Upgrades for 2026
We lovingly refer to our beach house rental in Bethany Beach, DE, as “The Burrow”. Yes, we are big Harry Potter fans (although not a fan of the author and some of her views). The home is a short drive to the beach, to downtown Bethany Beach, beautiful walking and biking trails, and much more. It truly is a magical place to unwind!
We have made a number of upgrades for the 2026 rental season. This was in response to some bad reviews, which I would also like to explain here.
Upgrades
Fresh Paint - We painted the entire interior of the house, including the garage. In the main living area, we painted it a light blue color. The rest of the house was painted a creamy off-white color.
New Dishwasher - We added a new dishwasher that we hope will be more durable than the last one.
Pool Furniture - We have added new lounge chairs. They are more durable than our previous chairs.
Bikes - We repaired the broken bikes at the house and added some new ones.
Basketball Hoop - Our old hoop broke. The glass backboard shattered somehow. We replaced it with one that has a clear, plastic backboard. It is fully adjustable so if you have small kids, you can make it lower for them.
Televisions - We have added a television to all of the bedrooms that did not have one. We added a larger television in the loft area where kids typically hang out. But now there are plenty of places for people to stream their shows or play video games.
Screened Porch Furniture - We replaced some of the furniture and added a new rug. We added a new cushion to the daybed, too (my favorite napping spot!).
3rd Party Inspector - We have hired an independent inspector who will come into the home after each guest. Our inspector will reset the home to the way it should be. This includes moving furniture back to the proper location, resetting the kitchen cabinets by putting things back where they belong, cleaning the dishwasher filter, putting books and games back in their proper locations, and more. Most importantly, he will tell us when something is broken or needs addressing.
Poor reviews
We received a number of poor reviews. There were many issues with our management company in 2025 (Vacasa). They underwent significant changes over the past year, and we hope things are better in 2026. For starters, Vacasa was acquired by Casago in May of 2025. This was announced in December of 2025. This was right before our summer rental season. The reason they were acquired was largely due to a falling stock price that was driven by poor feedback from owners.
Casago uses a franchise model where local business owners operate the franchises in their area. We hope this ensures a more personal touch and that the local office is run by someone who cares more deeply about their owners, renters, and the local community, and less about their stock price.
Some of the poor reviews were related to our home not being clean. Vacasa had different cleaners cleaning our house after each visit last year. The cleaning teams were not always familiar with our home from week to week. There was one occasion where the home wasn’t even cleaned!! This season, the same cleaning team will clean our home after each guest. This will ensure more consistency. As mentioned above, we have hired our own 3rd party inspector to reset the home after each guest, too. We hope this addresses the cleaning issues.
2026 hopes
We hope that our guests have a better experience this season! Our family has rented beach houses for decades, and we have tried very hard to provide a place for your family to create the lasting memories that we have had renting beach houses. If you have questions, please contact us!