Heron Cay Lakeview Bed & Breakfast, Mount Dora

Walk away, no make that run away, from the Heron Cay Bed & Breakfast! We were overcharged, lied to and treated like second class citizens. I have been a travel writer for the past ten years and have had the pleasure of staying at dozens of bed & breakfasts. None have evoked the outrage I have for this one. My husband had booked the Queen Victoria suite as a surprise gift to me for our six year wedding anniversary. He chose this room specifically for its fireplace. When he called to make the reservation, he explained that he was interested in booking the Queen Victoria suite for a Friday and Saturday night stay. Margie, the owner said that the Queen Victoria suite was available; however, since there was an arts festival in town, he would have to book the room for a minimum of three nights even though we were only staying two nights. Upon checking in, we were taken to another room. When my husband questioned the owner as to why she was giving us a smaller room with no fireplace, her response was that she had made a mistake when she told my husband that the Queen Victoria suite was available. She said there was a mix-up and that she didn’t realize that the Queen Victoria had already been booked. The next morning, as we were coming out of our room, we saw a couple exiting the Queen Victoria suite. I said hello to them and jokingly said, “so, you are the ones who took our suite!” I told them the story of how we had booked their room, but upon arriving, we were told by the owner that the room had already been booked prior to us making our reservation. The couple said that was strange because they had just booked that room a couple of days ago. I asked how long they were staying and they replied five nights. My husband and I strongly believe that we were bounced out of that room at the last minute because the owner would make more money booking it for five nights instead of three nights. When we were in the breakfast room, we were making conversation with some of the other guests. I asked the guests how long they were staying and what their plans were while in town. The other guests informed me that they were staying only two nights, Friday and Saturday. When we asked the owner why we were charged for a three-night minimum when at least two other guests had been charged only for two nights, she said it was because they were repeat guests. We told the owner that we didn’t feel that it was fair to charge us for three nights when other guests were being charged for two nights. She refused to refund us the money for the third night and was rude to us the remainder of the stay. Other than feeling completely taken advantage of, one other thing really troubled me about this bed & breakfast. The owners have 7 animals living in the home, three cats and four very large dogs. When we checked in, the four dogs were freely walking around the kitchen area where the food is prepared. I didn’t think that was appropriate or sanitary.

My husband and I stayed at Heron Cay for a weekend and had a wonderful time. Our room was extremely clean and confortable. Breakfast was delicious and the owners and their staff were very courteous and friendly. Both my husband and I can't wait to go back and have recommended all our friends to stay there.

Very very clean, who ever wrote in disappointed must be crazy, one of the cleanest places ive ever stayed the innkeeper was as sweet as could be and her staff was very friendly. Breakfast was awesome, i really dont understand what the other review was ranting about, i would recommend this place to anyone looking for a nice romantic stay.