Reservation Date: 7/25/21
Dates Stayed: 10/22/21 – 10/25/21
Party: Mom (86 yo.), her 3 children and their spouses (7 adults)
Purpose of Trip: Children giving their aging Mom with dementia a "beach" vacation, where she could enjoy the ocean view from the property.
Reason for choosing property: Ocean View, upscale condo
Notification from Property Manager: Voicemail received 3 days prior to arrival, noting some orange netting and a couple trash bins. No pictures provided. NO REFUND OFFERED!
Arriving: The beach directly behind this property was littered with a large number of huge metal trash dumpsters, very large rusty pipes and other dredging equipment, surrounded by orange netting. View was dreadful.
The Army Corps of Engineers was performing a large-scale dredging operation with very large bulldozers, large dredging equipment, and staging of their equipment and trash/equipment right behind and side of property. We immediately called the property manager. They offered a small refund. We did not accept. Each day got worse. On the last day, the entire operation was directly behind with all of the bulldozers, equipment, trucks, etc. in action. Unfortunately, we cannot attach pictures or videos.
We expressed our dissatisfaction. They offered an additional refund, but we did not feel this was fair or enough. We asked for a 50% refund off of the rent we paid (excluding fees). We understand the property manager had no control over issue, but they did not disclose to us the extent of the operation and no pictures were provided. We were told by the workers there that the 'junk' was there behind this property for three weeks prior.
The property manager told us that we stayed there, that we enjoyed our vacation (how do they know this?) and that the condo should be judged separately from the area around it or the beach view. They told us that the beach was open and accessible, regardless of the reuined view. They told us they were sorry and that they didn’t like the situation either, but it was not their fault. They told us to take or leave the refund offered and the discussion was OVER.
We finally decided to accept their refund as they would not budge.
Note: Immediately after our departure, they revised their VRBO listing as “HUGE DISCOUNT” with a new price slashed 50% of what we initially paid, due to the dredging operation.
Please note that we always rate 5's and often overlook little things. This may be our Mom's last vacation!