Waterfront Best View in Harbor Town - $800/wk, Aug/Fall

Have very mixed feelings about this property...

1. Prior to booking had immediate responses to ALL messages. After booking - sent 2 messages with NO reply. All communications came via a rental agency. The villa has a hard key - you must plan to stop at the agency to pick up/return the key.

2. We were able to check in prior to 3pm. Rental paperwork stated between 4-6pm. HOWEVER - the cleaners should of taken the extra 3 hours to clean. Spent HOURS deep cleaning the bathrooms because there were HAIRS everywhere. GROSS! Villa needs a deep clean.

3. THE SMELL? Other reviewers commented on the smell so reached out to owner prior to booking and was reassured there was NO SMELL! I can attest there is a strong odor in the bottom of the villa. It’s hard to describe but it smells like cat urine/musty old mix. It’s potent.

4. THE DOORS! Upstairs exterior French doors don’t fully close. It’s a known issue since you will discover plastic like trash bags wedged over the top of each door held down with clear shipping tape. You can see about 12 inches of daylight where the French doors meet when the doors are closed. The bottom entrance level which is where your key works is OLD and WEATHERED. Be warned the bottom of the door is not flush to floor which allows the MARSH CRABS into the villa! We were constantly shoeing away crabs all day long. The have taken over the brick bottom area. The upstairs interior doors don’t function properly either making it extremely hard to close and open.

5. RED ANTS! BIG RED ANTS in kitchen and spiral stair well. Mounds and mounds in the mulch area surrounding the villa.

6. Killed 6 huge palmetto bugs / cockroaches

7. Dishwasher - doesn’t clean - had to hand wash all the stuff in the cabinets before using - old food particles stuck on most items.

Now after ALL the above - must say - DEER ISLAND RD is such an intriguing place to call HOME. Absolutely LOVED the beautiful location and the villa has a PRIME sound view - NO OBSTRUCTIONS. My family enjoyed our time together staying in Hilton Head and the nature surrounding us. Hoping the owner would be willing to address the maintenance / cleanliness issues so we could reconsider staying there in the future. To note - we booked our vacation last minute and we had our dog so the pickings were slim yet this was available. I tried my best to enjoy our time without complaining and just managed for the week. Wish I could attach pictures for proof.

Overall, I will say that we enjoyed our stay here this past week. I've stayed in Sea Pines several times and didn't know that Deer Island existed. It's a great little area tucked away, and actually not a part of Sea Pines. The units are cute, like little treehouses. The area is wooded and secluded, which I liked. The wooden walkway up to the unit is very inviting. We kept our bikes under the unit, grilled out near the deck, enjoyed the deer, and saw fireworks on the 4th of July from where we were.

Pros: This unit has a wonderful view of the water, as advertised. It's within walking distance of Harbor Town, and it accommodated the four of us reasonably well for the week. It was nice to have the washer/dryer, which we used a time or two. Two bedroom, two bath. It had plenty of towels, kitchen appliances. It was clean and neat.

Cons: The air conditioner is not sufficient for this unit. The owner had two portable floor units installed to aid in cooling down the place, and that worked until about 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon. The afternoon sun is brutal without enough AC, so we had to pull down the shades on all the windows to keep the unit from becoming hot -- not warm, but hot. Pulling the shades (not blinds, but shades) down in a unit with a water/sunset view defeats the whole reason for having a unit with a water/sunset view if you can't see the water or the sunset. The bottom portion of the unit with the washer/dryer was completely unbearable. There was only a small portable AC unit in there, and it was in a little room that had been built as a tiny office, so even with the door open, it did not cool off the rest of the area. This was also on the harbor side, so in full sun all day. I would break into a sweat just walking down the spiral staircase to do wash. I got out of there as quickly as I could.

In fairness to the owner, an AC guy came by while we were there because apparently they're looking into upgrading the AC unit and reworking the vents. I would say this is a must, especially as a rental unit. I would also recommend taking out the shower/hot tub combo in the bathroom. Each is too small, and I seriously doubt anyone would miss the little circular hot tub. A larger shower would be much more comfortable. I felt squeezed everywhere I turned in both bathrooms.

The primary asset of the property is the view of Calibogue Sound, which certainly is great, but couldn't be enjoyed in the afternoon, as the blinds had to be closed due to lack of a/c capacity. The Sealoft units were built in the 70's. The 2 bathrooms and the kitchen area had been somewhat updated, but the remainder still very much dated. There was a moldy smell when walking in, but your nose seems to adapt to it, after a while. But anyone entering for the first time smells it. We went 3/4 of a day in misery through a/c failure, at inside temp of 86 degrees (failure was due to clogged filter, which had not seen maintenance in a long time; it caused the evaporator to freeze up and block all air flow). The a/c is the original central point (plenum chamber) delivery type, with no ductwork ( there were 2 space-type auxiliary units, which help, but are very noisy). I have owned 2 Sealofts in the past; to get adequate air conditioning for an exposed unit like this, you must have an attic with ductwork air delivery, and insulation. The deck, obviously original, is delapidated and unsightly, nearing unsafe. Crude reinforcements have been installed . A new wood causeway from the parking spots was one plus. There were no blinds (skimky curtains were there) in one bedroom; we had to hang up blankets to block out severe morning sun. Would rate cleanliness and furnishings a C-. Off-white sofa was very soiled. Grimy probably a better word. No where near what one would expect in Sea Pines. I would have been embarassed to have company visit there. With such a view as it has, the unit cries out for complete remodelling.

My family loved staying here so much last year that we came back again this year! It’s great that you can see the water and the dolphins all from the comfort of your own home. We had a family of 5 deer great us everyday. The neighborhood is quiet and within walking distance of Harbour Town.

The smell of mold is overwhelming. We bought candles and febreeze in an attempt to over power it, but it was impossible. This needs to be addressed by the owners as soon as possible.

The “loft” is cute, and the view is incredible. It is located next to Harbor Town, and it was easy to walk everywhere. The furnishings were not fancy, but everything was clean. Unfortunately, the mold issue dominated our takeaway.