Now we return to my report on our last home exchange. This was the house in Florida owned by the swappers who left our home dirty and piled with unwashed linens.
After seeing the condition in which the exchangers left our home, we were relieved to find their own house was spotless. We confirmed that their cleaners would arrive as we left. After spending hours washing every towel and sheet in my own home, which these swappers had left dirty, I was in no mood to do heavy cleaning in their 3,000 square foot house.
"What a lovely house!" I said as soon as we got upstairs to the main level. Put out, the exchanger replied "People are usually speechless when they see our view." Apparently I hadn't commented on the right thing.
The home had a huge master suite on the main floor. The king size bed, dressing room, huge spa tub and walk-through shower were perfect for my spouse and me to have a private parental retreat. Unfortunately, this was the only bedroom on the main level. The other bedrooms were all upstairs, which meant my father was assigned the large downstairs suite. We stayed upstairs in a room with a regular shower, no tub and a smaller bed.
Due to hurricanes and flooding, many Florida homes have just a garage and foyer on the entry level. Living areas are often up a flight of stairs, and bedrooms may be up still another flight. If your swap party includes senior citizens, small children or those with mobility impairments, it is important to ask about the layout of the home. Where the bedrooms are located may be more crucial than how many bedrooms the home has.
We knew there was only one bedroom on the main floor. Each of the bedrooms on the second level had a bathroom attached and were thus described as "suites". The bedrooms were all a good size with comfortable beds. There was even a sleeping loft with a sofa bed, just in case we needed to accommodate someone else.
The kitchen was large and nicely designed. It had two large refrigerators, one for food and one stocked entirely with beer, soda and water. There was a breakfast nook overlooking the bay and a dining table near the comfortable living room. In the living room we found a huge plasma television with satellite channels.
The swapper showed us how to use the computer in the home office and welcomed us to take advantage of the broadband internet. This home was comfortable, if an odd combination of too remote and too close to an active recreation area. It would be a nice, warm-weather break from our day-to-day lives. The stress we went through with this swapper wasn't worth it. Still, conditions at her home were better than I had feared, based on her treatment or our apartment and her communication problems.
As usual, our home exchange vacation was working out, despite some initial hiccups.
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