Welcome to staying at Orangewood!
You've booked half the house with 1.5 Bathrooms, and either 2 or 3 Bedrooms, depending upon whether you booked Owood East or OwoodWest wing of the house.
If you are new to Airbnb, there are house rules and some guidelines to help you have a great stay!
CHECKIN is after 2pm and checkout is by 10am. Ask me if you need earlier or later and I can let you know on the day before or day of if there is flexibility.
WEATHER: Orange region is cool climate so it rarely reaches above 30c in summer, with mins ranging from-5c in winter to mid teens in summer. Check the weather for FOREST REEFS before you depart home. Basically it's cooler here than Sydney, Canberra or from the coast.
WiFi details are on the Fridge
Absolutely NO OTHER guests apart from what was booked. The rate is per person (not a set house price) and we have set a reduced rate to offer the house in this configuration. This includes NO people sleeping on airbeds or use our other beds. We reserve the right to claim additional charges from you for the extra headcount that breaks our rules. The property is also NOT to host any additional day guests - please don't take advantage of our reduced rate pricing to use the whole house or host more people than booked and paid for.
At this time of year, Pool is now OPEN - BYO Pool towels. BYO inflatable toys (pump provided) - some basic pool toys are provided. Inflatables can blow out into paddock so be careful! No guarantees on pool temp. It's entirely dependent upon how the weather has been. Pool opens late November to early April approximately, depending upon weather. When the pool is closed during winter months, it won’t be filtered or chlorinated - use at own risk.
Regarding rubbish, all recycle (combined hard plastic/cardboard/glass) and general rubbish to be taken down to bins at entry gate. Please don't roll the bins up to the house. Would love it if you separated the 10c items into laundry back-door containers as recycle bins only get collected fortnightly by council and they can fill up very quickly.
You are staying at a rural property and all that entails. It might mean an occasional spider web or rodent but we do regularly spray and bait. We cannot escape spiders doing their nightly business so please understand this especially if its outside. This is NOT a reflection of "cleaning" so please don't rate us down because of spiderwebs! The occasional Daddy-long legs spiders inside are good for mosquitos!
This is a pre-loved, not-new property. And as such, not everything is luxury or brand new. We try to keep the rate affordable so everyone can enjoy. We do commit things will work, and is safe and clean. You have all new white good appliances! Please take this into account when reviewing, you are rating us for the price you paid, not for the hotel star rating! We spend signficant time maintaining the gardens, fences, all the outdoor landscaping and entertaining areas and pool for your enjoyment. You are experiencing a stay at a fully equipped rural property of 44 acres all to yourself for the same price you would pay for a standard hotel room.
Carpets: Please keep shoes off the carpet wherever possible. When wet, the red mud really stains the carpets. We also understand accidents happen. if you do have a serious carpet spill, let us know immediately and don't try to treat it yourself. We have professional carpet cleaners that will do a better job but we will charge you for this (approximately one nights fee).
Cleaning: The cleaning fee we charge is nominal and basically covers the bathroom and essentials. We would just ask to leave the house in a reasonable tidy state as you would your own house. Be much appreciated if the kitchen benchtop surfaces wiped down including microwave if you’ve made a super big cooking mess. Please clean BBQ after use. Dishwasher unpacked/turned off and dishes put away. No need to strip beds, infact we'd prefer if you didn't. Hanging wet towels helps though to dry them before they go into the laundromat bags.
There's no coffee machine sorry, we can't find anyone who can clean one but we do provide a coffee press plunger and instant coffee for those not so fussy.
How is the house heated? During the cooler months/winter, we provide wood for the fireplace which is your main source of heating plus portable room heaters. When you get the fireplace going, the house is well insulated and stays warm. Of course you won't be walking around in Tshirts, especially if its 0C outside, so dress appropriate to the climate and bring slippers. Ensure you have the fan heaters plugged in to powerpoints marked heating otherwise you could trip the fuses! We’ve upgraded the electricity wiring in the house so that it balances the loads of heating and cooking. If fuses go, you will lose power to a part of the house and you will need to call us to reset fuses in the fuse box. You also have electric blankets, please remember to turn them off when not being used and on departure. Note: when pool is in operation, the fireplaces are out of operation due to NSW Rural Fire service bans.
No camp-fires or the equivalent outside. it's just too risky on an exposed windy hill for grass fires.
EV Charger - please let us know if you need it on. It is a Type 2 and BYO cable. It's not a fast or super charger, and we'd appreciate if you could charge after 10pm at night or when it's sunny in the middle of the day (so the solar panels can generate the electricity).
Cooling: There is no aircon. The house is eco designed to not need it and being at altitude and in a cool climate, captures cool night breezes in summer. There floor fans for each room, and recommend you open windows and doors at night to get cool air through and keep the glass pergola doors and curtains shut on hot days to keep heat out.
Please don't move heavy furniture around, or put it back if you do. Our cleaner is physically disabled and can't move it back herself so we would have to get some labour in to move it back and then charge you unfortunately.
Any property issues? By NSW short term letting law we must provide you details of essential services but please speak to us via 0402 422 771 first as we have Bruce who lives local and does all of our property maintenance. We use Jeremy of Anything Plumbing Orange and Michael of Blayney Electrical but they are not 24x7 services so best not call them until you have spoken to us.
Since you have booked only half the house, you'll see the temporary partitions that section off the part of the house you won't be using. PLEASE DO NOT MOVE THEM or use the other side of the house. If we detect that you have used the other side of the house, we will regretfully need to give you a lower rating for breaking our house rules. It's not fair to us that you are using the remainder of the house without paying for it yet it costs us more.
NO SMOKING INSIDE OR OUTSIDE. The airbnb listing is clear in that that there is to be no smoking. If we detect cigarette smoke or discover butts anywhere, we will regretfully need to give you a lower rating for breaking our house rules.
REVIEWING US AND REVIEWING YOU. We will give you a 5 star rating as long as you follow the house rules! We hope to earn your 5 star review of the experience you had for what you paid (remember if you are new to airbnb it is not a hotel rating system) because reviews matter and make a huge difference to future bookings.
Finally, have a great stay ane enjoy this lovely property.
Kind regards
Mary, Owner of Orangewood