As a fellow vegan, I am all too familiar with the accusations from others of having more compassion for animals than people. In this case, Harry and Jen seem to live up to that reputation as they clearly lack compassion even for their fellow vegans.
This review is based on our first-hand experiences with the owners of Deer Run Bed & Breakfast in Big Pine Key, FL, as well as our experiences attempting to cancel a reservation with them. It pains me to leave negative comments for a vegan establishment, but I feel our experience with Harry and Jen of Deer Run Bed & Breakfast in Big Pine Key warrants this 2-star rating.
Lastly the owners are VERY proud to be vegan and green so if you aren't it's rather intimidating. Conservation, recycling and the vegan lifestyle is promoted in a really big way with signs and reminders everywhere. We have a healthy active lifestyle but are not vegan. And we are not activists so we found the approach a little much. The breakfasts are huge and prepared with great care. The location has a beautiful view and is very peaceful. The innkeepers are sincere in attempting to assist you in having a great time....which we did!!
After waiting four days for a response, I sent a follow-up e-mail and was told that they did not receive my previous cancellation request (because it "must have gone into their spam folder") and that they would be processing the refund promptly. The following day I followed up again and they still had not processed the refund. Finally, we received a notice stating that we would only be refunded $687.50 of our deposit - we would be penalized $275 (equal to one night's stay) for our cancellation. To date we have not seen an actual credit issued so we have filed a dispute with our credit card company.
Harry and Jen run an amazing vegan bed and breakfast. The beach is beautiful, Jen's baking and breakfasts are so delicious. The rice paper bacon was out of this world!!!
You can not go wrong here!! There are so many things to do you won't be able to get it all in, one trip is just not enough!!
We made a reservation for 7 nights in December and paid a 50% deposit at the time of booking, which amounted to just under $1000 on our credit card. Last week we notified the owners that we would need to cancel our reservation due to a medical condition that will physically and financially prevent us from going on vacation this December. This notice was sent to them four months in advance of our reservation.
Beautiful wildlife!! So many beautiful birds and the cute Key deer!!! The sound of the ocean and the breeze is just perfect!!
Is their cancellation fee stated in their policy? Yes it is, and we regret that we agreed to it. We did not foresee the circumstances we would be facing and perhaps we should have booked elsewhere based on their ridiculous policy. Still, we believe that certain circumstances warrant further consideration and should be treated with grace. Instead, at a time when we are experiencing financial hardship due to illness, we are out $275 and we have nothing to show for it. The owners are, no doubt, pocketing a large portion of that money. And four month's time should provide ample opportunities to re-book the room we reserved.
You will absolutely love the proprietors Jen and Harry!!! Thanks for the great time!!
They may respond by saying that other establishments have similar policies but we have traveled extensively and that has not been our experience. Most places (including small businesses) have a 30-day cancellation policy. Reservations cancelled outside of 30 days are provided a full refund minus a nominal cancellation fee.
Followup e-mails asking for consideration of a full refund have been ignored. If they respond to this review, they may say that my subsequent e-mails went into their spam folder. But shouldn't paying customers be added to a contacts list to avoid missing important communications?
Upon calling and speaking to Harry to see if he could make an exception for this penalty due to the circumstances, he explained that this astronomical cancellation fee is designed to cover credit card fees that small businesses are charged for reservations. The amount of $275 is approximately 30% of our deposit $962 deposit. I fail to see how a 30% credit card fee is possible. The amount of money that Deer Run B&B charges for cancellations is unconscionable.
We had a great time exploring the Keys. The location is great...located between Marathon and Key West. The innkeepers were extremely friendly and accommodating but the lodging was average at best...not exceptional which is what you'd expect for the cost per night. One must know that many of the beaches aren't sandy in The Keys so although the pictures show a beach...there is no sandy bottom and you just can't access the water. The tide goes out and it's just mud. There are nice beaches nearby however and a park pass is provided should you wish to visit the Bahia Honda State Park.The building is older, a little dated and a bit noisy as noted in a previous post but not terrible considering we were the only guests.
Just a fabulous place to relax and unwind from the hectic world around us!!
Great people, great place , great fun!
Great place, great views, and great people!!!
Deer Run Bed Breakfast is a US Lodging based in Big Pine Key, Florida. Deer Run Bed Breakfast is located at 1997 Long Beach Dr, Big Pine Key, FL 33043, USA.
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