Riverside Zen and Pet-Friendly Escape Retreat in Bastrop, Texas

Additional info

Rental Agreement, House Rules, Policies and additional Property Information

Upon Booking you affirm that you have read and will abide by these rules and policies while staying at our property, RiverHouse Zen Retreat. You agree to inform and hold accountable other guests in your reservation of these rules. Failure to follow rules can result in the cancelation of your booking with no refund or recourse.

We have attempted to create the perfect Sanctuary for our guest. Please honor Nature, our property, as well as our neighbors and any folks you may meet while here.

You agree to hold the owners harmless in case of accident or injury while on or occupying our property. You acknowledge that there are stairs entering and exiting the house as well as on our property; and, that this is a waterfront property. As such children must be monitored at all times. There are no lifeguards on duty, swim and kayak at your own risk. You acknowledge there are certain risks inherent in any body of water. You and you alone are responsible for all of your actions and decisions during your stay.

Rules

* You agree to report accurately the number of people staying in the house as well as the number of pets. You agree to disclose the actual number of guest/pets or; 1) you will be given the opportunity to pay for additional guest/pets; Or, 2) You agree to vacate the premises immediately without refund.

* Please keep the doors closed while in RiverHouse if A/C or Heat is on. Open doors for any length of time will allow bugs into the property.

* No loud music on the grounds, ear buds are your friend!

* Quiet times are from 10:00pm until 9:00am

* We are on Septic here. Do not flush anything besides toilet paper. You will be responsible if drains are clogged by flushing anything besides toilet paper.

* WiFi system cannot be unplugged as it controls the entire property. You will be given the opportunity to plug it back in or your booking will be terminated without recourse or refund.

* No Smoking inside RiverHouse or The Garden Dome. If smoking on the grounds, butts go in the trash.

* No climbing the terrace walls or fences.

* Remain on our property, no trespassing onto neighbor’s properties. This includes pets!

* Manageable events are allowed only with prior approval. Additional fees will apply.

* Please help us conserve our water resources, Re-use towels and cloths when possible.

* No trash may be left on the grounds overnight. No cleaning of fish inside RiverHouse. Fish may be cleaned at the river and any mess must be bagged and thrown in the trash bins at the front mailbox.

* You are limited to 4 total cars unless prior arrangements have been made with us. No more than 2 cars can be parked in the driveway at RiverHouse. You agree to park on the left side of the driveway, single file, leaving the right side open for our guests who may be staying at our sister property, HarmonyHouse. Pull all the way forward never blocking a car not in your group, in. Additional parking is in the grassy area on the north side of the driveway. Do not block the driveway gate at the end of the drive. It is our neighbors only entrance to their property.

* You agree to follow the check in and check out dates and times. We are a busy property and need time to prepare for the next guest. Our cleaning teams will arrive at checkout times. A $50.00 fee will be imposed every 15 minutes past check in.

* We do have a $75.00 per pet per stay fee which helps keep us pet friendly. If you did not disclose and pay for pets at booking, please let us know the total number of pets staying. You can leave the funds on the counter before you leave or we can charge a card. Maximum number of pets allowed is 4. Emotional Support Animals are Not Service Animals and will be charged the pet fee. We will bill your card if pet fee is not left when you check out or settled prior to your departure.

* Our koi pond inside the dome is an ecosystem within itself. Do not feed the fish no matter how hungry they act. I assure you they are well fed. Feeding them or throwing any object into the pond will upset the ecosystem and could kill our fish. You agree to closely monitor children when in the dome, for their safety as the pond is deep.

Rules for Pet owners…

* We love watching your friendly well-behaved pets enjoy and interact with our property and are attempting to maintain our pet friendly attitudes. The vast majority of pet owners follow common sense rules while on the property. However because of the actions of a few, the following pet rules have been put into place. If you cannot follow them, please do not bring pets.

Please, please follow the rules. It pains us to call you out when they are not followed. We love watching your pets enjoying this space with their families and want to keep this a pet friendly rental.

* If bringing pets they must stay on our property and not in our neighbor’s yards.

* Please use our pet towels to wipe/dry paws before returning inside the house.

* Pets must be leashed while on the grounds at least until they get their bearings and settle in. There are lots of new smells and animal trails to distract them. Pets must be leashed if other guests are on the grounds.

* If leaving your pet inside alone, they must be kept in a kennel, which you provide. Pets are not to be on furniture or in or on beds! You are responsible for any damages your pet may cause.

* IF WE FIND THAT YOU HAVE ALLOWED PETS IN OUR BEDS ADDITIONAL FEES MAY BE IMPOSED FOR THE EXTRA CLEANING TIME ASSOCIATED. WE LEAVE A VACUUM IN THE SUNROOM, PLEASE USE IT AND MAKE SURE PET HAIR IS NOT LEFT ON OR IN THE BEDS OR FURNITURE. SEE FEE LIST BELOW…

* Please use the pooper-scooper found on the upper deck to clean up after pets. You agree to bag and dispose of pet waste in the bins found out front by the road.

* You agree to furnish your own bags for pet waste as well as your own food and water bowls. We do not supply these.

As much as it pains me to say this, if you cannot follow the pet rules, please leave your pets at home.

Policies

* We strongly advise trip insurance to cover your booking and will provide any documentation you may need to facilitate your claim. Our cancelation policy will be adhered to at all times during your reservation. We do not refund reservations outside of our cancelation policy. Unlike hotels that typically overbook reservations, we do not have that option. We have blocked off the property from all advertising once you booked it and typically have a hard time re-booking on short notice. If you do cancel outside of our policy, we will do our best to rebook the property and will send you any funds we collect to offset your losses. These funds may be less than you originally paid.

* We have no control over internet and utility outages. While our internet and utilities are very stable here the occasional outage may occur. We advise having the ability to connect to a hotspot device should the situation arise if internet is critical to your stay. We will not be responsible for utility outages caused by providers or acts of nature.

* We have no control over river flow rates or weather and therefore we are not responsible for them. The river has a good flow the majority of the time, however drought or rainfall will have an effect on river flow.

* Damages: We ask that you take care of our property. We have worked hard to provide a home for you that is neat and comfortable. Damages you can be charged for will include things like; Any actual damage to the home or furnishings, pet hair on our or in our beds $50.00 per bed, Ruined or stained comforters will be billed at $175.00 each; blankets at $75.00 each; linens at $50.00 each set; wash cloths and towels $10.00 per; pillows $30.00 per and keys at $50.00 each, plates, glasses and bowls $10.00 each, lost kayaks $500.00 per kayak, damaged kayaks cost of repair plus 30%. If you smoke inside the house and we have to do an ozone treatment to clear the smell, $400.00.

Other Policies to Note...
We are in the hospitality business and work hard to provide clean, comfortable accommodations at a very reasonable rate for the properties we offer as attested by hundreds of 5 star reviews at our properties. Should you have any issues we are only a message away and typically can be to the property in 15-30 minutes. If you have a situation that we can help with, we will be there and most likely have replacements for common items.

We do not discount or refund for light bulbs, coffee makers, or any electrical appliance going out as they do not give advance notice that they are going out. We do not offer refunds or discounts because you saw a bug, mosquito, spider, lizard, gecko, snake, armadillo, squirrel, rabbits, deer, turkeys or flying insects. This is a river front property in a tropical environment and they live here. We use a pest control company and spray indoors regularly for pest. If doors are open for any length of time they will find their way inside the house. Keep the doors closed. We do not offer discounts or refunds for feelings, premonitions, thoughts, wants, opinions, dislikes, medical emergencies, death in family as well as any early departures unless it is a County or State issued mandatory evacuation which includes the address of the property and then only for nights not used. We provide in advance pictures of the property on the listing site, which are true to each property, not doctored, and many reviews state the property is better than the pictures we provide. We use professional cleaners and linen services. We take pictures of the property immediately after it is cleaned and hold those pictures for our protection. Likewise we take photos immediately after your stay. We stock the property with ample towels and wash cloths and a starter supply of soaps, shampoos and toilet paper for the size of the property. If you run out of soap, toilet paper, shampoo, message us. If you have booked a property that does not have a washer and dryer, you can use one of the local laundry mats to wash them or message us to discuss additional linens and the fee for that service.
We do not have a bug problem, we do not have an unsafe neighborhood problem, we do not have a cleaning problem. We have never had bed bugs but we preventively treat for them, have encased mattresses and the likelihood of you finding said bug is practically zero. We do not barter discounts for alleged sightings of them or for promises of 5 star reviews for said discounts, and will immediately report such language to The Hosting Platform. If you have any situation we need to address, message us on the platform and we can typically be there within 15-30 minutes. Reporting after the stay, or not reporting the situation to us first, in an attempt to garnish a free or discounted stay, will be considered fraud. Should you attempt to cause us harm by reporting any misleading information to the Hosting Platform without first reporting this information to us, allowing us access to see said situation, document it, attempt to rectify it, and that information causes the Hosting Platform to suspend any or all of our listings, we will seek legal remedies against you for any and all lost revenues, cancelled reservations, time and money spent rectifying the situation with the Hosting Platform, court and legal cost and any other damages recommended by our council.
If you are the typical person wanting to enjoy a wonderful vacation at our properties we apologize that you had to read a disclosure primarily meant for the growing numbers of scammers out there.

General Information

We encourage our guest to use water shoes and life vest while in the river.

If the outdoor griddle was used, turn off propane valves on the griddle as well as the tank and clean grill. There is a grease drain at the left of the grill, make sure the bucket of cat litter, which I supply is under the drain to catch the grease.

While it is rare that we see snakes, it is a river and snakes do tend to live in them. If you see one please don’t harm it. Just back away and let it be, they’ll be on their way soon. The vast majority of snakebites occur when people mess with or try to handle the snake.

There is a fire pit for use. Bring your own fire-starting materials, wood, lighter fluid etc. If Bastrop County Burn Ban is in effect you cannot use fire pit. There can never be open campfires on the property! Burn bans are posted on the Bastrop County web page.

At some point during your stay the sprinkler system will come on. It’s why we have happy grass. Each zone runs about 30 minutes and are programmed so that you only need to move a short distance when they are on. Move back when they finish and you’ll be all good.

You may see me coming and going from time to time tending the grounds. Just say howdy if you like and I will introduce myself. I do respect your privacy but I also love chatting with my guest if they so desire.

Check Out

In an effort to keep cleaning fees to a minimum and save our guests from higher prices we ask that you follow a few simple guidelines.

* Please load and start the dishwasher before you leave.

* Please empty left over food from refrigerator.

* Please check for all of your items before departure. If you contact us wanting them returned we will gladly do this. We do ask to be reimbursed for shipping and handling cost before we mail them to you.

* Please clean up any spills and messes as they occur. If you brought pets, please use the pet vacuum found on the washroom wall to clean up pet hair that may be on our floors and furnishings.

* Take trash out to the 2 bins by the front mailbox before you leave and place all used towels on the floor in front the laundry room.

Again, we do hope you enjoy your stay immensely and thank you in advance for taking excellent care of our sanctuary!