River Lodge Log Cabins

I want to start by saying this cabin is fine. It’s not horrible, but it’s also not great. My husband and I were looking for a weekend away from home where we could relax, unplug from technology and still be able to have our dogs with us. We came across River Lodge Log Cabins on a site that said it was pet friendly, was budget friendly and did not include Wifi (just what we wanted). The cabin was fairly secluded with a pretty view. It was on a property with another cabin where they’ve taken the time to create a barrier between neighbors. The cabin overlooks the French Broad River on the outskirts of Hot Springs, NC, a cute little mountain town. We wanted to take a day to visit the Biltmore and this cabin was located conveniently enough for a short 45 minute drive to Asheville, but still didn’t have a touristy feel. I would not say that my husband and I had any complaints, per se, but there are definitely things about this rental that were strange to us or things that the owners could do that would go a long way to adding comfort to the experience.
In terms of comfort, below is a list of things we found to be lacking
–no remote for DVD/​VHS player. Remote control provided was «universal», but had not been programmed to control DVD player so if we needed to navigate a menu or pause a movie, we had to jump up to do so –not a huge deal, but definitely an easy fix to create a more comfortable experience
–no central heat/​air. Heat was provided exclusively by a gas fireplace which either got too hot or didn’t provide enough heat. Instructions for system were handwritten and vague with some instructions crossed out. Very confusing. Type instructions for clarity.
–instructions for check out were odd. We were expected to clean all dishes and sweep the floor which is no big deal, but made us question the cleanliness of the place. Did the owners clean since the last guest? We were instructed to leave all linens on the bathroom floor to be washed, but not the quilt on the bed. Does that mean that the quilt was not washed before we arrived? We were also expected to take out the trash before we left. Cleaning our own dishes and running a broom over the floor is okay (especially since we have dogs), but we didn’t really feel much like guests on a getaway when we were expected to do all the chores before vacating
–there were a few things we felt were half measures on the owners parts. For example, no coffee on site. We expected maybe a days worth of single serve coffee, just a little token as guests, but there wasn’t anything. There were also only two toilet papers rolls. We stayed 4 days and it ended up being fine, but had we run out of toilet paper, we didn’t have access to more on site, we would have had to go get our own.
Overall, seclusion is great, but a few modern amenities or tokens of appreciation for our stay might have gone a long way.
Customer Service-​just a few things here:
–when I called to inquire about the cabins, the lady was a little short and answered the phone with a stern hello, which I thought was odd given that potential customers call that line.
–we had zero interaction with the owners upon arrival or checkout. We’re happy we weren’t bothered while there, but a quick email check in asking if all is well and/​or to make sure we found everything okay would have been welcomed.
Overall, it was fine. I probably won’t go out of my way to recommend it and if we stay in the area again, we will likely go another direction than to stay at this cabin.