We rented this house from July 11-14, 2021 because it was a lake front property and we had every intention of playing and swimming in the lake. The ad advertised “This is a great spot for water sports complete with a private dock for your boat and other water toys. Great fishing right off the dock, and swimming on your private beach.” Unfortunately for us, you could not do any of these things because the lake was so full of algae it was unusable.
We did not find out that there was a problem with the lake having “harmful algae blooms”, that it was unsafe for pets to swim in or drink the water, that the mercury levels were so high that you could not eat any fish caught in the lake until it was time to head out to our lake vacation.
We were unable to use the paddle boat we brought because there was so much algae in the lake that it started to clog the small motor. The lake literally looked like pea soup and no one was comfortable stepping foot in it, especially with the 3 dead catfish on the shore.
While we were there, it was over 100 degrees each day and since we didn’t rent a house on the lake to sit in the house all day, we went to the nearby Walmart to buy some kiddie pools to fill with the hose water to try to keep cool outside. We noticed later that the water in the kiddie pools had algae in them which must have already been present in the hose water. We then stopped using the kiddie pools.
Other than the lake being unusable, the house was as described. It had great air conditioning, a full functioning kitchen, plenty of space, and the host was responsive. The kitchen supplies were a bit outdated, but functional. The pool table provided some entertainment since we were stuck in the house for most of the time (although had holes in pockets) and there were TVs in most of the rooms.
We contacted the host to request a partial refund since we were unable to do the one thing, we planned to do at the lake house…use the lake. Of the $1,664.28 we paid to stay at this lake front house, we were refunded $100 by the host, which I guess paid for the gas we had to use to drive to Walmart to buy kiddie pools.
Our advice…check the conditions of the lake before you book any trip on Clearlake. We regret not doing our research. If we had, would never have booked a stay here. Do not count on a host to alert you to problems with the lake.