Escape To Blue Ridge — Local services in Murphy

We rented Eagle's Landing for a 60th birthday party, Sept 7-9, 2018, for 7 couples. The home is a spacious 7-bedroom room, but only partially lived up to the online information provided by ETBR. I don't want to take away from "the breathtaking beauty of natural surroundings and the serenity of a lodge" which is absolutely true, but there were several items that I expect from a home that includes "The epitome of rustic elegance" in the description.

The furniture in the first-floor loft was literally shredding leather and looked nasty. Also, with the beautiful 18+ foot-A-frame first floor ceiling and windows, there was no way to cool off the loft area, so it was basically useless. (There is plenty of room without the loft, but the worn furniture bothered me.)....because the first floor couch/sectional was also on the worn side and I expected "elegance". (The beds however were very comfortable)

"The cabin is equipped with high speed wireless Internet, several large flat screen TVs including one in the game room, where you can play billiards, shuffleboard, chess or use the karaoke machine to sing your favorite songs." The game room was also equipped with a non-functioning dart board and no darts, an unusable ice maker, an out of service refrigerator and we never found the karaoke machine.

"The two-story dock has furniture enough to accommodate 16." "2 story dock on lake with chaise lounges, chairs and ottomans, and bar stools, picnic table seats 6". The furniture on the 2nd floor of the dock included 8 torn and completely unusable chaise lounges, lots of mold and dead plants. It looks pretty in the picture but is not what you get. We took pictures and reported the issue to ETBR (so we would not be charged) and were told that new furniture had been ordered. I did not book a cabin with seating on the two-story dock for 16 and expect it to be unusable, and NOT CLEAN. There was serious mold on the 2nd floor that nobody had bothered to take care of for months!!!

Other issues - "Game Room...3 leather recliners" there are only 2 "hot tub seats 6" - right on the hot tub it says MAX capacity is 4. It is extremely small for a house of that size! "Kitchen" - matched the description but lacked in large severing pieces for a large crowd "Family Room - leather sectional sofa, leather ottoman, chair and ottoman" - NOPE - not in the family room - sectional yes, leather no "Loft - 33” flat screen TV, seating area with leather furniture" - NOPE - no flat screen TV in the loft, and the beat-up leather furniture mentioned earlier "Driveway - paved driveway, ample parking" - The driveway is paved, the parking area is not. We had 8 vehicles and were crammed in. It's a tight parking area. You don't want to try to go in and out very much with very many cars or you'll spend all your time playing car roulette.

Other issues....upon arriving we inspected the cabin before our guests arrived. Several lamps had no light bulbs and cracked shades, several window shades were broken and did not go up and down smoothly, TV remote controls had no batteries, used bandaid found in a closet, cob webs had to be broken down on all outside furniture, some doorways and path to the dock.

We called about two weeks before arriving to verify the refrigerator situation. We were told by the ETBR Rep that yes there were two refrigerators. We were NOT TOLD was that one was a small bar size fridge, not a full refrigerator.

We were told by the ETBR Rep that there is a Fire Pit. There is a large round stone pit, with minimal seating space stuck on the side of the house and pretty much unusable.

There are several touches of elegance in the wood furniture and accents, but there are things that need attention.

Eagle's Landing definitely has the potential to be "The epitome of rustic elegance", and perhaps at another time did, but TODAY it needs some attention to detail and updating. I hope it gets the improvements it needs to be a truly elegant vacation rental home, because it is in a fantastic location on the lake, and has...

January 16th, 2025 Weekend Trip:

Feel free to locate my detailed review on their Facebook page that isn't limited to a word limit.

My experience with Escape to Blue Ridge (ETB) during a recent trip to the Blue Ridge area was incredibly disappointing and frustrating. After being excited to return to a cabin we’ve enjoyed before, we found ourselves in a series of mishaps that were poorly handled by ETB.

Who knew Blue Ridge was still frozen over and had a significant amount of snow remaining from the storm on January 10th? I can tell you who did—Escape to Blue Ridge property management! They admitted their mistake and acknowledged that they missed reaching out within the 6-day window before our arrival, which left us completely unprepared. One of our guest drove from north FL that morning. The road to "The Hideaway" was blocked by an F-250 that had slid off the road, and the icy conditions made it impossible to drive up the ½-mile incline to the cabin. When I called the office, they were surprised that we hadn’t been informed about the accessibility conditions before arriving. They quickly tried to find us an alternative property.

After some time, they referred us to Colby's Cabin, but it was also unreachable due to the same icy conditions. They then sent a maintenance technician to clear the driveway, but with limited daylight, it became clear we wouldn’t be able to access the property. They suggested a third property, 357 Highland Circle, which we could access. However, upon arrival, we found the heat was broken, and the fireplace was decommissioned (pics). The thermostat read a chilly 49 degrees, set on 68 and in heat mode. I thought for sure we were being pranked at this point.

At this point, we were frustrated and called again. They suggested a fourth property, Serenity in Morgantown, 35 minutes away, but when we arrived the road leading to the house was also frozen solid for over a quarter mile. After another call to ETB, they casually informed us there were no other properties available and promised a refund. By this time, after hours of driving and coordinating, we were left stranded in the woods with no alternatives and no attempt from ETB to offer additional assistance. The staff simply apologized and closed the case.I We watched the sunset in the middle of EBFE.

What frustrated me most was how the situation was handled at the end. Despite spending thousands of dollars over the years with ETB, they showed no empathy or willingness to resolve the situation. I was dismissed with a quick apology, no offers to help with accommodations or finding another property. It was a glaring example of poor hospitality.

I’ve been trying to get in touch with the General Manager or managing partner since January 16th, when the issues began. I reached out via multiple communication channels, including VRBO, phone, and social media. After several follow-up attempts, I received a response from a marketing associate on Facebook Messenger, who assured me the information would be passed along to Heather. Despite this, I received no follow-up until January 30th, when I was contacted by Leanne, who informed me that Heather had been trying to contact me without success. I call her bluff. I found this hard to believe, as I had confirmed all my contact information. Leanne later told me that Heather would be back from vacation on February 3rd and would give me a call.

As of today, February 6th, I am still awaiting any response from ETB, over 21 days after the initial fubar!

This experience has left a bad taste in my mouth. The time, effort, and money invested in this trip were not only wasted, but the poor communication and lack of resolution made the whole ordeal even worse. Given the nature of this trip and the way I was treated as a loyal customer, I cannot recommend Escape to Blue Ridge to others. I will certainly defer any future rentals managed by them, as I feel the company failed in multiple areas. Their handling of this situation was wrong on so many levels, and I’m deeply dissatisfied with...

DO NOT BOOK CABINS with ESCAPE TO BLUE RIDGE. Misrepresentation & NOT COVID-19 sanitary. Their "Commitment to Cleaning Standards" as stated on their website in our experience is misleading as our luxury Cloud Top cabin was NOT cleaned properly. BUGS/dirt, leaking refrigerator, hair in bathroom sink, dirty bathroom mirror, clogged shower drain...just to name a few!!!

We booked a last-minute cabin in Georgia through EscapetoBlueRidge.com and advised them we'd be arriving in a 35-ft motor home. We had several conversations with Escape to Blue Ridge prior to booking about whether this property is motor home accessible (for our size RV). They assured us numerous times YES...the Cloud Top cabin is motor home accessible and we'd have no issues getting in/out driveway with our 35-foot RV. Since our cabin was on a mountain/incline, we were very specific about maneuverability and safety. Our rep, Megan, investigated the matter on our behalf and told us verbatim that we would absolutely have no problems. Upon arrival, we found ourselves having to drive up a narrow, windy road with low-hanging trees into our cabin's driveway, with NO WAY to turn around. Megan suggested we turn around at the dead-end street, which happened to be a neighbor's property (and the neighbor came running over, screaming at us for trespassing, and prohibiting us from further access). The cabin's driveway was about a 45-degree angle to turn around which no RV (in any way, shape or form) would be able to navigate without falling off a cliff. We were stuck and encountered HORRIBLE customer service, delayed response time (2 days), and rude/argumentative replies. We could not leave the property for the first 2 days. Keep in mind, their Cloud Top cabin is considered luxury as we paid almost $600 night total. To top it off, no Uber drivers could locate our cabin because the cabin's address didn't show up on Google Maps (and again, calls/emails to Escape to Blue Ridge regarding this went unanswered). We tried to rent a vehicle and Enterprise also couldn't find cabin location, so we asked Escape to Blue Ridge again for more address details (map coordinates) but no answer.

The worse part was our cabin (Cloud Top cabin) was dirty upon arrival (hair around sinks, bugs/dirt, shower did not drain/clogged, refrigerator leaked water, leather sofa had tacky permanent marker to hide scratches, moldy shower curtain, etc). During this pandemic, it is especially important to know proper cleaning procedures are undertaken and clearly this company does not take it seriously. TOTALLY UNSANITARY!!! Our cleanliness issue was never addressed either. NOT A WORD!! Instead, we were met with staff that had an attitude and talked over us (eventually leading us to hang up on them). Lisa from their office eventually called on the 2nd day and said if we wanted to depart, they would refund our remaining night (clearly our frustration was that WE COULDN'T TURN AROUND/MOVE THE RV)!! Finally, on our last day, the owner Doug Miracle suggested we TOW our RV off the property to ensure we checked out & the next renters could check-in. All other requests for them to call us back went unanswered, as well as any/all correspondence once we returned home.

So BEWARE booking with Escape to Blue Ridge. Their extra fees are also outrageous - they charge an initial cleaning fee of $288 and there is a "guest service fee" of $28 per person/per day. The added stress of their horrible customer service really ruined our vacation and I suggest you DO NOT book cabin rentals with Escape to Blue Ridge as there are many other reputable companies. We have never had such rude service and received such a lack of customer support. In their rush to fill one of their last-minute cancellations (we booked within a few days of arrival), they misled and provided misinformation on their cabin. BEWARE, especially if you are extra concerned about cleaning procedures due to...