This is a great family spot. Exactly as advertised, right on the lake with a private dock and swimming space. I especially liked the downstairs recreation area separated from 3 bedrooms, as it was convenient after the kids went to bed
House is large and the set up is great with basement for teens. Kitchen is very poorly equipped without basics like a cutting board and adequate forks. TV in rec room didnât work and local Vacasa staff never came. Tap water is extremely cloudy and we had to purchase drinking water. House needs gutters cleaned and genera maintenance outside. We got rid of a large hornet nest on the side deck. The lot and lake are everything youâd want and you are close to Moneta by boat. This would be a fantastic home if it was better cared for.
The lay out of the house is great, but there were a few things that needs attention. When we got there we found that microwave in the upstairs kitchen did not work at all and the oven did not work properly. We rented a boat and went to tie it to the dock and the cleat almost came off because the wood was rotten. We could not really enjoy the outside area due to being dirty. It will be a great home with some updates done to it.
The house was nice. The biggest issue we had were the bugs. Every day, hundreds of gnat/fly like bugs were dead in the bathrooms (looking for water), spiders were everywhere and the kitchen was infested with ants from the second we walked into the home. We ended up having to keep all of our food in the fridge.
This was a last minute booking. One snafu with Vacasa with them not being able to verify my ID via DL but with a quick phone call that was corrected. The home itself is nice and has plenty of space and amenities. The decibel reader is a little off-putting but I understand with VA laws being the way they are. Overall, it was a nice stay.
The overall stay was great. No major issues. The house is a little dated and seems to have been rented a lot. For example, stains in the tubs from years of use, appliance in main kitchen were a little worn (oven didnât seem calibrated right and fridge/ice maker made lots of noises).
Donât forget to pack toilet paper, trash bags, and paper towels if staying a while. We did 3 nights and one roll per bathroom wasnât enough for 6 adults. The wine glasses had a ton of water spots and just looked to worn to use. The coffee pot is basic and was not clean when we arrived. Speaking of cleaning, it seems as a surface cleaning had been done before we arrived - a long while before we arrived. Would have been nice to have had a sprucing before check in (cobwebs in bathroom) and made us question the type of deep cleaning that occurs between visits (trash under the leather chair, unclean coffee pot).
Warning: The toilets seem wobbly in both guest bathrooms. Very sketchy in the downstairs bath.
We always like to get a house at the lake when we are in town for our annual family reunion. This house is in a great location and has the most amazing area overlooking the lake! We canât wait to come back in the summer when itâs warm enough to swim!!
Pontoon rental, evening board games and restaurant meals....
Great property for three couples and kids. Long walk up and down steps to the dock, but that's typical at SML....Great location, easy to boat to Mango's or drive the car to Food Lion or the coffee shop. If you are a foodie, check out Bull Docks restaurant.
We stayed a full week at this property. The inside was beautiful. It's kept very clean, as they obviously have a cleaning crew to maintain it. There were a few broken bits that come with overuse from strangers, but nothing horrible or that even mattered during our stay. It was spacious and exactly what we hoped for.
The outside? Yikes. The leaves you see covering the deck in the exterior pictures and packed into the roof lines and gutters are apparently part of the decor. We walked up to the porch along two overgrown foot high weed-gardens, and the porch had two mud-bee nests, plus cobwebs and dead bugs everywhere. The gutters are clogged and overhanging with years worth of sticks and leaves. The back deck wasn't worth sitting outside to eat at the table because the ceiling fan was covered in what looked like black mold, soot, or both. The door to the kitchen was covered in scuz. There were more cobwebs with their own cobwebs than a haunted house. Not spiderwebs, which you expect to see outside at a lake house... hanging dark dusty cobwebs caking every bit of the soffit and light fixtures. Every exterior light leading to the dock has been broken off and left to rust in the yard. Overall, this house needs a broom taken to it and power washed to bring it back to life.
This house is beautiful in a beautiful location, it's a shame to see the outside being left to rot.
We have stayed at this house 2 years in a row for our family vacation we love the location and the views the only things we would change is there is always so many spiders and the tvs kept having problems. They did have someone come and fix the ladder that broke fairly quickly which was great because I have two small children that liked jumping into the lake and climbing back up. Overall the trip was amazing there is only a couple things I would of liked changed but I will definitely come back to this beautiful home.
Relaxing week away with a gorgeous view of the lake
The house was roomy with a recent remodel to the inside. There are comfy chairs on the upper porch. The docks and decks had a good deal of splintered wood and protuding nails so we all wore shoes while outside. We really enjoyed our week!
We really enjoyed a long weekend in May at the house. Loved the dock, deck, views. The house was very comfortable and clean. There were a few things at the house that needed a little TLC, but hopefully a little handyman time will take care of these things so the rest of the summer is carefree. Highly recommend bringing some folding chairs for the dock/lower deck bc they are both great places to sit but don't have much furniture.
Nice location on the main channel. It was obvious that this location is "well-used" but we did stay at the very end of the season. Missed having some of the basic kitchen spices but we picked some up at the local grocery. We called about the non-working dishwasher in the upstairs kitchen but never heard back from the owners and it was never addressed while we were there. Had to hand wash dishes. All minor issues that didn't have much impact on our nice stay.
The property was very nice. There could be a bit better lighting throughout. They only had overhead lighting with a mixture of soft white and hard bright white lights. Could use a bit more outdoor furniture but overall was a good property. I would consider staying again in the future should we decide to vacation at Smith Mountain again.
The home was clean and close to the water. The beach area was great for our 20 month old grandson to play in the water. Outside deck area very nice and comfortable. I would take out the door mat on bottom floor deck - there is obviously a critter sleeping on it - as it was covered with fleas and they covered our feet when we stepped on it. We just didn't use that door. Very nice place!
The briarcliff lake house was great! we are real foodies so it could have had more pots/utensils/etc, but sufficient enough to cook everything we wanted. It would have been really great If we could have used the neighborhood association boat launch but I get it!