The apt has a lot of potential, but it just seems like it is poorly managed. Be warned the 2nd bedroom is not a real bedroom at all. It looks like it was a study with a queen size bed cramped in there. Not great if traveling with another couple. Our friends had to leave their luggage in the living room because there wasn't any space in the "bedroom".
Check in for the most part was easy, but the instructions don't indicate the building number we are in, so when I tried to get our luggage delivered, they had a hard time figuring out which apt we were in. But I did appreciate allowing us to drop off our stuff earlier and take the golf cart out a couple of hours before check in.
Minor issues we had - The pillows in the master bedroom had a moldy smell to them. The kitchen had issues, such as the handle to the microwave was broken. There were towels from the previous stay in the dryer. There was also a stain or two on the sofa, noticeable enough that I had to let the point of contact know so they wouldn't blame us for it.
Major issues we had - the apt essentially had no heat. We followed all instructions to turn on the thermostat, but it never warmed up the home. We ended up having to buy a few bundles of wood both nights we were there, to keep a fire going.
The space heaters that were originally provided, were broken, so neither bedrooms could warm up, which was tough for how cold the apt got with no fireplace fire. I had to contact the point of contact to bring us heaters that worked.
But the BIGGEST COMPLAINT we had, was that we literally had no hot water for about 36 hours. At one point, I had to boil hot water over the stove to try to take a bath. BOIL HOT WATER TO TAKE A BATH!?
I could not believe that I had to boil hot water to try to take a bath! They kept telling us “you have to let the water run for a little while” as if we haven't already figured out how to use a faucet, shower, and bathtub at our age! I let the bath tub run for almost 30 minutes, I got 10 minutes of tepid warm water, then it turned cold again.
We had two people take showers at two different times of the day, both times they were freezing cold. We washed two nights worth of dishes, and it took about 20 minutes or so of just letting the faucet run and still no hot water.
So, it was somewhat of a miserable trip in terms of not being able to warm up and take hot showers.
While the property management company was quick to respond, they were extremely hostile and rude when I emailed them about the issues we had regarding the heat and hot water. But rather than take ownership for the issues, they threatened to report us, over our service animal because we didn’t notify them about it (not required by law or Airbnb policy to do so) as retaliation for our complaint. Which by the way is 100% against AirBnb policy to discriminate against those with a service animal.
They also came up with other lies (which I have screenshots to refute their accusations) to try to use that against us as reasons why we are complaining. I do NOT appreciate being accused of lying over heaters and hot water at an accommodation I paid for.
The location was great, but anywhere in Hamilton Cove would have a wonderful view.
The amount we paid per night would have already been considered on the higher end for Catalina, but to have no heat or hot water, then be accused of lying about it, then threaten retaliation once we complained about our issue, made this place not worth the money at all. We would NEVER rent from this company again.
I have been traveling worldwide for years, using platforms like Airbnb and have never had to leave a review such as this. I have never had a host treat us with such hostility. So, travelers beware - I'd look at different companies that are renting out Hamilton cove apts. I would not rent from here, not worth the pain and hassle.