Dog Sitting in Hillcrest Villas

Gregory

Due to a family emergency, I had to leave the country earlier than I had planned, and needed a sitter to fill in the gap between my departure and another sitter. Michele responded within minutes of my posting the sit, and then we spoke and confirmed the sit within hours. Her husband, Israel, was coming from Mexico to France, while she and her kids were to come from Sweden. When Michele’s travel plans changed, and she wouldn’t be able to come with her children, she assured me that Israel would still come to look after the house and dogs. To do this, for a stay of only five days, he flew to Paris, and then to the south of France, where he rented a car and drove the rest of the way to my place. As I was already traveling, the previous sitters filled him in on the various things that needed to be tended to: caring for two dogs, tending to hens, watering 90 young olive trees daily, as well as other things. The place is big and it took me 3-4 weeks when I first moved in to figure out where things were and what to do. Israel mastered everything upon his arrival, sent me daily updates with photos of my two VERY happy dogs. In addition to all the upkeep, he managed to hike with the dogs daily. I arrived home to find everything perfectly maintained, two fit and and Israel’s guest house cleaner than it was when he arrived. Immaculate. I cannot even express my gratitude for to both Michele and Israel for such a sacrifice and commitment to do that for me. It was a very difficult time, as I was dealing with the loss of both my son and my mother. I did not worry for one second while my dogs and home were in Israel’s hands. Thank you both, so, so much. You’re welcome back anytime, with the entire family, even just for a visit, maybe just a well-deserved holiday, with no dog- or house- sitting!

Laura

This was our first house/pet sit with @zeewoi and we were extremely pleased!
Robert showed up when he said he would, he accommodated our timelines and our dog's scheduled routine. He left our home in excellent shape and we had a very happy, relaxed pup to come home to. It was important to us that Robert meet us via video chat or in person before we left and he went above and beyond. He sent photos of our dog, Cooper, and him throughout the sit and we could tell that Cooper was very happy with Robert. He responded immediately to our texts, giving him updates about our return. Communication is so important for making sure both the sitter and the house owners are confident in one another.  Robert is very outgoing and friendly and we have 100% confidence in him to look after our home and our dog when we are away. We look forward to Robert providing another future home sit.

Michael & Ashleigh

From her promptness to schedule a pre-sit call to her truly thorough tidying of our house, Stella was an amazing housesitter from start to finish!!
She read all the info we put together ahead of time, and asked for clarification on just a few things which made us confident that the pup and the house were in good shape :)
Stella was really gracious when we admitted to not having a coffee pot, and handling things calmly when there was an incident with street parking. 
Maybe most importantly though our dog Luke was calm when we came home. I think if future sitters are clear in their expectations around frequency of communication/photos and the dogs needs then Stella is the perfect person to exceed your expectations!

Michelle

Brian was a wonderful sitter for our 11 year old dog and also took great care of our home. He sent me pictures every day and let me know how Macklin was doing which always helps ease my mind. Our home was clean and tidy when we returned and everything in its place. I'd recommend Brian to anyone looking for excellent care by a friendly person!

Leslie

I’m sure most folks say the nicest things about their sitter, but honestly, if there were a “super star” status available then Denise would win the prize as sitter of the year!

From the start, Denise was an excellent communicator.  While we were still in the decision phase, Denise was always available to chat either by FaceTime, telephone or text.  It was so easy to choose Denise; as you can see from her countless 5 star reviews, she truly is the only pet sitter you’d ever need and the one everyone hopes to have.  

Denise came to our house eager to meet us, our pets and the quirks of our house.  Denise has an excellent sense of humor and immediately put us all at ease.  Our pets took to her as if she was a long lost friend (even our finicky Siamese cat was loving on her from the start).  

While we were gone, our dog had a non-emergency health issue come up and just like that Denise was taking her to our vet, and administered the dog’s meds like a champion (Denise is also a nurse BTW).  Additionally, Denise brought our pup to her scheduled groom appointments and even made future appointments for us to make our return home as seamless as possible.

Denise was even above and beyond helpful to our neighbors and they appreciated her giving them access to our refrigerator when theirs broke down on Thanksgiving Eve!  

When we got home we were super impressed by how perfectly immaculate our house was!  Most sitters leave the house clean, but Denise met and may have even exceeded our military standards of clean and orderly.  Seriously, our house felt like we never left it.  Everything was spotless, shinny and clean.  She didn’t miss a beat!!  Our pets were so happy to see us but honestly, I felt like our pup and kitty were disappointed when we walked in the door (I believe they were expecting to see Denise!).  Haha.  

If you are ever fortunate enough to have Denise apply for any of your sits then I can’t recommend her enough.  Seriously, you can stop reviewing applicants and just go with Denise.  She was awesome in every sense of the word and I hope she’ll come back and stay with our pets again.

Marcel

Mikayla was a superb house/dog sitter for us for one full week. She was an excellent communicator, very quiet and tidy (respectful of the space) and best of all she quickly bonded with our big dog Mouse. She cheerfully took her for long walks and shared photo updates regularly. I highly recommend Mikayla.

JoAnn

Hamsa was very quick to respond in all communication.  She was prompt on her arrival and listened carefully to our detailed instructions about the house and dogs.  While we were away the amount of communication between us was just right.  When we arrived home the dogs were happy and the house was in order.  A good sign that a dog sitter paid lots of attention to the pups is when we see a bit of depression set in after a dog sitter departs - this did occur after Hamsa left our home  She is a very caring and nurturing individual.

Caroline

We were so happy with Lynda's care for our senior pup. 

Lynda was extremely accommodating with the key hand over situation we had considering our early flights out of Berlin. She was easy to coordinate with and made this part of the holiday very smooth.

We could also tell Sesame was in the best care. We received updates and photos of Sesame on walks and getting cuddles. We know Sesame can be sassy sometimes but Lynda was great with her little attitudes and handled her with ease. It was also really heart warming to see that Lynda truly enjoyed her time with Sesame and created a strong bond with her. We love to know that our dog is loved and treated with the care we would give her if we were home. 

Both my partner and I were able to fully enjoy our holiday as we knew from updates that Sesame and Lynda were doing well. Our apartment was clean and tidy when we returned and the sheets had also been washed. We would definitely have Lynda back and would recommend her to anyone else looking for an experienced sitter to stay with your pet.

Sarah

Stephanie, Brian and baby Martin took fabulous care of our home and pets for two weeks. 

From the outset, communication was quick, smooth and friendly and it was clear that both Stephanie and Brian are reliable, professional and warm sitters who take all the various elements of a sit seriously.

They kept us up to date with photos and messages, dealt proactively and competently with any unexpected issues that popped up, and most importantly showered our dogs and gerbils with attention and care throughout the time we were away. We returned to a spotlessly clean home (with thoughtful touches of fresh milk, bacon and bread waiting for us) and happy, settled pets. 

In short, we would recommend Stephanie and Brian to anyone looking for reliable, attentive and proactive sitters for their pets and home. We would be delighted to welcome them back for another sit, should they ever find themselves in the area again.

lisa

To this list of attributes I would add flexible, capable, sensitive, extremely good with the dogs even if one of mine is sometimes a little ornery, and just a wonderful person all around.
Because of constantly changing circumstances due to a move and coronavirus, my dogs ended up spending not two weeks but a whole month with John and they were so comfortable and happy.
John helped them in so many ways and coordinated shipping them overseas, he went above and beyond the wildest stretches of what a house sitter entails and did it with a smile and a laugh and reassurances that all would be well. And indeed he was absolutely right - the dogs arrived so well cared for that all my fears of them being traumatized went out the window.
John’s flexibility, and his kindness as well as his impeccable maintenance of my house in my absence all make me recommend him an absolute 10 out of 10.
Thank you John for all your help this summer!!
Lisa