Planning a cabin stay in the lovely Hocking hills? Want an authentic odor caused by the mold present in the cabinets and HVAC? Do you want to relive the feeling of sitting on the couch your grandma bought during the Cold War that was manufactured out of brick and twine and may or may not give you permanent spinal damage to sit on?
Look no further than our friends at 1ST Choice Cabin Rentals! Although it seems like they should be the last choice, your very last effort one may say. If there is no other place else in the world to stay, you may consider this one. Though, I would recommend sleeping on a pile of rocks before staying here.
The mold present both in the HVAC and the kitchen cabinet where they store your drinking glasses is a welcome sight that you first analyze through your sense of smell. By that, I mean…the entire cabin smells like mold. A terribly foul odor fills the entire building. Now let’s get into safety, which is their 5th or 6th choice as their 1st is their cabins (they say at least). The propane tanks for both the stove and heater are both unsecured and ready to tip over causing a fire. They conveniently place the tank in a pile of pine needles so it has the best chance or burning the cabin down while you sleep. They do supply you with a fire extinguisher from 2017 with zero charge left though…..nice of them.
Someone tell these people about a duster, honestly because I’m quite certain they don’t know they exist. See the pictures. If I came across this cabin on a hike I would sleep there thinking it’s been abandoned many years ago.
Okay okay, enough complaining. Surely any company in their right mind would do EVERYTHING possible to resolve an issue as major as this right? No. They did attempt to move us to a town home they had available but granted we booked a cabin, we wanted to stay at a cabin. I had made the aware I was leaving the cabin and driving the 4 hours back home I just drove to get there. It took them about another hour before they even offered to come out and investigate. Investigate? There was a zero chance I was sleeping there no matter what they did. Mold people, mold…everywhere. They did offer to come out though, but wouldn’t be there until 9pm (I called at 6ish). 9pm is when I start relaxing and going to bed, not when I want visitors to tell me they don’t see anything wrong.
So, we left, and made our way home. I made very clear I needed a refund and whoever can make that happen should contact me. They didn’t. I had to call on multiple occasions over multiple days to speak to that person who I quickly found out refused to help in anyway. Instead stating they already gave us options. The options they gave us after we already told them we left. And what are you going to do? Hire a team to clean the mold while we sleep on the blankets that were covered in hair and appeared to never be washed? They didn’t even bother with pillow covers. Gross.
Sarah made it abundantly clear that they had no intentions of helping us out and rather made herself sound like a broken record repeating the same thing. Paraphrased here…”I’m very sorry but as I’ve said the last 27 times, we cannot give you a refund but we will offer you a credit to use in the future”. That is my personal depiction and not a legally binding depiction of Sarah’s response. We do not want a credit, I would prefer to avoid all the mold filled cabins they offer in the future….forever until death do me part from this world. Sarah also made it clear the owners who are the only managers above her will not speak to us because she is capable of doing her job. She also made it clear none of the issues we brought up were ever complained about in the past. The reviews I’ve attached in the photos make it clear the mold has been present for many months, since August 2022 (the earliest but not the only time it was complained about and documented). Mind you, this cabin runs you about two to three times as much money as any other in the area. At around $550 for two nights, you would think it would AT LEAST meet the expectations of the pictures supplied by the owners. You don’t expect the dirty mop bucket, mop and broom to have a seat with you at the dining counter. We did not get to adventure into hot tub, however the reviews of persons past tell us we were more than likely spared from flesh eating bacteria considering how gross the hot tub is.
Anyhow, I will include a list of our complaints that Sarah and her work place associates have come to deny exist and have never been an issue before which clearly is disproven by earlier reviews of this horrible cabin.
Fox Den Cabin and 1ST Choice Lodging:
Dust, dust everywhere. Mold, mold everywhere. Your dinner guests are a dirty mop and broom. Safety is their last concern (propane bottles unsecured, fire extinguisher empty, outlets exposed). Everything is dirty and covered in hair, even the cutting board. Yes, there is a picture. Smells like the basement of an abandoned tuberculosis hospital. Hot tub is likely equivalent to swimming in waste water. Toilet literally takes you for a ride as it rocks back and forth trying to knock you off like riding a bull. Couch is awful, literally could convince me it has bricks for pillows. Bed is equally as terrible.
All bookings are direct with the owner 