Bear Mountain Chalet

No, no, no!!! All I can say. The management person Kim I believe. Not the friendliest people. Make sure you bring the exact amount of people and you’re as quiet as possible. Not the best cabin I have stayed in. Oh yeah forgot to mention we got kicked out because we had to many people. The day after our arrival… DO NOT STAY THERE!!!

I do NOT recommend staying at this cabin.
I only have a couple of positive comments to mention about this home. This cabin was conveniently located in a quiet, nice neighborhood and was well within close proximity with mountain resorts and supermarkets. The cabin looked up to date and contemporary. The price of this cabin was relatively reasonable had everything went well and our security deposit was refunded.
But things turned sour. My friends and I did not receive a full refund of our security deposit. And I expected that — not because we damaged any of their property or violated their rules in any way, but there was something about a conversation with the property manager and owner over the phone that made me feel something shady was going to happen. It made me feel uncomfortable as we packed to vacate the house.
And my instincts were spot on. Victor (owner of home) not only notified us that we had lost our entire security deposit, but we were due another invoice to be paid immediately. These were his reasons for charging us the the supposed «$ 650 worth of damage»:
–Excessive cleaning. (Isn’t the $ 150 cleaning fee supposed to cover this? We even washed the dishes and placed towels in the washer. They charged us for having blankets unfolded on the couch.)
–Tire-​chain damage. (I’m laughing at this because the whole week the forecast was clear and sunny, chains weren’t even held in our possession.)
–Exceeded number of cars. Only 4 was allowed but claimed we had 6. (I’m also laughing at this. If any of you guys can see the driveway in the picture, only 2 vehicles can fit on the driveway, and 2 inside the garage. What a straight blatant lie.)
–Driveway oil stain damage. (No proof it was us. Anyhow, it was a drop the size of a dime.)
Words cannot describe how frustrated my friends and I were. We felt like they were taking advantage of us. Did we pay the additional invoice? Of course not. We truly believed that he was trying to strip every penny possible. Did he do anything about it? No. Because deep down he knows that he got caught in his own web of lies.
Reading Tera’s review earlier in the week seemed about right. The owner claimed that these things that are supposed to be supplied «get stolen». Really? Take the blame for once and admit that you guys are at fault. If they were stolen, why don’t you guys restock them without having the occupants complain about it? Reading Tera’s review really stirred me up more about this whole experience at this cabin.
Find another cabin to stay. Victor, and especially his wife, are awful owners. There are way more honest and professional owners out there in Big Bear.

This cabin was one of the most impressive cabins I’ve stayed in my life. The place included an arcade, a variety of movies, and an awesome balcony. It was a good place for a getaway.
Not until, after we left Victor emailed my friend who booked the cabin claims about the «damages» that was on the cabin, which was actually an exaggeration from his standards of cleaning after ourselves. This defeats the purpose of the cleaning fee that was charged prior to the trip. We actually cleaned 2 hours prior upon check out like washing the towels, clean the dishes, and wiped the counters & tables. The cabin was clean just how it was when we arrived. We soon realized Victor has high standards of cleaning, and thinks we destroyed his place. he gave us a list of «damages».
List of Damages:
–Grease on the stove
–Extra blankets on the couch
–Oil drips on from our cars in the garage (Cars drips oil anyways when the car is off)
–Tire chain damage in the garage (we didn’t even have chains in the first place)
We did our best to keep it how it was before we came. I guess the cleaning fee was just an excuse to take more money from us because they said it took them 5 hours to clean our «mess» which we already cleaned. Really? I can clean a whole house in 3 hours all myself. They were going to withdrawal 200 more dollars for their laziness for cleaning and take our deposit for these little wear and tears. After negotiations, Victor settled for half of the deposit back, it is just the fact he wants to take money because he has very high standards of clean. Who does he think he is? Richie Rich? having a butler cleaning for his mess.
Do not have your vacation here, you will be scammed and unaware for the consequences he will give to take your money. NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER AGAIN THAT I WILL COME BACK TO THIS GODFORSAKEN PLACE. you will never know what he will do next with his standards of clean.

The cabin is located very close to the slopes so if you’re into snowboarding the location is ideal. The neighborhood that the cabin is located in is very safe. The driveway can easily fit two cars and they also have two garages spots. There’s even an arcade!
However, the good things said about the cabin can not be said about the owners. I had the great misfortune of booking this cabin through Victor and his wife.
Prior to renting the cabin, Victor and his wife stated that we would get our security deposit back if the house was clean. The house was deemed unclean and required cleaning fees.
What they considered dirty:
— The stove had some oil stains. A wet towel could have wiped it up in less than 30 seconds.
— The dishwasher was cluttered but everything was there.
— There were some bath towels left out. Unless you aren’t going to wash the towels then this shouldn’t be a problem.
— They also stated that we scratched up their driveway with snow chains. That is an absolute lie. The snow conditions didn’t require snow chains so it was prior damage that they or prior tenants caused.
** For these reasons, we lost our security deposit and were invoiced for cleaning fees.
There are plenty other legitimate cabin owners in Big Bear. Avoid Victor and his wife at all costs. These two are very shady business owners.
Any potential renters who want to see pictures of the «damage» we caused feel free to message me.

I did really like this home. I liked the cleanliness, the furniture, the bedrooms and bathrooms were perfect, the yard (fun for sledding) and of course the fun game room. The house is in perfect location to everything! Victor is extremely nice and prompt with answering any questions. He even had a baby gate for us to use for our kids-​that was wonderful!!!
What I found frustrating was reading «the kitchen has everything you need to cook, and bake,» when in fact it didn’t. There was no Tupperware or baggies to store cooked food in, no saran wrap, aluminum foil or any herbs/​olive oil. Items like toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, trash bags were all rationed. For a total of 8 people we had 3 toilet paper rolls and 1 paper towel roll. I believe 2 wash cloths for us all but plenty of bath towels so we made do! I would have just appreciated being told this so I could have brought all my supplies from home and not had to go to the grocery store late at night after arrival. When I brought it up with Victors wife, she said these things get stolen. We have stayed at other rentals before in Big Bear and Hawaii and never had to buy anything extra.
All in all just remember when renting here to bring your basic supplies.