Excellent Beach Rental

Guest: Richard (Seattle, WA)
Date of Stay: 05/21/10 Review Submitted: 06/28/10

We rented the beach house for a weekend and had a fabulous time. The house is located on a prime stretch of sandy beach on Whidbey Island. Everything in the house was clean and modern and the layout makes efficient use of space. We liked that the kids could play on the beach in front of the house and the adults could keep an eye on them at all times from inside the house. The view is spectacular. You get the west facing sunset over the water and the mountains to the south. The neighbors were very nice and had interesting stories about the history of the area and suggestions of places to go. We would definitely return for another vacation.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Wonderful

Guest: Wendoverites (Nevada)
Date of Stay: 09/25/11 Review Submitted: 10/22/11

What a great vacation. The sunset views were amazing. We saw seals, blue herons, sea lions, porpoises, bald eagles (even one catch a fish and eat it on the beach). We walked the beach at low tide over to Useless Bay. The many passing ships and boats occupied many hours of our time. The house was very comfortable for our group of nine. It had everything we needed, and beautiful views. Look forward to a return visit.

Recommended for:Families with young children.

Awesome Stay

Guest: Prerna (Kirkland,WA)
Date of Stay: 08/25/11 Review Submitted: 08/30/11

In every aspect our vacation experience at this house exceeded our expectations. The house was beautiful, with amazing views. The house is modern and very clean. It is rare to find a vacation spot that can accommodate all ages with a seeming effortless ease. It was in every way a little piece of paradise! The owner Orlin was great and was quick in answering all our questions. Looking forward to another trip!

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Like the house but not private

Guest: Annual Escaped (Seattle, WA)
Date of Stay: 07/28/11 Review Submitted: 08/15/11

We rented the house on Mutiny Bay for eleven nights this summer. Pets, baby and all. Property worked out and was an accurate portrayal from the pictures. I'll give the plus's and minus's: Plus's: 1. House has been remolded and is in great condition, especially vs other properties i've rented on VRBO in the NW. Good hardwood floors, screens didn't have any holes, and having a gas cook-top was a big plus. The separate laundry-room became a great place for storage. 2. The house is west facing which means sun until almost 9pm with amazing sunsets. The views each day looking out the windows on the water were spectacular. Also, even with a very bright sun shining through, the house remained quite cool with the windows open. 3. Very comfortable bed which I haven't been able to say many times before. 4. Great decks overlooking both waterside and front yard and it was very enjoyable sitting outside at night watching the water, and sunset and cruise ships go by. 5. Fenced yard in front for pets was secure for my two escape prone dogs. Con's: 1. Noisy and not very private. Each morning starting as early as 4:30am, people would be fishing directly in front of the house on the beach. These people, were not neighbors but people who came down from other areas to fish on the beach. It was not very relaxing having the balcony door open at night for the sound of the waves to then be awakened to noisy fisherman chatting at that early hour every day. 2. Speaking of noise, it can get very loud with the neighboring houses being so close. With 3 days to go on our stay, the neighbors arrived at their cottage with 3 other couples and were up drinking and playing music and partying until 3am each night. These people were the owners of that cottage, not renters. 3. The property is currently for sale with a real estate sign in front. Thought I should share that. 4. Twice during our stay, the management company with whom the owner contracts to maintain and clean the property, stopped at the unit unannounced. The first time it was to get toilet paper for another property (which woke up our young one who was taking a much needed nap) and the second time to do yard work and fix something inside the house. Again I felt this was invasive especially for $2 worth of toilet paper. Really? We had a relaxing trip and enjoyed our time away but this is not a property I would rent again as some of the noise and privacy issues wouldn't work for us in the future.

Owner response:Thank you greatly for your feedback. First and foremost, my sincere apologies for your feelings of lack of privacy. We work extremely hard to provide a comfortable, private, and luxurious stay for all our guests, so I am very concerned about this as we typically receive nothing but rave reviews. I appreciate the pro's and would like to address the con's and privacy issues. Fishing season is very short on the island, usually just a couple weeks when the salmon are passing through. All of our beaches are private, so there should have been no outside guests accessing the beach. Most of our guests that come this time of year do so to experience the thrill of catching a salmon from the beach which is very exciting! If this ever happens again please call and notify us and we will have our caretakers notify these people they are on private property. Both of our neighbors are in their 60's and 70's and in all of our time and guests at the beach we have never experienced this type of feedback. Typically our guests marvel at how quite and private the beach is. We are friends with both neighbors and would have gladly called and rectified this had we been informed they were bothersome to you. We will be addressing this issue with them and can be assured this will not be repeated. Hotels, resorts, and rental homes transfer ownership quite frequently so I'm not sure this has any relevance to a future guest. The property was for sale with conditions being that ownership would not be transferred until all rental obligations are fulfilled or the new owners were willing to fulfill all rental contracts. We are contractually bound to honor all our reservations as stated in our rental documents. I apologize for the inconvenience. Our caretakers are known to be some of the best on the island and are very attentive to the needs of our guests. I have instructed them to call prior to visiting the home in the future while guests are present. Thanks again for the great feedback. As you can see from all the excellent reviews from our previous guests over the years it seems that these circumstances were very unique and are not the norm. We also ask that all our guests please call our cell phones which are listed in the rental documents with any issues during your stay so that we may have the chance to rectify them immediately rather than hearing about them after the stay is over. Thanks again for choosing to stay with us and we hope to have you back in the future.

Recommended for:Pet owners.

Great house on a great beach.

Guest: Dianne (British Columbia)
Date of Stay: 06/24/11 Review Submitted: 07/05/11

We just spent a wonderful week in your Beach House. This great home has everything we need, lots of space, and comfy beds. What a great beach, walk forever, lots of shells to pick up!! Thank you for sharing your home with us, would love to return next year!!

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, people with disabilities, pet owners, adventure seekers, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Great Beach house on Whidbey Island!

Guest: juliep (Folsom, CA)
Date of Stay: 06/19/11 Review Submitted: 06/29/11

We had a wonderful, relaxing few days at this beach house which literally sits right on the beach! We had bonfires just steps from the deck and enjoyed listening to the waves from our bedrooms with sliding glass doors! The house was very clean and well-appointed. Could not have had a better time! Would most definitely rent this property again.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, sightseeing, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Relaxing getaway!

Guest: Terri (Edmonds, WA)
Date of Stay: 04/29/11 Review Submitted: 05/04/11

This is a beautiful house right on the beach, and I mean, steps out the door to the sand. It's a perfect place to relax and listen to the waves at night. You can let small children play right in front of the house and watch them from a comfortable chair on the deck or even from the living room. The house was exceptionally clean and well stocked with necessities and most important, the beds were so comfortable! Will definitely be back.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, girls getaway, families with young children.

Incredible View!

Guest: Seattle Family (Seattle, WA)
Date of Stay: 07/15/10 Review Submitted: 07/27/10

The house was very well stocked and was perfect for our extended family stay. So close convenient to Seattle, and felt like a differente world. The very accessible beach seemed to go on for miles. What an incredible view. The first thing our little girls squeeled when they walked through the front doors and looked past the back sliding doors was: "There's a sandbox!!!!" :-) It was a much needed retreat, and the gorgeous sunsets fed our souls.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, sightseeing, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children.

Beach Lover

Guest: RebeccaRedmond (Redmond, Washington)
Date of Stay: 05/04/10 Review Submitted: 05/18/10

My sister, her husband and I stayed in this lovely home for 4 nights. This is the second vacation rental that we have stayed in by the same owner. The homes are both lovely, well maintained with excellent views and access to the beach. The best part is they take dogs so we can bring our buddies with us!! And in a truly lovely home. Lucky for us, during our stay there were no neighbors visiting so we had a pretty private beach. The kitchen has gas cooktop and tons of pots and utensils. The eating nook is cozy and convenient. The two west facing bedrooms upstairs share an outdoor deck with stunning views; both bedrooms have very nice black-out drapes. The bathrooms are lovely and well stocked. The third bedroom is downstairs facing the rear of the home next to the second bath. Hardwood floors, all down stairs, perfect for the beach. Great laundry room. Lovely home overall with small patch of grass fenced in the back (not dog proof, as one gate did not lock and our dogs could have crawled under the fence.) We have one BIG suggestion and a couple of little ones. First, there are no window coverings on the west facing windows looking out over the view so the setting sun shines full force into the living/kitchen/eating area. Would be very hot in the summer! And it is difficult to read, watch tv, etc. with full sun! And second, a chair or hook or something in the master bedroom and a lamp in the living room. Overall, I will definitely stay again and highly recommend these beach front homes to my friends, which I have already done!

Owner response:Thanks for your wonderful feeback and being such great guests! We're planning on installing blinds in the next few weeks. My wife and I just love the view so much that we have hated to impede on it. The gate broke in our last windstorm and will be fixed/dogproofed. Great suggestion on another lamp downstairs and chair or hook in the master. Look forward to having you back!

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, sightseeing, pet owners, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Guest: Brandon (-)
Date of Stay: 07/03/09 Review Submitted: 05/04/10

We had a fantastic 4th of July weekend at your beautiful home. Family from CA, WA, and OR converged for fun, sun, fireworks and food. The display of artillery on the beach was truly a sight to behold. You have amazing neighbors, and your home is cozy, comfortable, and well equipped. Now our children from California’s kids have experienced a beach teepee fire and the joy of shooting fireworks!! In addition, it was 85 degrees the entire weekend! Awesome! Thank you!

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