Writing the Most Positive Negative Review

This past weekend, Travis and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. Yay! We typically like to go away on a little trip, but this year money is (still) tight due to the port shutdown issues and Jack’s unexpected broken arm bills. So, we loaded up the SUV with our stuff, the kiddo, the doggo and drove three hours to 7 Springs Resort in Pennsylvania where we rented a condo through VRBO. Our goal was to enjoy some fall foliage, their “Autumnfest” event, and the condo’s fireplace and hot tub.

And I didn’t take ANY photos.

Which I guess means we were having a really good time. So that’s fine. Even though I did wear a super adorable outfit with my new-to-me cowboy boots. But anyways… to the point of this post. The condo was not great.

In fact, it became a running joke that everything was *just a little bit broken.*

The hot tub was amazing and fantastic. But one side of the bubbles was broken.

The main bathroom was fine with a good-sized shower. But the wallpaper was literally peeling off the walls.

There were stains on the carpet. There was a STAIN ON THE BEDSHEETS.

The kitchen was stocked with spices (so many spices) and coffee. But the trashcan hinge had fallen off so every time you opened it… yup, a little bit broken.

Like, just enough that it was kind of annoying. But, didn’t hinder us from having a good time.

EXCEPT for the main bedroom’s bed.

Oh. My. God. I have never slept on a more squeaky bed in my entire life. Also, it was really small (I’m thinking it might have been “full” sized). So, you add in Travis, me and Ollie and there was no room to roll over unless you carefully rolled in place.

But even then. SQUEAK.

It squeaked when I moved.

It squeaked when Ollie – an 11-pound dog that is barely bigger than a rabbit – moved.

It squeaked even harder when I laughed. With each squeak timed to each one of my giggles.

It SQUEAKED WHEN I RUBBED MY ITCHY NOSE.

It was hilarious. And squeaky. And on top of the squeaks, the bed was so incredibly uncomfortable that Travis decided to spend the second night on the couch. (Which is oh so romantic for our anniversary trip).

Which brings us to the review.

After each stay, VRBO asks you to write a review of the property. However, they also have the property owners write a review of you as a guest. Here’s the thing — I love VRBO and we use it often when we travel, so I don’t want to be reviewed as a problem guest. But, I also need to be honest about a property that was… lacking.

So, on our ride home, I decided to use ChatGPT to write up the review for me.

Here’s the prompt I gave it:

Write a positive review for a stay in a condo where the bed was so creaky we couldn’t sleep in it, wallpaper coming off walls and everything is a little bit broken. But good location and had a hot tub.

And here is what ChatGPT came up with:

We recently stayed at this condo and had a generally enjoyable experience, thanks to its fantastic location and the added bonus of a hot tub! The proximity to local attractions made it very convenient for exploring the area, and the hot tub was a great way to unwind after a long day.

While the bed was a bit creaky and could use an update, we made the best of it and still had a relaxing time. There were some minor maintenance issues, like wallpaper peeling in spots and a few things that seemed a little worn, but overall it didn’t detract too much from our stay. With a few updates, this place has a lot of potential.

All in all, we loved the location and amenities, and with a bit of TLC, this condo could be a real gem!

Yup. That works.

Also, on the bright side. We got home last night and our bed felt AMAZING.

Summer Vibes

After a hectic start to our summer, this past weekend we tried to unplug a bit with an escape down to Ocean City. We basically played the whole thing by ear because we weren’t sure if Jack would still be in his arm cast, or if my husband would have opportunities to work. But we were able to get away for a long-weekend and it was very much needed.

We are planning to spend a little more time down at the beach in August, but the long weekend was just enough to keep us going for another month!

Family Travel: Our Trip to Naples, Florida

We had our 4-day weekend in Naples, Florida and it was everything I hoped it would be! It was full of beautiful weather, lots of delicious food, all the splishing-splashing you could want, and thrifting. What more could I ask for in an impromptu Mother’s Day weekend trip?

We love staying in houses rather than hotels (I typically book through either VRBO or AirBNB) and the house we rented for this trip was in the North Naples area. It had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, laundry and the most gorgeous private lanai with a pool and hot tub.

We rented the house FOR that pool situation and planned on spending the majority of our time there. And we did!

In fact, we didn’t even go to the beach. I KNOW. CRAZY. But having your own private oasis in your backyard was too much of a treat… why would we want to be around other people?

So, what did we do?

ALL the pool time

We were basically in and out of the pool all day long. They had four pool lounge chairs in the shallow water, a couple float chairs, boogie boards and assorted pool toys to play with. Outside the pool was a picnic table, a seating area with an outdoor sofa and also two lounge chairs.

At one point, a game was devised where you have to sit in a float chair and catch a pool toy in a bucket from one side of the pool to the other. I mean, COME ON, this is what core memories are made from! The pool and hot tub had some fantastic LED lights, so every night we had a before-bed pool dance party in the dark. It was absolute heaven.

Lots of yummy food

We stopped at the nearby grocery store to stock up the house with bottled waters and snacks. We also impulse bought a lemon icing pound cake from Trader Joes that was pretty fantastic with some fresh strawberries for breakfast one day.

As for local restaurants, our favorites were: Joe’s Diner for breakfast, Turco Tacos, Michaelbob’s for BBQ, and Kilwins for ice cream.

And some thrifting

We hit up a bunch of the local Goodwill stores and one of the St. Matthew’s House thrift stores. We were actually shocked at how many Goodwills were in the area and I think we must have gone to at least 5 of them! According to Jack, the kid’s toys/games offerings were lackluster, but he did end up with a Nerf gun, a cool deck of cards and a keyboard fidget. I also found a few winners, which I will be sharing with you all in my May Thrift Haul post.

As for Travis… he scored! Because Naples is such a golf course area, he found so many pairs of nice shorts in perfect condition, as well as multiple polo shirts, a couple nice t-shirts and two hats. Believe me when I say the man has fully caught the thrifting bug now. We had to zip open our suitcases to make them a couple inches larger in order to fit all of his treasures inside for the plane ride home!

Our 4-day weekend was so relaxing and I loved every minute of it. It was exactly what we needed and we came home relaxed, refreshed, and just a little sun kissed.

And yes, we will absolutely be returning again – to the same house – and next time we plan to check out some of the local beaches. Maybe.