added bonus. We would definitely stay here again. Thanks Ed and Elena!

The house is very clean and spacious enough for our big family. It was a convenient drive to Jiminy, which made it easy enough for us to ski with a baby at the house. Elena was very responsive and helpful throughout our stay.

We had a great time. Everything was clean. The check in process was easy. The hosts are friendly and warm.

We really enjoyed the house. The location was great, and it was a cozy and warm way to spend a few days in December. The trampoline was a big hit with the kids.

We needed a break so we booked this house to work remotely. My wife and I both spent two weeks working in Zoom meetings with no issues. Place is remote while being a short drive from Jiminy (which we frequented for Coffee and breakfast sandwiches). Great place.

I can't say enough good things about our stay at Ed and Elena's house. The house is well kept, clean and has enough space for 2 small families to enjoy. Our kids (7,7, and 9) had the best time playing on the property (especially the trampoline and tree house) and the adults had plenty of time to relax by the fire. Of course there is plenty to do in the area as well. I will highly recommend this property to anyone looking to stay in the area and hope to come back and see some snow!

Had a very enjoyable stay. The home is very comfortable and spacious, and also has a bit of a rustic feel to it that fits well with the area and the outdoor features of the property. Communication with the hosts was excellent, very prompt, gracious and polite.

This property had everything that we needed! We loved sitting by the fire pit at night. The kitchen was well equipped and a perfect layout for socializing. There was a little market/gas station/package store less than ten minutes away that had everything we needed and more. The owners were quick to reply to any questions we had and offered recommendations when asked. This house would also be perfect if we chose to bring our kids (maybe next time lol). We would definitely book here again.