My partner and I have stayed at the Hovey House twice and loved it both times. As we were preparing to leave this last time, we went back for our luggage and overheard a conversation between the owner and one of the arriving guests. A woman was standing in the hall loudly complaining that the place looked nothing like the photos on the website. "What did you do," she demanded, "Photoshop the pictures?" She threatened to report the owner to the BBB. "Who do you think they'll believe, you or me?" she sneered.
The owner kept saying, " I'm sorry you're not pleased. What do you want me to do?" The woman continued railing and the owner just kept asking, "What do you want me to do?" At last the woman answered the question: She wanted her stay to be free. When the owner said she couldn't do that, the woman and her party left in a huff.
To be perfectly frank, there were signs of restoration work underway (the owner said there had been recent storm damage to the roof). However, we were given a tour of the whole house when we arrived and all the bedrooms and common rooms were lovely and very clean.
It IS true that the house does not look like the photos on the web -- it's even MORE beautiful when you see it for real. As the angry couple pulled out of the driveway, another couple arrived. I waited to see their reaction when they entered the house. "This place is exquisite," the woman said to the man.
We agree.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC