We desperately wanted to love Coastal Haven, but can only give 3 stars and won't rent it again.
THE GOOD - Property is spacious, inside and out. We hosted Thanksgiving for our family, some who we haven't seen for 18 months due to COVID. Our grandkids used the pool daily and the adults relaxed around the outdoor firepit and covered grill area.
THE BAD - For the money we spent, we expected a near-perfect rental. This property didn't come close. Upon arrival, it had not been cleaned properly (coffee grinds in coffee maker, trash can full / stinky, counters dirty). Worse yet, the oven we critically needed for Thanksgiving hadn't been cleaned in some time. The caked-on grease was nauseating. Karen blamed her cleaning person and offered to send her back, but we didn't trust her and re-cleaned everything ourselves.
The downstairs half-bath (the one everyone used because of its proximity to the great room/outside area) was not ready for guests. The hot water faucet was never hooked up, so people had to wash their hands using cold water. Also, the mirror was literally connected to the wall using blue painters tape. We prayed no one would get hurt.
Although the heated pool was a great diversion for our grandkids, we had to skim and rake hundreds of leaves 3X per day to make the pool usable. Why? Because the picture of the backyard on VRBO is NOT accurate. The backyard trees and shrubs are severely overgrown and continuously drop leaves into the pool.
THE UGLY - On Thanksgiving Eve, the kitchen sink started draining extremely slowly and the garbage disposal didn't work. On Thanksgiving, we reported the clog, and Karen sent a handyman on Friday who advised the gears were shot. He reported this to Karen who took no action to replace it during our stay. NOTHING screams vacation like having to hand-wash dishes for 21 meals while waiting for the water to drain enough so you could rinse the dishes in clean water.
THE LITTLE THINGS - Over the sink, there is a wooden plaque that reads "Little Things". That's what was missing from this rental. Karen responds via text promptly, but doesn't follow through. On her VRBO listing, there's a picture of an indoor fireplace, but it doesn't work. We requested to have more than 3 cars in the driveway for Thanksgiving dinner, but were told "No", so family had to park a half-mile away and walk. It's always the little things.
We have pictures and video of these issues, but there is no way to post them on VRBO.
