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Vacation cabins offer a home away from home
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By Josette Keelor - jkeelor@nvdaily.com
LINDEN -- Usually vacation getaways live up to their promises of providing relaxation and fun, except maybe when it turns cold and rains.
When it comes to comfort away from home, an important consideration to make is what would happen if the weather does not cooperate and you had to spend your week indoors. That hotel you chose for its proximity to the attractions might become more than just a place to sleep.
When Tom Lally and his fiancee, Deneane Clementi, both of Front Royal, opened their vacation resort off Freezeland Road in Linden, they might not have been thinking about how their guests would fare in torrential rains, but lucky for them, their vision surpassed expectations.
Lally calls Hot Tub Heaven Vacation Cabins a gem because of nearly a dozen wineries nearby, as well as easy driving distance to Northern Virginia and Washington, but the real magic happens once you walk through the front door of your home away from home.
Lally and Clementi began the business 10 years ago with a single cabin, which they purchased with the intention of renovating and reselling. Since then the two, at the time in their late 20s, have flipped about 26 houses around the Northern Shenandoah Valley, keeping nine of them as vacation rentals under the Hot Tub Heaven name.
"One cabin turned into two and then three and they just started multiplying and multiplying and now we have nine," Lally said recently by phone from Los Angeles.
Each cabin retreat offers a unique experience, accommodating anywhere from one to 10 people in a fully functional house.
"They're all nice, even the smaller [cabins] are really nice," said property manager, Lisa Henry.
A popular choice is cabin No. 9, she said.
One of the newer cabins, "This one's got more room," she said of the three-bedroom, two bathroom A-frame with a loft.
On a recent cold and dismal day, the cabin offered a cozy, dry atmosphere while rain poured down outside its walls.
Equipped with central air and heating, a fully-operational kitchen, fun brightly-colored couch pillows and a cheerful dining area overlooking a large wooden deck, the enclosure promised a good time no matter what the weather was offering.
Even the hot tub out on the deck is inviting, rain or shine, or even in the snow.
The hot tub is the theme of the vacation community. Each cabin includes one -- an idea that first inspired Lally to open the resort.
It all began in 1999 when he and Clementi, who now split their time between Front Royal and L.A., were seeking a vacation spot for New Year's Eve.
"I wanted to find a place with a hot tub," he said, but none of the places they found had one. The fact that every cabin they sought was booked for that fateful holiday suggested to them that the area offered a market for not only vacation cabins but particularly ones with hot tubs.
"That was the easiest way of coming up with the name," he said.
Another draw for visitors is that the cabins at Hot Tub Heaven welcome pets.
"Normally we just try to stick to dogs," Lally said, but guests bring the occasional cat or ferret.
Cabin No. 3 offers a fenced yard for dogs, Henry pointed out, within view of the wraparound porch.
Her favorite feature, though, is the record player in the dining area. Offering a charming combination of old and new, each cabin includes a big screen TV and a stereo with a turntable. Records are handy on a nearby shelf.
"It's pretty wild," said Henry.
When guests rent a cabin, they also have access to massage therapy for clients or their pets, by local massage therapist Cheryl Urbanski, or pet massage therapist Mary Pat Corrigan.
Once the rain abates, unlimited outdoor adventure awaits, from exploring the nearby Appalachian Trail to fishing on Deer Lake, the community hideaway that includes a floating dock and a small beach, surrounded by the lush foliage of Blue Mountain.
Vacation packages are available from $300 for two nights and $464 for the weekend. One-night stays are offered during the week, Lally said. Cabins are priced for longer stays as well.
The resort is open year-round, with peak business occurring on holidays, Henry said.
"They come out for family vacations ... birthday celebrations, they come out to visit the wineries ... just to get away, and there has been some weddings too," she said. "They bring Christmas here," complete with the tree and everything.
Lally has noticed that much of the resort's patronage comes from repeat business, from as nearby as Washington, and as far away as Europe and Asia.
"[It is] really a jewel up there," he said. "Twenty-five to 30 percent [is] repeat customers that keep coming back and back and back."
For more information, contact Hot Tub Heaven Vacation Cabins in Linden at 636-1522 or visit the Web at www.hthva.com.
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