Christmas Vacation at the Pelican was great!

Guest: Jerry Halloran (Eagan, MN)
Date of Stay: 12/23/11 Review Submitted: 01/03/12

We just completed our week stay at the Pelican's Perch for an extended family get together over Christmas. Don was very good about coordinating all our plans - we were a little "leary" due to the negative post, but he explained all. We found things to be just as he said they would be! The location is exceptional and the house/floorplan/furniture depicted on the website was spot on. The exterior storm doors on the 3rd level were a little difficult to operate, but otherwise we had no complaints. We will be back again in the future.

Recommended for:Tourists without a car, girls getaway, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Vacation at #13106

Guest: Rosemary (Illinois)
Date of Stay: 07/23/11 Review Submitted: 10/25/11

I'm writing in regards to our son saying the place was a dump. It certainly isn't a dump. It just had some maintainence issues and if the owner gets the upkeep done on it, and he said he would, it will be a very good place to stay for your vacation. The rest of the family had a great time. It's in a perfect location, you can walk to the beach or to the shopping center. Destin is a beautiful place. I'd have no problem renting it again if we need that big of a place to accomodate us. I don't blame the owner entirely for the problems. It was the people he hired that weren't reliable.

Recommended for:Families with teenagers.

Property is a dump

Guest: dennis (Illiinois)
Date of Stay: 07/23/11 Review Submitted: 08/23/11

We stayed at this property the last week in July for a 50th wedding anniversary/family reunion. The area is nice, and as far as the location, the home is approximately 2 blocks from the beach. The pictures do not reflect the poor maintenence of the home and the condition. My son cut his foot open and had to have stitches 10 minutes after we arrived. He cut it open on the leg of a rusted lawn swing that was on the porch. This swing was the type that had a canopy (why have it on a covered porch?) and the legs were rusted on the bottom because the caps had been broken off. No getting in the pool or ocean or sand for him! The pool had not been cleaned. There was scum, and gravel on the bottom. The pool also needs to be resurfaced. Mice and rats were running around the perimeter of the pool because the yard was so unkempt. More than one member of the family had scraped their toes on the pool sides. The roof is rotted, on the observation points on the third floor. When it rained, the third floor bedroom leaked under the french doors. Outside the balcony on the second floor, the cleaning crew forgot to remove the bedding with the remains of the roof still inside of it from the previous rental. They had to throw the comforter away. We came home one afternoon, and the floor was puddled with water and the ceiling was leaking on the bed. The ground fault breakers in the bathroom tripped because of the moisture in the wiring and the plug-ins were unusable. We had to move the bed, and poke holes in the ceiling to remove the pressure. Anyhoo, the bed collapsed soon after ( we are very average weight people) They had previously duck taped the wood and metal supports together. I could go on and on, but I think you can surmise by my review that you might be wise to look around for another rental. I (like the previous reviewer -would expect this comment to be deleted). By the way the owner acted completely surprised by the condition of the home, and basically said that he lives away and that he blamed his hired help.

Owner response:We were disappointed that we were unable to satisfy this guest. We have rented this home for years with very few complaints. This is the only business where guests can create a major problem, complain about it and then receive a partial refund for the rental. For the record, the roof was not leaking, guests had removed the storm window on the third floor doors which led to the water issue from driving rain. Repairs have been made to the ceiling and new doors will be installed during the off season. Also, the pool is cleaned weekly and our technician is on call 7 days a week in case of any problems. We were very concerned about the situation with this guest. When we were informed of the problem, we immediately sent our service person, a builder friend and a roofer to the house. We attempted to do everything possible to assist the guest and offered to pay for hotel room if needed. We also sent back a partial refund without the guest even requesting it. A guest had also moved the bed, broke the support without letting us know; this was also repaired immediately after we were notified. Our housekeeping works hard to make things clean and pleasant for our guests in the short time between check-out and check-in, and will promptly meet with our guests to make sure things are right at the house. Over time, we have continued to make improvements to the house, including the following during the most recent two years: New bamboo flooring – 2nd and 3rd floors and stairs, removed all carpeting, painted house, new air conditioner unit, new refrigerator, new microwave, new pool heater/pool repairs, new toilet and seats, new outdoor furniture. This year we pressure washed the house and decks, coated the roofs, added wireless internet, installed a new 50” flat screen in the living room with DVR/cable box, added new towels, new kitchen faucet, deep-cleaned the travertine tile in livingroom and kitchen with machine (note: travertine is a porous stone and naturally changes shades with age and use) and added a memory foam mattress topper. We take pride in this home and love spending time there with our own family. We hope this helps to shed some light on the situation and our commitment to make sure that guests have a wonderful time during their stay.

Recommended for:

The house was very good, and everything was ready when we arrived.

Guest: Donna (Oklahoma City)
Date of Stay: 05/08/11 Review Submitted: 06/29/11

Don had great service. He was also there when I needed to talk to him, and was very helpful during the entire process. I was very grateful for his service. I friends and I had the best college graduation trip, and many memories were made there in Destin. We will definitely be going again.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, tourists without a car, people with disabilities, sightseeing, pet owners, adventure seekers, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

horrible experience

Guest: very disappointed (Ky)
Date of Stay: 04/02/11 Review Submitted: 05/15/11

We rented Pelicans Perch in April. We were extremely disappointed in the property. It is not as advertised. The property was very dirty. There was an area rug in the living area and if you lifted up the corner there was a huge difference in the color of the tile floor because it was so dirty. There were many bulbs that were out. The majority of the blinds were broken. The air condition vent was so dirty. The filter was just disgusting. There is no telling when the last time it was replaced. They only provided a few towels and they were of horrible quality and they were so stiff they were uncomfortable. The sheets on the beds had balls all over them and they had holes in them. The bed downstairs smelled of urine and there was a huge stain on the mattress. It really was disgusting. The toilets did not flush well and the sinks were draining very slowly. We spent the first several hours cleaning the pool. The grounds were unkept and overgrown. There was just no cleaning the house or we would have been there all week cleaning. I called the owner when we first arrived and he said he had been there the previous day. I ask him if he went into the house and he said briefly. I told him of the condition and he said that if we had not rent it someone else would have. He was very rude. We had our whole family down so we could just not pick up and go to another place. The owner wanted checks instead of credit card so people can not contest the charges. I have pictures documenting the poor repair and cleanliness of the property. It appears that the property is rented most of the summer. I feel so bad for the families that will be going there with the idea that they are going to be staying in a nice and clean property. I hope someone sees this review and it prevents them from having a bad experience. I am sure the property owner will delete this review as soon as he sees it.

Owner response:For the record, we do accept credit cards and have always worked hard to make sure our home, pool and grounds are kept up so families can enjoy their visit. We were disappointed that we were unable to satisfy this particular guest. We have rented this home for over 6 years with very few complaints. Our policy is to have our housekeeper take care of any housekeeping issues (if any) at the time of arrival. We asked our guest to contact our housekeeper to go over any issues they had and to let her take care of any problems discovered at check in. Our housekeeping works hard to make things clean and pleasant for our guests in the short time between check-out and check-in, and will promptly meet with our guests to make sure things are right at the house. We also sent our plumber to the house right away to take care of the slow drain. Over time, we have continued to make improvements to the house, including the following during the most recent two years: New bamboo flooring – 2nd and 3rd floors and stairs, removed all carpeting, painted house, new air conditioner unit, new refrigerator, new microwave, new pool heater/pool repairs, new toilet and seats, new outdoor furniture. This year we pressure washed the house and decks, coated the roofs, added wireless internet, installed a new 50” flat screen in the living room with DVR/cable box, added new towels, new kitchen faucet, deep-cleaned the travertine tile in livingroom and kitchen (note: travertine is a porous stone and naturally changes shades with age and use) with machine and added a memory foam mattress topper. We take pride in this home and love spending time there with our own family. We hope this helps to shed some light on the alarming accusations made by this guest. Don and Elizabeth Wagner

Recommended for: