Stay Local Nashville Vacation Rentals — Local services in Nashville-Davidson

Short Summary - Overall, the house design was beautiful; however, I do not foresee my family booking home listed by a property management group for quite some time or at all. Their staff members Allison and Cherie were beyond amazing, but unfortunately, management was late to the game. For more details, read below.

Our family opted to book the cute Aloha Nashville property hosted by StayLocal. Shortly after arrival, my family noticed a few issues one of the keyless entries codes was invalid from the information provided on the detailed e-mail sent out; the Wifi was not working, and the house had no heat.

A quick call to the StayLocal number and the keyless entry issue was resolved. Allison stayed on the phone with me for 2 1/2 hours or more troubleshooting the Wifi issues and attempting to problem solve why the heating unit was not kicking on. The heat was essential since our visit was in the middle of winter, with the overnight temperatures dropping from 41 to 34 degrees. The heat was also a necessity since we had a five-year-old on our trip. After multiple attempts to solve the problem with Allison over the phone, it was determined a maintenance specialist would be sent out the following day.

As there was still no heat the following morning/afternoon, I had requested extra blankets (there was only one extra blanket in the house) or space heaters while we waited for the heating repairman. Our request was sent to management for review. My family ended up leaving the townhouse to find warmth. We received a call back stating the space heaters were a no go by management as they were a fire hazard. We understood that, however, management did not send out the extra blankets. The only solution provided was for our family to be rehoused if and only if the repairman could not fix the heat. As we passed the 24-hour mark of our stay, issues still unresolved, and with the sunset gone, I placed a call to Airbnb (as we booked with StayLocal through Airbnb).

Our Airbnb case specialist quickly provided our family with lots of options and contacted our Host to advocate for our family. Around 7 to 7:30 pm, the repairman arrived, Hallelujah, the heat was working. It turns out the heat line from the outside the townhouse had never been switched on. So every time the heater would kick on, it would kick off immediately going into safety mode. With the heat fixed, our family was able to return to the townhouse for the duration of our stay. The Wifi issues were unable to be resolved during our 4-night stay.

On our third day, Stay Local management reached out via phone call. She made me aware she knew all the details of our first two days in the house. She apologized for all the mishaps, sent cookies to the house, and reimbursed a portion of our stay. I thank her for the above, but also I inquired why her only solution was to rehouse our family. I explained that as a manager myself, it's my job to find solutions to meet the customer's needs (blankets... etc.) until the more significant issue could be resolved. There should be several simple and straightforward ways to meet the needs and keep the guest comfortable while they wait. Staff members only have so much authority the final say comes down to management. I explained to her as a property management group; We expected more from management. Not just after.

I made sure she understood Allison was an excellent staff member. She was calm, cool, collected over the several hours we attempted to problem-solve together over the phone together as well as the following day. Allison has exceptional customer skills!

My advice to everyone.. book with actual homeowners. Remove the middle man. I've only 100% positive stays with homeowners who are...

Safety and cleanliness, as well as bizarre check-in instructions made this stay a complete NIGHTMARE! Not to mention, the out-of-pocket money for being STRANDED! First, you're asked to not come early & await in your vehicle as you "might make the cleaners uncomfortable"....well there were 0 cleaners upon arrival, to add this property has an interesting private fence that no one could see you from anyway nor any windows in view of the parking area... Our check in was for 4 (very late check in) & our concert was at 5. We reached out to see if we could possibly check in sooner do to the timing of everything. An "inspector" person came around 3:40, carrying what looked like an ammonia/bleach bottle, still not sure what that was for. She came out after 5 min of being in place to say we could go in. We rushed to get ready & during that time, the door lock kept locking/unlocking on it's own. So note, they have access to lock/unlock your door on you at anytime Fast forward, around 9 in the evening while still at the concert, I checked my phone to make sure I had received the "door code" I was told I'd get at 4 or after. Well...sure as heck, I didn't. I messaged the person in contact with me earlier that day & about 20 min later they text a code. Well us ladies ventured to downtown Broadway after the show & THANK GOODNESS we stayed responsible..... Our Uber dropped us off shortly after 2am..NOTE there is no clear cut way to have an Uber pick you up in the creepy alley that is the only option to get to this property. The uber resorts to the front of the home around the block AND the bizarre instructions are strict about not bothering that home that the rental sits on. Like whatever you do, do not park-walk on the grass-knock on the door- ANYTHING. So here we are at 2 am, excited to go to bed and fulfil our next day of our mini-vacation…OUR DOOR CODE DOESN’T WORK! We tried everything, and EVERY way possible to reach out to the only emergency number provided. We were stuck OUTSIDE, no phone charger, no car keys, no anything especially a weapon. Perfect targets for goodness knows what, all behind a fence in a pitch black alley. We didn’t have our car keys as we had to pack light for the concert & our purses didn’t meet the size requirements. The depth of fear and frustration killed this trip. We had to RELOCATE at nearly 3 am, more money in an Uber, more money to relocate, had 0 of our belongings, it was a PURE nightmare all while hoping nothing was on the other side of the fence waiting for us. Had to walk a block in the DARK just to get another Uber. We didn’t get in contact with anyone until NEARLY 10 am the next day!!!! The ONLY reason we did is because we went to the place of business and we begged a contractor to get us in touch with someone. Memorial weekend..a VERY expensive weekend as is, having to relocate is INSANE when you invested so much trust and excitement into this trip, let alone money. The short generic apology was so sorry, there was a lock glitch……… I had asked them to call me and they never did after texting they would!! They then gave 3 CODES hoping one would work for us… why 3???! As we made our way back, we finally go back in and there were two cockroaches waiting for us. We were completely done at that point. THEY ALSO TRIED TO GET ME TO SIGN A "CONTRACT" TO GET MY REFUND IF I SIGNED THAT I WOULDN'T LEAVE A BAD REVIEW! -HA Mind blowing how they cover up their...

The Good , the bad, and the ugly

The Good The house is beautiful with a fully stocked kitchen. There is plenty of room in the living space for a large group. There are three large comfortable beds in the three separate bedrooms and a futon. (This place was supposed to sleep 10.) The neighborhood seemed very safe as there were lots of people out enjoying the beautiful Nashville Spring days. There is ample parking for two cars. The master bathroom had a luxurious shower with a rain shower head system.

The Bad The communication with Stay Local Nashville did not meet expectations. I booked this property from VRBO eight months in advance for a party of ten. We were coming to Nashville for a Stunt Tournament at one of the local universities so I booked super early knowing that the basketball tournament was also going on at the same time. Three weeks prior to our trip I messaged Stay Local Nashville just to make sure our reservation was still available and to find out what to expect when we arrived. They said everything was good to go and they would send an email with the address and lock code three days prior to our arrival, which they did. They sent an online guest book which outlined everything we needed to to know about accessing the property and the included amenities. Those amenities included a grill on a patio, six tvs which were in both living areas and all bedrooms. Upon arrival we began looking for the grill and getting acclimated with property. We were unable to find the grill and the sixth tv. When I made the reservation we were getting a four bedroom house. Come to find out after contacting Stay Local Nashville the grill and additional bedroom was not available. Remind you that three days prior they told me it was. Come to find out the owner stays in the basement of the home which is where the access to the additional bedroom and grill were located. I would not have been as upset with this information if they would have communicated it clearly. Communication is key!

The Ugly Their guest book listed multiple times about how much time is spent on cleaning the home. This also did not meet expectations. There was a dirty sock, which was not ours, under the chaise lounge in the living room. The living room floor had not been mopped under the very easily moved chair which blocked the basement door. There was also cobwebs around the skylights in the master bedroom. The smoke alarm test at midnight was also a nice touch.

In closing I would stay at this property again because the house and neighborhood was so nice but I would have to think twice about booking a property managed by Stay Local Nashville as I feel I was lied to about what was actually available for this property. They need...