The house itself is nice, with sweet and thoughtful details everywhere that makes it feel like a well-appointed vacation rental. Though it is listed as such, it is not entirely accurate to call it a beach house.
Our stay itself was less than comfortable for a few reasons. It felt strange, too familiar perhaps, to have so many personal belongings out in the open - like the family photos covering the fridge, and the piles of purses and holiday decor right adjacent to the kids’ toys in the loft, not to mention the piles of papers and files on the desk in one of the bedrooms and bowls of jewelry all over the other. The freezer was packed, so no room for ice packs from our cooler, and it wasn’t clear if all the food in the fridge was for guests to eat, or just what was left behind by either past guests or the host (we didn’t eat anything except one serving of coffee beans from what appeared to be a big display of options for guests). Especially during this time of Covid-carefulness, it seemed a little odd.
The bedsheets, seeming soft and comfortable at first touch, were ill-fitting and unbreathable. The corners of the fitted sheet pulled off repeatedly during our sleep.
The shower spigot was loose so we couldn’t turn it off completely, leaving a constant drip. When showering, half the water came out through the bathtub nozzle, leaving very light water pressure for the shower.
The biggest challenge however was the musty smell of a wet rug caused by a leaky air conditioner in the 2nd bedroom. Before we arrived, our host discovered the air conditioner had been leaking water into the 2nd bedroom - enough that about 1/3 of the exposed portion of the carpet was soaked. Our host had a box fan blowing on it to help dry it, and had informed us the afternoon of our arrival via text that this would be the case, and that hopefully it would be dry by the next day.
The rug was not dry the next day, and the smell from the wet rug got steadily less tolerable. When we informed our host of this she responded immediately that she would try to get someone that afternoon to remove the rug while we were out. We offered to give her a hand if needed.
When we returned later in the afternoon the rug was still there. She had brought in a dehumidifier and had closed the windows. The musty smell had become stronger so much that we could no longer use that room. Our son slept in one of the tiny loft beds above our bedroom for the 2nd night.
Our host was nice enough to issue a refund for one night’s charge after we asked for it. It would have truly been gracious if she had offered it upon our arrival, or at any point during our stay.