Paradise Hills, Winery Resort & Spa — Hotel in Hayesville

UPDATE for owner response. I do not appreciate the tone that the owner has responded with, nor do I see how my review is "bullying". I am speaking of my own experience and my impression of my stay. Additionally, I fail to see how a failure to order propane for the unit is a "mechanical issue".

It was my hope that the issues that we had during our stay at Paradise Hills Resort and Winery could be resolved amicably but due to the unprofessional responses that we have received in response to our valid concerns it no longer appears that this will be possible.

My family rented the Serenity cabin for a planned 5 days over the Thanksgiving holiday. When my mother arrived at the cabin on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, she found that the refrigerator was non-functioning. The staff was able to secure an ice-box and ice for use to use in the interim but was unable to send a repairman due to the holiday. At some point during the early morning (roughly 5AM), it began to work again. At no point was a repairman sent out to check the fridge despite that a maintenance light remained on for the duration of our stay, which was reported to the office when we were finally able to reach someone. The freezer remained broken the whole time.

My partner and I arrived the morning of Thanksgiving after having driven eight and a half hours to make the trip from Northern Virginia. Immediately upon arriving, we noted that the toilet in the downstairs bathroom, next to the rooms we were staying, was broken. Using some twine (that we brought with us) and some creative uses of knots, we were able to replace the broken chain in order to have a temporarily functioning toilet. Again, due to the holiday, there was no repairman available, nor were the offices open to report the issue. Still, at this point we were determined to make the best of our trip and settled in for the night. As we were getting ready for bed, while we were at the top of the stairs we noticed the overwhelming smell of gas coming from the downstairs (we were later notified by the propane company that this was due to the propane tank being extremely close to empty). We attempted to ventilate the space as best as we could before going to bed. We awoke at 3AM the following morning due to frigid temperatures downstairs and upon investigation found that we had run out of propane in the middle of the night, meaning that there was now no heat downstairs nor was there a functional stove/oven or fireplace. Again, we attempted to contact the office and were unable to reach someone. Finally, at roughly 10AM we were able to get a response by physically going to the offices. After several hours, it was found that no propane had been ordered for the cabin for the month. The propane company was fortunately able to come out to fill the tank that same day. We then had to wait even longer someone to come out to do all of the pilot lights. When all was said and done, this had taken the entirety of Friday. Had it been earlier in the day, we would have left right then, but as it had begun to get dark we opted to leave as soon as the sun came up the next morning.

At no point, did anyone from the offices come by the cabin, it was us, the people renting supposedly on a vacation, that had to wait around for various repairmen to come fix issues that should have been discovered and resolved prior to our arrival. This isn’t even getting too much into the various amenities that were marketed as available but not actually as described.

Overall, this trip was not a good experience – which is a shame because we had really been hoping for it to be. The cabin itself was lovely and had any of these issues not happened we would have enjoyed our stay. But as it is now, I could not, in good faith, recommend Paradise Hills Resort and Winery to anyone. By the end of our shortened trip, I had no faith that major issues would be resolved in a timely manner and without snark from the people we were paying a not small amount of money to rent from. The place was beautiful but not worth the headache that...

I have stayed at Paradise Hills 3 different times over the past five years. Our first stay was without any issue, we stayed in Owl’s Perch. During our second stay, in Owl’s Perch, we notified the front desk that there were cockroaches in the kitchen. No one came to resolve or even look at the issue and we didn’t make a big deal about it. It wasn’t until our 3rd and most recent (Jan-Feb. 2018) vacation in the Magic Raven cabin that we experienced a terrible stay. Up until this point we had been loyal patrons and would only stay at Paradise Hills every time we traveled from Florida. This time we travelled with our extended family, which included a 3-year-old and a 10-month-old. We reserved Magic Raven and the extra suite below. It was the day after we arrived that we noticed that the heating in the upper cabin didn’t seem to be working and that the lower cabin was too hot. We called the front desk (spoke to Ilke) and they had a serviceman come out that day, he assured us it was fixed as he left. As the temperatures dipped into the 19/20 degree area we found that we were freezing again in the upper cabin, thermostat stayed around 63 degrees during the day and dipping even lower at night. The lower cabin would go as high as 82 degrees while sleeping during the night. While dealing with the broken heating/cooling, we had other issues. During the night in the lower suite, which has a king size bed, my husband repositioned himself and head of the bed dropped to the floor. At 3 a.m. my husband and I removed the king mattress and the 2 box springs to find that the entirety of the bed and ourselves were being supported by three pieces of cheap wood across the head, middle, and foot of the bed. One of the pieces of wood snapped in half and that is why we fell to the floor. My husband had to repair the bed in the middle of the night so that we could continue sleeping. Now having to deal with heating/cooling problems and a broken bed, we notice a puddle of water on the kitchen floor in the lower cabin and realize that it is coming from the ceiling. The hot water in the kitchen of the upper cabin has stopped working and we find out a pipe/valve has broken. First thing the next morning I go to the lobby and speak to the owner Bob to tell him that we are still having a problem with the heating/cooling and to tell him of the bed and water issues. I explain that we have been very understanding and patient with the issues and would like for something to be done to remedy the fact that our cabin stay has been terrible. He assures me that he needs a couple of days to figure something out but that he wants us to leave happy. He also arranges for the heating serviceman and the water serviceman to come out that day. The water is fixed, however the heating guy says that it’s an old system and it’s as good as it’s going to be. We never hear anything from the Bob or his wife for the rest of our stay, not a check in to see if we’re ok, not a clean up of the water leak, not an offer to move us to a different cabin. We continue to be patient and layer up and build fires throughout our stay. 2 days after I spoke to Bob about the problems we are checking out, I ask the front desk if she has heard anything from him about a solution to at least leave on a good note. She hasn’t heard anything. The next day I call the front desk, asking to speak to Bob. The front desk promises that she will have him give me a call. By the next day I still haven’t heard anything, so I send an email detailing all of the problems and asking for a solution. I finally receive an email back offering 25% off our next stay. I go back and forth over a couple of days with both Bob and his wife Ilke about spending nearly $1000 on our cabin stay and feeling like we didn’t get our money’s worth considering all of the issues. Ilke states that the issues were resolved, however a previous email from Bob refutes that claim. Again, they offer 25% off our next stay and say that they are not responsible for any mechanical issues and that they couldn’t have foreseen...

Edit to the owner: I actually tried handling this amicably and you blocked me once I showed proof of your infested cabin and are now accusing me of sending fraudulent images instead of taking any accountability. I wish I had read reviews about this place prior to staying here, your accusations of “bullying” for trying to rectify a situation professionally (to every person who leaves a truthful review, no less) are ridiculous.

My emails have been nothing but courteous and I’ve been met with your lack of professionalism and lack of accountability. Hopefully people don’t make the same mistake we did by staying here, you can tell the type of people you are by your responses to people exercising their right to free speech and truthfulness about your “resort”. There’s no need to doctor the lack of cleanliness here, which clearly is an issue according to several other reviews. I still left a hefty tip for your cleaner even though we did all of the work, so accuse me as you will of the type of person I am.

It is unfortunate I need to even leave this review, but the lack of professionalism from this place has been astounding. First let me address the extreme bug infestation in the Cats Meow cabin. This was never addressed. We ended up having to deal with it on our own. Please be aware that these large insects were coming out of the faucets in the property. However, the issue here is this - I had initial dates booked here that ended up needing to be switched due to my Grandmother unexpectedly passing away. I called into Paradise Hills and the front desk gal adjusted the dates to what I stated, or so I thought, during funeral arrangements I simply did not have time or mental capacity to make sure they did their job correctly. Turns out they charged us for an extra night. The owner has since blocked my emails from coming through trying to get the night refunded, or resolve the disgusting bug/roach problem in the Cats Meow cabin. The lack of unprofessionalism from the owner and refusal to do anything regarding the bugs while on property, then charging an extra night we never asked for, refusing to refund it, then blocking my email to avoid the issue is insane. Steer clear from this place unless you want to be met with rude owners and sleep with roaches that you’ll end up having to pay to kill and clean up yourself. Mind you, I’ve not been rude to Bob, or his staff, I’m simply trying to correct their mistake and never wanted to leave a poor review for the place. I’m simply trying to get refunded for the one night they charged extra for, which is basic customer service for their mistake, especially given the extreme bugs coming out of upper and lower faucets in the property and spewing into the common areas. As you can clearly see by how they respond to negative reviews, I am not surprised he blocked me from paying me what I would consider stolen money, and as you can see how these people treat anyone with a negative review tells you all you need to know. Not once did maintenance come by to deal with the mess of a cabin with a roach infestation (and don’t try to say we didn’t address this like you do to every other patron, I have receipts for EVERYTHING!) including images of your “bug sprayed cabins” (which, you’re welcome for doing that for you Bob)

All you needed to do was the honest thing which was give me my nights money back, that was due to the error of your staff.

Steer clear from this place, and before the owners call “harassment” like they’ve done to everyone else on their reviews, please note I’ve tried handling this amicably and professionally and at some point the owners need to realize they’re the issue. The images attached is only some of the bug problems encountered, which we were willing to let go of however their lack of professionalism and willingness to correct their mistake has given me no other option than to leave...