I stay at a lot of places usually with the other booking website and thought I'd give a VRBO a chance. I was a bit scared after reading some recent reviews. It looks like they're trying to improve, but some things still need to be fixed/cleaned.
This property isn't in as bad a location as described in some reviews, though the road is a bit bumpy on the way up. It's the mountains, though, and that's pretty common. You're also very close to downtown Bryson City, so that's a bonus.
The house was fine, though the internet was fairly nonexistent. I mean, there's a router and everything but it's there for decoration mainly. We've stayed in more secluded places in the area and had perfect internet, so I think something is up either with the router or the neighborhood needs some infrastructure love. Luckily, we've encountered this problem before in Western NC and used personal hotspots on our phones.
The hot tub had a funky smell so we opted not to get in. I'm not sure if the cover needs to be replaced or if the tub just needs to be deep cleaned.
The rental company called me the day before checkout to see if everything was okay, which was nice. I told them about the hot tub and they apologized. I do think things like that + the lacking internet are a big dealbreaker when dropping $ on a place in the mountains, especially if you try to get work done in the mornings before little ones wake up/after they go to bed.
The house was pretty quiet and our daughter enjoyed the cats who visited. The rooms were spaced out and it didn't feel like you were on top of each other. Overall, a peaceful place but could use some work.