Danny S.
Yelp
Worst experience we've ever had with a rental! My family and I booked unit A103 in Fisherman's Cove for spring break. We paid almost $3,700 for the week. We were excited to enjoy a beachside condo and the pictures of the condo looked like a clean, nice place. When we got there we were shocked by the condition of the condo.
Where to begin with the problems:
First of all, check in is at 4pm on Saturday. Conveniently, the front desk also closes at 4pm on Saturday and they're closed all day Sunday too. Walking up to the condo I immediately had a bad feeling because the front door is in such bad shape. The wood is peeling off the frame and the bottom of the door has severe water damage. Entering the condo we immediately noticed that almost every single wall is damaged & dirty. Walked into the first bedroom and noticed the curtains were removed but the dingy metal rod and brackets remained. Walked into the next bedroom and there's a stain covered chair that looks like it's been soaked by multiple liquids, a dresser with stains all over the top, the tv stand that's supposed to be white is now yellow from the paint peeling off and whatever grossness has been growing on it, the bedframe has wood chipped off it all along the sides, someone threw their phone at the wall and left a perfect, phone sized dent in the wall right by the door, and the curtains were also removed but the metal brackets and curtain mechanicals all left up. At this point we thought, ok we're not getting our money's worth from an appearance/cosmetic/cleanliness standpoint, but it's still manageable.
Then we walked into the lanai and noticed the door and windows had severe mold and dirt build up all around them. It was disgusting. With 3 little kids we worried about spending any time in that room, the room with views of the ocean, the main thing we're paying for. Seeing that mold made us start taking a closer look at the rest of the condo. That's when we noticed additional mold in the AC vent and on the kitchen baseboard. The AC vents were CAKED with dust. The rest of the rooms had layers of dust on everything. It was clear the condo wasn't cleaned well. At this point reality had set in that this was an absentee owner and the level of deferred maintenance was unacceptable. The mold alone makes it a health hazard for anyone to stay in the condo. It really shouldn't be rented out until its addressed. We tried calling the front desk to complain, no answer. The voicemail had an emergency line we could call, which we did. We talked to a guy named Dan who then came to the unit with Kelli (the property manager that hadn't left yet), and a maintenance man. I walked them through the entire condo and showed them all of the issues. One by one they minimalized the issues, including the mold. They were literally laughing and made the comment "What do you expect? This isn't the Ritz?". I responded that they were charging like it was the Ritz and that for the almost $600 a night we were being charged I could stay in a nice hotel and not what this condo had become with the insane levels of deferred maintenance and mold. Dan, the emergency contact then agreed with us that the condo was in rough shape and had items that needed to be addressed. Kelli however was defensive from the start and stayed that way.
With the mold making it dangerous to stay there, we decided not to stay in the condo. I wasn't going to sacrifice my family's health. Obviously this put my family in a difficult position of having to find a place last minute, during the height of spring break, after already having spent money on this condo. We ended up finding a hotel 2 towns over at almost 9pm, wasting an entire day of our vacation with this ordeal. That's not including the next few days having to go back and forth with the management company and the owner on trying to pursue a refund. Unsurprisingly, the management company has been standoffish and unhelpful in trying to get a refund, instead there's more defensiveness and straight up lies about offering to deep clean the condo. No compromise was offered, only excuses. The owner, Steve, seemed to be used to the complaints. Nothing seemed like news to him and he didn't really seem to care about any of the issues I brought up; even sending him and management photographic evidence. Instead he tried to threaten & intimidate me by saying he'd sue me when I said I'd be disputing the credit card charge.
Moral of the story is my loss is your gain. Learn from my mistakes and avoid this unit, this absentee owner, and this incompetent management company at all costs.