Little River Bluffs - A Nature Preserve & Retreat — Hotel in Covington

Let me begin this review by saying my husband and I travel 60 to 70 days per year and stay anywhere from high end hotel properties to Yurts you get to by boat in Alaska and everywhere in between. We are super easy and laidback. We never use any of the services such as VRBO/AIR BNB ........ we try and support owner direct bookings. . It is basically a part time job I have reviewing and booking all these trips. As you can see by my profile I very infrequently post reviews. If people are doing it right and live up to all advertised then usually they have plenty of reviews. if they have been doing it less than 5 years I will simply leave them a list of suggestions they could personally do to make the experience better . So Little River Bluffs was vetted in the same way as usual reading reviews bad to good on all 4 major review sites. Looking into it on google maps at every angle. We were attracted by the fact that they call it a Preserve as we are huge naturalists. They use the word in their own terms which is pretty much preserving it for God and we do what we want. Upon arrival we knew they were still rolling the Covid Zero Contact Ball and we were fine with that as we are still masking and being careful. We entered the cottage which we easily found in daylight. If your have a large suv or truck parking will be difficult. The cottage appeared lovely although so dimly lite we could not be sure. There were light switches everywhere but almost all were mood lighting. We dropped our groceries and ventured out to explore the trails and get a lay of the place before dark. We went to see the pond and very sadly found a very deceased turtle in it that had been corralled into a 3 by 3 trap of some fashion. On our exploration we saw a house cat loose outside of a seemly private home? The owners ? Caretaker? We love cats and own two but would NEVER allow them outdoors. Audubon will tell you the average house cat will kill up to 38 song birds a year along with many reptiles ,butterflies etc. We saw one man while exploring and he quickly made sure he did not see us. We went back to settle into our nest. Now when I mentioned I deep dived the place I knew the full story coming in. The ownership change etc. Post Covid has been very interesting so many owners aging out but cannot sell properties in need of repairs. We meet many eager new owners who have no experience in the business who realize quickly how to prioritize or give it up. Now it is getting dark and light is greatly needed and is very limited supply . Lights and swi8tches all over but low watt bulbs. We were excited top find a jug saw puzzle ther. NEVER could you do anything needing real light in the living room after dark. I knew the original owners had been doing it too long when I saw their multi page list of rules ,inventories and threats. I have seen it all and the longer someone does it they often begin to add each incident till you wind up with not one but 2 3 ring binders full of "info" first thing we noticed is that the air conditioning units were filthy and both had the red light change filter so much for Covid practices. Next I got us each so much needed water from the inventoried glasses and my husband almost cut his lip on the broken glass. They talk on their web site about having Young"s Living oil diffusers in the rooms. As an holistic healer this was a nice extra {I do not support Young"s as company they are borderline pyramid} but carry quality oils. When the diffuser is out of water it shuts itself off and they left a little cup to refill it and extra oils . When I opened it I was horrified it was covered in red mold had not been cleaned in forever and was pumping mold into an an already musty riverside cabin . I got us dinner that night and we settled in to review the giant binders. In doing so we find out that you need to text to actually use the pool. I found numbers to text the couple in case of emergency so I texted her and let her know that her turtle was dead and that we had checked in and it "appeared" lovely. Well no response ever at all. Zero communication. We still have no idea whether they actually live on site or just Dave the original owner. They are clearly over it. That night in bed we were both sweaty and uncomfortable despite dirty air conditioner blowing directly onto bed. When we got up we figured it was the cheap latex. mattress topper and wrote it off. went to make breakfast and burned hand on coffee cup. 90 percent of inventoried dishes are not safe for microwave and get extremely hot. Upon inspection almost all are covered in tiny cracks from people putting in micro which hold bacteria. Why have salt and pepper shakers if just empty. Tell us to fill out a lengthy inventory including furniture etc. but obviously you never check as there are no less than five wine openers and lots of art not listed etc. I have stayed in places with compost toilets, I grew up with septic and I have seen every clever style of signs in multiple languages and countries saying PLEASE do not throw....... in our toilet. NEVER have I seen anyone grossly attach it to the actual toilet or bring up contraception for parents to explain that word to their 3rd grader. Washer and dryer are in the bedroom. They leave you one pod to do the laundry for them before you go or get any even higher cleaning fee. But DO NOT strip the beds which I do even in hotels to help the maid. I figured they did not want you to do it to see their older mattresses. Well no it is because they very clearly and grossly not washing their duvet covers. I dropped my pen in bed and went to retrieve it to find this gnawed on dust ruffle . Upon further inspection this gross stuff was all over the duvet cover which we immediately got rid of . In doing this I discovered the sweating is due to the sheets being cheap microfiber from Costco. I mean even IHG has cotton sheets. So you spent alot of cash on 40 cute throw pillows ,branded stickers to put on half used toilet paper ,custom ironwork etc etc etc. But now you need to pay a real cleaner ,buy some real lightbulbs ,get someone else to speak to guests as you obviously burned out on that.. This place has been rode hard and put away wet one too many times. The new owner rationalizes all bad reviews which is the first sign that this business is...

*FROM THE DATE OF THIS REVIEW THE OWNER TOOK HIS WEBSITE DOWN!!! … SO THAT THE PICTURES POSTED, DESCRIPTION OF THIS PLACE AND ALL AMENITIES POSTED THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO ENJOY….The WEBSITE proved everything I stated was true!!!! … so I suppose he is revising it to hopefully tell the truth?!?!? Cynthia's HAIR STUDIO 1/5 14 hours ago on Google This is my review to our stay.. THE WHOLE PLACE NOT KEPT UP!!! DO NOT GO THERE!!..TAKE MY ADVISE OR FEEL THE DISAPPOINTMENT WE FELT !!!! **And to the owner who will read this and say why didn’t we bring these issues up because that is his reply tactic to all the bad reviews, WELL WE DID!! There are so many reasons not to go there!!! NEW OWNERS who obviously needs assistance in running a campground !!…total false information on the website and obviously very old pictures of the location and most of the pictures were of family members or the housekeeping crew or the man who owns the pool….3 different places stated on website to swim on the premises… well not true .. has NO POOL so we had to contact a neighbor on property, told to us by owners cousin, in order to be able to swim which included time slots NO DIVING AND NO SPLASHING OR CANNONBALLS …pond had scummy and stagnant water…so obviously for our health and safety NO SWIMMING and NO FISH!!! the RIVER that was also included on the property for us to kayak in had trees down BOTH UP AND DOWNSTREAM that have been down for a long time so that PREVENTED ANYONE from using the river for kayaking and NO FISHING!!! not to mention that the steps and platform that was our access to the river to fish or for kayaking was covered with 4-5” of mud and sticks……MY SON AND GRANDAUGHTER slipped and fell…. Hot tub did NOT WORK but only fit 2 people anyway!!!! $75 CLEAN UP FEE 😂 BUT ALSO MANDATORY that we were to clean cabin according to this list that was posted in a booklet and if not done properly we would be charged EXTRA CLEAN UP FEES !!! ..included towels washed, dishes cleaned, all trash brought to front about 200 yards walking distance 1 way, a check list of items which included the small window unit that had to be checked off to make sure we did not take anything!! They warned us that a video was taken of the inside prior to us arriving and we noticed several items were missing from their inventory check off list when we arrived which also included a beat up trash can, a broken chair, a stopped up sink in the bathroom(which we were told “just use another one until tomorrow”😞), a gas stove that did not work properly, no oven, cabin could not properly cool and very musky and mildew smell, and little red roaches…suppose to have 3 beautiful hiking and bike trails 😂… FOUND 1 and noticeably not kept up so we could not do that one…. The barbecue pit that was part of our accommodations had some gruesome stuff of a color that was very weird!!🤔…LOBBY(gathering room) always locked up!…WIFI NEVER WORKED!!! THIS BUSINESS SHOULD HAVE BEEN LISTED AS ….ROUGHING IT CAMPSITE WITH NO Amenities for $19.99 !!!! ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK ⚠️ Very upset and disappointed customer 😞🤬👎🏼 Trip typeVacation ·...

Walking into this property was magical. The electric fireplaces were on, the TV was on and playing Christmas music, the dining room Christmas tree was lit up, and the view through the big windows to the outside was stunning. The pictures do not do this place justice as it is definitely nicer inside than pictured. ||||Downstairs boasts a bunkroom that is perfect for the kids. There is a nice dining area, a beautiful remodeled kitchen area and a large living area with beautiful large windows. Downstairs also has the full bath area which has a tub and a shower. ||Upstairs has a loft king bedroom with a mini electric fireplace, and also across the walkway is another two twin beds with a scenic view to outside and the living area below. There is also a half bath upstairs which is convenient for those middle of the night trips to the bathroom. ||||The town of Covington and Folsom is just a short drive away. We chose to go into Folsom and eat at Gus's which has some of the best down home cooking that we have eaten. There is also Tessier Gourmet foods next door to the restaurant which has many fully prepped take out dishes that you can prepare at home. ||||Last but not least, the owners were very friendly and accommodating. We did not need anything during our stay but we did call when we left a little earlier than check out, so that housekeeping could come in. ||||I would highly recommend a stay at Little River Bluffs. We absolutely loved the River Chalet Cabin...