The Bear's Den Resort Orlando in Reunion, FL

The house itself is nice; just as described on the website. However, the resort forgot to mention it’s still a building site. Terrible construction noise and dust coming from the neighboring houses for six of our seven days. Not relaxing at all!

Bear’s Den Review 3.5 stars out of 5 5 Bedroom, 6 Bath 985 Jack Nicklaus Ct. Reunion, FL Stay 10/15/21 – 10/25/21 In general, the home we stayed in was beautiful. It was well laid out for a large family (ours was 9) but we would consider it a “high end” home, not a “luxury home”. Staff was very accommodating, polite, professional, and helpful when asked to respond. However. there were many problem areas within the home that demonstrated ownership did not “invest” the necessary time or monies on a number of items that would have made the home much more comfortable, greatly enhanced our stay, and been worthy of a “luxury” designation. It was also clear that the protocol used to prepare the home for occupancy was sorely lacking. Preparation and oversight on the details were missing. We account for them here in hopes management will take note for future guests, and that future guests will be aware of the issues we had as a result of our stay with the home. First, the home is not properly pest controlled. Even in a semi-tropical climate like Orlando, there were far too many millipedes and other insects that were present inside the home upon our arrival and during our stay. It is clear pest control is not a priority, was lacking prior to our stay, and during our stay. The landscaping also looked un-kept and was not maintained anytime during our 10 days. The mattresses were sunken and soft and reminded us of cheap ones used for dorm rooms when in college. (Certainly not the type of high end mattresses expected in a pricey “luxury” home. ) There were no blankets of any kind anywhere in the home. There were no additional linens or towels. (Staff did provide additional towels after the washing machine broke down – see below) The pillows provided were also cheap and not up to higher standards for this level of pricing. Appliances were not checked for working order prior to our arrival. Any thorough preparation and review by staff prior to our check-in would have noted several items needed repair, maintenance, or replacement. For example, the washing machine wasn’t working and had to be replaced. (Staff did promptly replace it after we called). The dryer didn’t dry well and also likely needed to be replaced. The microwave and refrigerator had warning lights on when we arrived and never got fixed. The freezer door handle was loose and not attached properly. The kitchen sink faucet was loose and leaked water throughout stay. Several of the gas burners on the stove were not working properly and could not be used during the stay. Although the kitchen was well stocked and had plenty of storage, it would have been nice to have a few additional items to make the kitchen complete. Among those would have been a keurig coffee maker, waffle maker, and a griddle. And although a broom was provided (one for the whole house), curiously enough there was no dust pan. The house also lacked trash cans for each room and area. The only ones provided were in the kitchen and very small ones in the bathrooms (way too few for a house this size and for the number of guests). Trash cans were needed in each bedroom, common area, patio/bbq, theater and recreational room, and garage. (We had to go buy inexpensive trash cans to provide those needed) Another item that would have been very helpful to have and often found in luxury homes, is a high end vacuum cleaner. None was provided. The pool was beautiful and heated. However it was very dirty upon check in and never cleaned until we called to have it done. (It should have been sparkling clean upon our arrival.) The pool filter/equipment was leaking heavily when we arrived as well. Obviously not checked out and signed off before our arrival. After calling to alert them, staff did respond immediately to repair it, and it worked properly the balance of our stay. There were plenty of flat screen televisions and they all worked properly. However, the internet to the home went down several times during our stay making the televisions inoperable. In some cases internet was down for hours and there were no storms or lightning during any of our stay. The air conditioning (A/C) worked wonderfully! The home was equipped with two units. One unit for upstairs, and one unit for downstairs. In fact, we would give the A/C a huge thumbs up and certainly is at the level of what you would expect for a luxury home. However, the water heater situation would not receive that same kind of rating. It is clear this is where ownership went “cheap” again. Either the water heater is too small for this size a home, or there should be two installed. Getting hot water upstairs sometimes took 15-20 minutes. Hot water would also run out fairly quickly. Again, completely unacceptable for this price point of a home. The garage was clean and able to handle two cars, but it would have been nice to have at least one garage door opener. (Again an amenity you would find in a luxury home but not present here). Another rather annoying problem was the toilet seats in most of the bathrooms were two sizes too small for the actual toilet. In fact, in one case, the seat was actually broken. This problem was particularly true for the master bath toilet seat. It’s as if they went out and bought cheaper (smaller) toilet seats that did not fit the toilet to save money! An additional item also needs to be mentioned that was very frustrating. Bear’s Den Resort is evidently a very small part of a larger development. There were several occasions while coming through the gates that the security officers claimed they were unaware that Bear’s Den even existed and would not recognize the permit card given to us by management to hang on our car rear view mirrors. As a result, the guards would delay our entry because of their lack of training. In conclusion, the homes were not built and equipped to “luxury” standards. Second, the homes are not maintained to luxury standards. Third, there is a significant lack of detail and oversight in preparing these homes for occupancy. Much work needed to be done to bring our home up to luxury status. Attention to “details” is always the one thing that elevates a property from 4 stars to 5 stars. And this was the case with our home within Bear’s Den. Although the home was quite nice as described at the beginning, the problems detailed above made the stay difficult, uncomfortable, and frustrating. We would not stay here again until standards, equipment, and maintenance were elevated to the level these prices are demanding. However, if fixes were made, we would love to return.