Absolute Perfect Escape

If I were reviewing on the quality of the cabins and location alone, Absolute Perfect Escape would easily receive five stars. The cabins and views are gorgeous, well-​maintained, and have great amenities. But there were a few negatives that keep me from being able to offer five stars that any future renter should be aware of.
First, they have a «base rate» for the cabins. For example, Cabin 1 «starts at» $ 400 for the first two adults, even though they have a 14-​adult minimum. Each adult over the first two costs $ 25 a night, so including the two-​night minimum, that comes out to $ 50 per person above their advertised base rate for a two night stay. This means that the base rate is actually $ 1,000 for a two night stay (I think my calculations here are correct, but this is kind of my point) and I wish they’d just say that. The base price should be $ 1000 for 14 adults, period. It’s all on the website, but very confusing and misleading, and feels a little unnecessarily complicated. From the beginning you sort of get the feeling you’re going to somehow get nickle-​and-​dimed with extra fees at the end of your stay.
And while Randy and Misty were mostly pleasant to deal with, they seemed paranoid that we were looking to break their rules or skirt the guidelines in some way. Maybe that was just my sense in reading through their very strictly-​worded contract, but we certainly felt a little on edge throughout our stay, simply out of fear that we might do something wrong without even being aware of it. For example, we were told that children/​infants are free and that we could submit final numbers of guests to the owners 24 hours prior to our check-​in, which worked well for us since our numbers were constantly in flux. But when Misty received an email from my sister in law several weeks before our stay asking about a pack and play, we immediately received a warning from Misty that we would be in violation of their policy if we did not notify them of children staying at the cabin and would have to pay $ 100 per child. We had planned to notify her of all of our final numbers a few days before we arrived, per their policy, and this email just seemed a little overly aggressive.
Finally, they have a no guests policy that seems to me unreasonable. We rented all four of their cabins for my and my wife’s wedding party and family. Our first night in town, my aunt and uncle were in town (staying at a hotel rather than in the cabins) and wanted to come out to the cabin to eat dinner with me and my parents. We had to tell them they could not set foot on the property according to the cabin contract or we would be charged $ 25 per person and per night we are staying (in this case we were in this cabin for four nights) for them, which would come to $ 200, simply for them to come over for an hour and a half and eat hamburgers with us. I (barely) understand the rationale for this policy, but in my view it’s a little bit ridiculous.
My main complaint about these cabins is the owners don’t offer much good faith at all to their renters, and they seem a little uptight. That’s certainly their prerogative as the owners of the cabins, and I understand it to some degree since the cabins are so nice, but the weekend would have been more enjoyable had they been a bit more flexible on certain items.
I am tempted to give 4 stars on the quality of the cabins alone, but I just can’t do it. I think some of their policies should change in order to provide a 4 or 5 star experience.

This place has some pluses and some very serious negatives. Here are my thoughts:
Location /​town: 3 stars
The place is really in the middle of nowhere. The main attraction is the town of Luray which supposedly has these über awesome caverns. Again — they were strictly OK (reviewed separately). The Luray green walk — again, strictly OK. This is a walkway by a small stream like river. The ducks made the picnic in the park worth the trek. But the butterfly garden had no little things. What really was fun was a visit to the water park at Massanutten — a 30 minutes drive away from the property (reviewed separately).
Plot: 3 stars
Cabin 2 is on a decent sized plot with not the best of views. It is probably Cabin 1 which gets the lion share of the view of the valley. Which again, I did not see anything spectacular from the vantage point. The place looks more beautiful on the website of the property thanks to the imagery. In person, it was a countryside cabin in the mountains. I am from New England and have been spoilt by the beauty of nature all the way from Massachusetts going up to Vermont /​Maine.
Coming back to the plot on which Cabin 2 is, it was disappointing to see the lawn was not mowed! So even though we did not want to sit on the wrap around deck trying to make something out of the so to say described beauty of the view all day long, we couldn’t play ball or catch footballs in the lawn because it was not mowed. The fire pit and the logs around it were definitely the saving grace. But given the awful bug situation due to the woods around, the least the owners could have done was made provisions for an industrial bug eater! So caution for future visitors. Be prepared with lots of bug spray. Better still, take a bug eater machine if you plan on renting this place.
Beds: 0 star (the biggest flaw!)
I will keep this really short. WORST MATTRESSES I have ever experienced — period! Countless hotel stays throughout my life and I can take a tough pair of mattress. This stay takes the cake. Pick any of the bed rooms and not one bed had a comfy pad. Almost every member of our entourage complained about a sore back. Not a coincidence. The only saving grace — everything was clean and no health hazards like bed bugs and such. But what I don’t understand is if you are getting so much money by renting these cabins, why would you not invest some of it in quality mattresses?
In-​house amenities: 4 stars
Kitchen — fully stocked. All other amenities, as described on the website — to the T. No complains. Instructions were spot on for all the gadgets (TV, Wifi). Although — must know — WiFi strength is super low. We were lucky to stay connected with our cellular networks. Bathrooms were spacious. But the bedrooms are really small in comparison.
Game Room: 2 stars
The pool table is very very old — you can tell by touching the worn out carpet like surface of the table. The air hockey machine is virtually ineffective given how old it is. The Foosball table had a missing grip on one of the handles. The video game machine was definitely the saving grace — it worked and is not coin dependent. Still, good to have those options instead of having none. Hence the 2 stars.
Hot Tub: 1 star
For someone who personally owns and maintains a hot tub (for the past 7+ years now), the first sight of the water was enough for me to know the water had not been recycled in forever. This is definitely a note to the owners — for the number of house guests the property is potentially rented out to, they should empty and refill the tub every time new renters come in to avoid risking health issues. Chemicals and filtration systems only work to an extent when your hot tub is so old.
House Rules: 3 stars
Again, for the kind of price one has to pay to stay here, some of the things like post check out house cleaning (scrubbing the floors?) should be part of the deal. Agreed we made sure the house was very clean and followed every rule that was posted in the welcome note as well as on the fridge in the kitchen, but still, my point is how much cleaning is enough? We made sure everything was spanking clean like we would expect when checking in a hotel.
In a nutshell, for the price one has to pay to stay here, one would expect a 5 star experience. Unfortunately that is not the case essentially because of the Poor Quality of the Mattresses and the fact the location is quite OK — disappointing at some levels. The UN-​mowed lawn and the outdoor bugs’ situation made things not so fun. Maybe it bodes well with those who are looking for a country getaway. Or if grilling and drinking is your thing. Still, the house itself needs serious updates. Overall — 2.5 stars and rounding off to 2. Cannot give it a 3.

Cabin #4 was lovely: spacious, well-​built, lovely location, and generally well-​equipped with a few glaring exceptions. Although it sleeps 20 comfortably (in 9 bedrooms), the dining area only seats 8 (which could be easily remedied with an additional table and chairs); in addition, there were no blankets in the house — only a summer-​weight bedspread on each bed, hardly adequate for a winter rental! Supplies of soft goods (TP, paper towels, dish and laundry detergent, etc.) were insufficient or non-​existent.
Despite these shortcomings, the house was comfortable, well-​provided with games, hot tub, pool table, air hockey, electric fireplace, etc. and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.

My family had a great time in APE #1. It was raining for most of it, but the inside of this cabin is so spacious and has so much to do inside that it was not an issue. They even had a gorgeous Christmas tree in the main living room. The video game console is set to unlimited plays and the adults in the cabin played it more (pacman, frogger and many others) than the kids. There was also a pool table and an air hockey table but the basement was so spacious we could all play down there. My mom loved how spacious the kitchen was and the number of bathrooms made it easy for several adults, 2 teenage girls and 2 toddlers to function. The best part of the house was the view. Absolutely worth it even in the rain. Gorgeous view. Follow the directions they give you in the welcome packet. Do not go by your GPS, you will get lost but the owners do a great job of giving you tips in the welcome packet and the property is well signed for all the cabins. It is a up on a steep «hill» but that’s why you’re able to have the gorgeous view. We had 2 SUVs, a van, and a sedan make up up the hill, so if you take it slow you won’t have any issues. There are a total of 6 bedrooms and 4 of them have a view of the mountains. I did have to call the owners twice and they ALWAYS picked up the phone. I think my husband and I will make a second trip back to their smaller cabin for ourselves. The other reviews I’ve seen have said the smaller cabins are great for romantic getaways!

We stayed at APE #1 and couldn’t have been happier. We had enough people to fill the cabin to capacity and that was no issue whatsoever. Couldn’t not have asked for a better environment to spend a weekend away from DC with 25 of my closest friends. Grill, bonfire pit, hot tub, and all the other amenities were perfect. Not a bad view from the back porch, either! Thank you, APE!

As a young military couple, we were looking for a small cabin in near the mountains where we could relax and recharge over the long Veteran’s Day weekend. I stumbled across the one bedroom cabins in a semi-​last minute search and, thankfully, there was one available. The pictures made it look great, but they really don’t do it justice. It was perfect. Secluded, beautiful location, and amazing amenities! We were so impressed with every detail of it, and it was all so nice– from the kitchen to the bathroom, the hot tub and the fire pit, it is the total package. The owners thought of everything. The one bedroom cabins are up on a hill with beautiful views of the surrounding mountains, and the cabins are all well spread out. The location is not too far a drive to awesome mountain biking and hiking trails. We can’t say enough good things about this place! It is perfect for a couple looking for a relaxing, romantic weekend in the mountains with a rustic feel, without sacrificing comfort and cleanliness. We have been recommending this place to everyone we know!

Pros:
1. Beautiful cabin.
2. Amazing views.
3. Clean.
4. Great experience– if it wasn’t for the major cons.
Cons:
1. Address on website takes you to the wrong location. Use the directions on the instructions they send you, otherwise you end up down a steep unpaved drive way that will destroy your tires. The owners know that the address on their website send their customers to the wrong location, and they still haven’t managed to change it on their website.
2. Read the fine print. The owners are very shady about the clean up charges. Despite having cleaned the cabin and leaving it as we found it, they charged an extra $ 200 for cleaning fees. Their reasons for this grossly inappropriate and shady charge were:
«Fee due to: floors not swept throughout the house, rugs not vaccumed, spills on floor in dining room area, grill not cleaned, trash cans not emptied in any of the bathrooms (all were full of trash), no beds were stripped and placed in laundry room, towels left lying in bathrooms and not placed in laundry room, spills on counter tops and cabinet faces in the kitchen, hot tub was green with a foul smelling odor (not charged the hot tub cleaning fee of $ 150.00), and 1 fitted sheet was ruined (large blue stains) but not charged for this item. Per the terms of your signed rental agreement all of the cleaning was to be completed before departure, failure to do so resulted in the cleaning fee charge.»
We had:
Swept the floors
Vaccumed the rugs
There were no spills
Hot tub had bleach in it
We had not:
Emptied the trash in the bathrooms
Put the sheets and towels in the laundry room
Cleaned the grill
The «damaged» sheet had the stain on it when we arrived.
Charge of $ 200 for not throwing out bags of trash from the bathrooms, and taking towels and sheets to the laundry room is high way robbery.
Apparently the owners have no concept of how to maintain a loyal and returning customer base and know what it means to keep their customers happy.

The owners of Absolute Perfect Escapes are a sham. The house is beautiful and we had a great time but despite laborious clean-​up efforts, we were charged an additional cleaning fee. It’s a nice retreat but as a small business owner myself, I would not recommend supporting the unethical practices of the owners of this company. It’s really a shame because the memories of a fun weekend were tainted after receiving the final bill.

We recently stayed here for a girls weekend and I would highly recommend it to anyone. We stayed in APE #2. Randy and Misty were very helpful throughout the reservation process and the pre-​arrival information was incredibly helpful. Make sure to print the directions they send along with using your GPS! Without them you may miss one of the turn offs and have to loop back around.
Once we arrived at the house, we quickly realized that it is even better than it looks in the pictures! The pictures don’t do it justice — every detail is thought of. Don’t bother to bring board games, they have a great selection to chose from along with the gaming tables in the lower level. The outside fire pit was awesome and they have logs available to purchase by the bundle at the house. The rocking chairs on the front porch have a spectacular view and are perfect to catch up with friends over glass of wine. The kitchen was stocked with everything you need to prepare a gourmet meal. The bedrooms are perfectly sized and the beds are comfortable. The bathrooms were enough to allow all of us to get up and be out the door for The fireplace is a great touch as well. The pride that the owners take in their properties is very evident and you are renting a home, not just a cabin!
On Saturday we took a limo to the wineries about an hour away, and it looked like Luray Caverns were only a few minutes away, so if you are looking for activities during the day, there is plenty to do. We had made our Costco runs beforehand so didn’t need to make any shopping trips which worked out — I’m sure there is local shopping but we did not see any driving up to the cabin.
If you’re looking for an affordable cabin get away for a larger group — stop looking now and give Absolute Perfect Escape a call — you won’t regret it!