Highlands by the Sea

• Outstanding Beach House Experience 3 years in a row!

  Outstanding Beach House Experience 3 years in a row!

  • Guest Beach Lover
  • Date of stay 07/14/12
  • Review Submitted 12/28/12
  This is our third year in a row renting the Highlands by the Sea home...and I plan to rent it next year as well. You can't beat this community of homes with its own private beach that is never crowded. This house is very welcoming, comfortable and spacious. It has its own pool located at the front of the house that was a great alternative to the beach for our little kids. The first two years we rented this house we were a family of 5 sharing the house with another family of 4, and then 2 grandparents and an aunt and we were all super comfortable. Also, you are in walking distance to the most beautiful community in the world....Rosemary Beach shops and restaurants. I would recommend this house to anyone!!!

  Recommended for: Girls getaway, adventure seekers, romantic getaway, families with teenagers, tourists without a car, families with young children.

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• Summer Vacation

  Summer Vacation

  • Guest kari
  • Date of stay 07/28/12
  • Review Submitted 08/15/12
  Highlands By the Sea was a very comfortable home. It is located so close to the beach- easy walk if you forgot something. We also love the easy access to the town of Rosemary and Alys Beach. Our family rode bikes to both towns to enjoy dinner, desserts,and activities. We loved our trip there and hope to be back soon! Thank you Kyle for checking in with us and sharing your home.....

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

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• Great week at Highlands!

  Great week at Highlands!

  • Guest klr
  • Date of stay 07/21/12
  • Review Submitted 08/01/12
  My only reason for not giving a 5 star rating was the issues with cleanliness. Upon arrival at Highlands, the pool and pool area was littered with debris, used plastic water bottles and various other used objects and garbage we had to clean up. Also, the amount of dust in the living room was less than ideal. The pool also needed a good cleaning which we tried to do on the first day, but the next day the pool guy was out to professionally clean the pool. Our problems were easily remedied with attention from the owners/renters (also a drain problem in the downstairs shower--fixed on our 3rd day I believe by a plumber). So...now for the GOOD!.... Perfect location to the beach--just a short stroll. Pool is so nice to swim in with the kids--small but nice. Beds--very comfortable although I couldn't find extra pillow cases for the extra pillows we used. Upstairs master bath needs a little update, but we found clean and completely met our needs. The kids' bunk room was adorable--they loved it! Also loved that "downtown" Rosemary was within a short walking distance--coffee shops, restaurants, shopping--rent a golf cart ahead of time to get around if you don't want to walk (we didn't do this but see how it would have been fun). We would stay there again in a heartbeat!

  Recommended for: Girls getaway, adventure seekers, sightseeing, romantic getaway, families with teenagers, tourists without a car, families with young children, age 55+.

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• Rosemary Beach Vacation

  Rosemary Beach Vacation

  • Guest Jack
  • Date of stay 03/24/12
  • Review Submitted 07/25/12
  My wife and I along with my family had a thoroughly enjoyable visit to Highlands by the Sea. We found the rental on the internet. It is always a little unnerving to select a rental unseen. Our expectations were exceeded. The house is well kept, the location is fantastic and the cleaning crew could not have been nicer. We had no negative experiences at all. On the contrary, we are already looking forward to a return.

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

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• spring break

  spring break

  • Guest Anonymous
  • Date of stay 03/17/12
  • Review Submitted 07/18/12
  This was a great location for spring break with teenagers! Plenty of room to relax in for all. Short, easy walk to the beach. Located near all that Rosemary has to offer. No real view of ocean but nice small deck to sit on upstairs. Did expect the house to have upgraded their tv and music system to be a comparable rental in that area. Not a good choice if you want to sleep in as both masters bedrooms next to the pool of the house behind it.

  Recommended for: Families with teenagers, families with young children.

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• A Little Slice of Paradise!

  A Little Slice of Paradise!

  • Guest Rusty
  • Date of stay 03/11/12
  • Review Submitted 07/16/12
  All I can say is "perfect". The house was exactly what we'd hoped for...comfortably and nicely furnished...close to the beach...roomy so that everyone could escape...and right in the middle of Rosemary Beach. The owner made the process very easy and was extraordinarily helpful since we'd not done something like this before. Everything was first rate and we felt immediately at home. We hope to do it again very soon!

  Recommended for: Girls getaway, sightseeing, families with teenagers, tourists without a car, pet owners, families with young children.

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• FIND ANOTHER HOUSE!!!!

  FIND ANOTHER HOUSE!!!!

  • Guest Mel
  • Date of stay 06/30/12
  • Review Submitted 07/14/12
  THE HOUSE WAS VERY DIRTY Upon arrival we were delayed getting into the house. The renters that were at the house the prior week had totally trashed the place. It took the cleaning crew extra time to clean up all of the mess. But the house was still dirty. We had to re-clean the kitchen, some of the floors and bathrooms. Also we noticed dust balls coming out from under the sleeper sofas. I was staying in the tower on the sofa sleeper. When pulling the bed out for sleeping we found candy wrappers and dust balls all under the sofa sleeper. It was really gross and the most uncomfortable sleeper EVER!! THE POOL WAS FULL OF SAND The pool was a mess. There was sand all in the pool. We noticed on the house instructions the pool cleaners would be coming on Monday. So we decided to wait until Monday (losing out on 2 days of the pool) before reporting to the house manager. They never came on Monday. We called the house manager. She said they have had this issue before with the pool company not showing up and they should be there on Tuesday. So for Saturday, Sunday, Monday and some of the day Tuesday the pool was too dirty for swimming. THE DOWNSTAIRS SOFA SLEEPER During the first part of our stay the downstairs sofa sleeper stopped functioning. This was due to a flaw in the product NOT from being abused. As soon as this happened we called the house manager. She called the owner. Since the sofa was new the Manufacturer was sending someone to take a look at the sofa. What did this mean for us??? We had 2 people without a place to sleep. We also had a family room without a sofa. While visiting with each other half of us were sitting on the floor (which was really dirty from lack of cleaning). No one ever came to address the sofa during out stay. OUR DEPOSIT Once the owner had someone take a look at the NEW sofa it was determined the cost to repair would be $300. The owner decided since it happened while we were staying we were liable for the cost and he did not return our deposit. This is totally unacceptable. Think twice about renting this property unless you want to re-clean and have the chance of losing your deposit for an unfair charge. The owner is totally unresponsive to our calls and emails. We should have not lost our deposit. If anything he should pay us for lack of advertised resources (pool, sleeper, etc). I will never rent this house again. DONT STAY HERE!!!!

  Owner response: This guest arrived at 1:30, even after we notified them in writing that they could not arrive until 4:00, so the house was not ready until 4:00. Our home is booked ever day in the summer and we only have 5 hours to clean the home before the next guest arrives. When booking the house, this guest stated in writing that they would have 8 guests, 4 adults and 4 children, but later decided to bring more guests. Our stated sleeping capacity on the website is 10 guests since we have 2 king beds and 6 twin beds. We do not want our guests sleeping on sofa sleepers. Our pool is cleaned and sanitized every week. Given that this guest stayed over the July 4 holiday, the pool service was one day off schedule in cleaning our pool. Unfortunately, guests sometimes bring sand into the pool when coming from the beach. Our pool service is the best in Walton County and is used by Alys Beach, the most exclusive development in North Florida. This guest notified us 4 days into their stay that they broke the sofa sleeper. It was broken so badly that is could not be folded back up. We immediately ordered a replacement mechanism and had it installed within 4 days of being notified. All of this was done over the July 4 holiday and the repair was still expedited. Even though this guest admitted to breaking the sofa, they did not feel any responsibility for any repair cost. I supplied them with the repair invoice for the repair. I also returned their remaining deposit within 7 days of their departure. We provide every guest with a check-in letter that states all of our policies and procedures. It states that each guest should notify us upon their arrival date regarding any broken contents so we are clear about anything damaged prior to their arrival. This is the first time we have ever retained any portion of a damage deposit in 7 years since we started renting our home. In that time we have had over 204 satisfied guests, most of which are repeat guests, and over 37,000 visits to our site. If these guest comments were accurate, we would not have any repeat guests and our house would not remain fully booked in the spring and summer months as it has been over the past 7 years. I returned every call and e-mail from this guest and have saved them as well. Unfortunately, they were unhappy for having to pay for the damage they admitted they caused and they are now just trying to make negative comments to try and hurt us. Thank you for allowing me to respond.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 1/2

• Highlands By The Sea

  Highlands By The Sea

  • Guest Melinda
  • Date of stay 05/28/11
  • Review Submitted 06/06/11
  What a wonderful week! I can’t believe what a great match Highlands by the Sea was for us. It was set up perfectly for two families with kids. Location was amazing. The beach WAS just steps away and the Sugar Shak at Rosemary was too! Hope to be back next year. Best, Melinda G.

  Recommended for: Girls getaway, adventure seekers, sightseeing, romantic getaway, families with teenagers, pet owners, families with young children, age 55+.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 3/3

• We loved it!

  We loved it!

  • Guest Chris
  • Date of stay 09/18/10
  • Review Submitted 09/25/10
  Our family and friends loved our stay here. We had 2 couples and 3 children and it was perfect. I never knew how much our own pool would be appreciated - how did we ever live without it. The gated loop street is perfect for kids on bikes and it is easy to get to the the beach. It is so easy to walk to downtown Rosemary. We would certainly stay here again and enjoy every minute.

  Recommended for: Girls getaway, sightseeing, romantic getaway, families with teenagers, families with young children.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 3/3

Mar 01-May 24 ...................... $2650/week.
May 25-Sep 03 ...................... $3200/week.
Sep 04-Oct 31 ...................... $1800/week.
Nov 01-Feb 28 ...................... $1400/week.
Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years ... $1800/week.
Rates do not include damage deposit and $200 cleaning fee.
** Cancellation Policy - If hurricane is emminent, a full refund
will be given, any other reason, a partial refund up to 50% will be given.

Note: Until confirmed, rates are subject to change without notice.