Our first impression was a garage full of beach supplies left in an unsightly, disorganized heap. Even though there were many nice beach ‘toys’ included, my husband spent two hours sorting through the chaos to make them accessible. We went on to find several specific areas inside the house that called its overall cleanliness into question. Management corrected some of these issues and others we tried to overlook, such as a dirty kitchen floor mat, a dishwasher not safely bolted into the cabinet, several pans that should be replaced, etc. Although the house is well decorated and supplied with extras for families with small children, we encourage the owners to review it with an attention to detail.
Unfortunately, we were quickly confronted with a major problem—a refrigerator ‘on the blink’ went on to dominate our holiday experience. We lost much of our initial supply of groceries before we realized that the refrigerator wasn’t cooling properly. The management company was considerate and responsive in sending out repairmen (eventually providing a mini fridge) but, each time, we had to wait another day or two to determine if the repair had worked. Meanwhile, we were constantly trying to hold food in iced coolers and a small fridge. FIVE repair visits failed to solve the problem so we spent 15 nights struggling to keep our food safe. It proved a very expensive holiday of ‘camping out’ food wise. Added to that, we woke up to no hot water one morning. That problem was remedied in a few hours’ time, but just one more frustrating issue.
To our request for compensation, we received only a 10% refund. This was totally inadequate to address the loss of food and inconvenience that dominated our entire stay but we were told nothing more could be done. Apparently, the rental agreement is designed to protect the owner’s interests more so than the guest’s. We have rented various properties along 30A for over 30 years and have never encountered anything close to this level of inconvenience. We can only alert others to the potential for ‘Better Now’ to become ‘Worst Nightmare.’
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