We recently traveled to Saratoga Springs for a wedding and were looking to rent a home with a pool that could accommodate three couples (one with a toddler and a babysitter) and that was close to the downtown area. This was one of very few larger homes that met both pool and location specifications and we found it appropriately advertised in those three regards. In particular, we spent a lot of time poolside and it is by far the best feature of this home - we LOVED the pool.

In addition, we really appreciated how accommodating Maria Peters was in allowing us to check in a few hours early (12pm instead of 3pm) so that our daughter could nap in the house instead of in our car en route to Saratoga.

At the same time, there are a handful of things that I wish I had known about the property in advance, many of which I think should have been disclosed in the listing:

1) LR and DR are off-limits to renters. I found it bizarre, inconvenient, and misleading to pay for a whole house and then be told on-site not to use certain rooms. (Trying to keep our toddler out of those door-less rooms required much energy.)

2) Few shades in BRs. Two out of the four (incl.the master) have none, and one BR only has one. For us, who needed the master in order to accommodate a pack 'n play, this meant that our daughter had to nap in broad daylight (which did not go over well) and that those of us in rooms with no or partial shades were up with the sun (approx. 5am). If I had known about this from the listing, I may have chosen another property.

3) Only bath towels (i.e. not also pool towels) are included. The listing just says towels so we had assumed that since there was a pool, those towels were included as well. Using a chlorinated pool towel also to clean up after a shower was not ideal. Bring your own pool towels!

4) Pre-departure walk-throughs are mandatory - though not advertised. It worked out ok for us to coordinate our schedules on the final morning but I think it's important others know about this in advance.

5) We were only given one set of keys to share among three couples and a babysitter.

In sum, if you are looking for a home with a pool and don't mind the items above, plus the fact that the home is a bit outdated, this is a very nice rental and Maria is easy to work with. However, we paid $800/night and ended up feeling like it was WAY TOO MUCH for this home. If we had paid less, though, we may have felt differently.