One Block to Beach, three blocks to Pleasure Pier

Sorry for the remote, we have it available and ready to go... We will put our neighbors on notice....

Lowell and his party did not rent my home through VRBO and they must have spent considerable time finding my listing here in order to post this review. I didn't know you could do that and I don't think it should be allowed. Lowell's group arrived at my home an hour before the normal 3 pm check in time and entered the house while it was still being cleaned. Jim, the highly reputable owner of the cleaning service that I and several other home owner's use, had stepped out to get supplies. He was gone about ten minutes and came back into the house without realizing that Lowell was an hour early. Jim doesn't need to break into my home. He has keys and I expect him to be cleaning my home before the 3 pm check in time. I simply do not believe there is any basis for any of the statements in Lowell's review. The allegations about cleanliness and feeling insecure just don't make any sense to me. Delivering a quality experience is my primary concern and there are many four and five star reviews on this web site and others that testify to our past successes in providing enjoyable vacations for our guests. Rather coincidentally, the review immediately below is from the guests who left on the same day and 2 hours before Lowell's group arrived. Jack and his family would like to return to my home next year. I hope he does and if you should decide to rent also I am sure you will have a very enjoyable stay as so many others have. I welcome a call or email if you have concerns and would be happy to provide references from previous guests or references for the reputation and professionalism of Jim my cleaning service owner.

The Thousand Dollar Mouse Melissa's artfully written 500-word essay seems to be motivated by concern for future travelers. She says she is advising caution because we misrepresented unclean and unsafe conditions in our home. We believe that Melissa may be more interested in punishing us rather than cautioning others. We refused to meet Melissa's "bottom line" demands for a one thousand dollar refund on the next to last day of her four-day rental. During her entire stay in our home, Melissa never requested us to fix, repair, or even view any of the problems about which she complains. She endured cleanliness issues, including the appearance of a mouse, along with numerous additional cleaning, disrepair and health, and safety hazards. We were first notified of the cleaning problems in her first email sent late in the evening of the second day. Melissa did not email us again until the evening of her third day. Although cleanliness was her only concern in the first email, Melissa now accused us of failing to provide an "accurate description of the property". In addition to repairs to blinds and lamps, "There are exposed wires and exposed outlets". "There is not a single smoke alarm in the house." Melissa now demanded close to a thousand dollar refund because ..."not only is the property grossly misrepresented but there are significant health and safety concerns". For an hour we tried to decipher and understand the extent of Melissa's grievances, particularly about unsafe wiring and missing smoke alarms. Then we got the third Melissa email "I need to correct the smoke detector statement....my husband asked me to include that but. .I did find the smoke detectors". At that point, we decided to end our discussions with Melissa. We simply did not believe that she was fairly representing the conditions in the house. Melissa and her family stayed through the fourth and final day of their rental and left on the following check-out day. We have confirmed that the smoke alarms were never missing and worked properly. The dangerous wires from the ceiling fans are connected properly and safely to the circuit in the ten-foot high ceiling. On two fans (of five) the decorative covers over the ceiling holes have moved enough so that the wires are partially visible. This is not a safety issue even if you were tall enough to reach the wires in the ten-foot-high ceiling. The outlet that Melissa says she covered with a dog kennel does have a plastic cover that seems to have been pried off and then placed back on the outlet box at some time in the past. The cover appears safely attached when viewed from a distance but it can be easily removed from the outlet box. It did need to be replaced with a secure cover. The minor repair issues she mentioned have been completely fixed. We don't think we were unfair in refusing Melissa's financial demands and we think she exaggerated cleaning and repair issues and completely invented safety issues that did not exist. The guests that stayed in our home for a week and left two days before Melissa arrived left this comment in our guest book..."thank you for seven days of memories that will last a lifetime". We hope you will be reassured by these guests and others who have been generous with five-star reviews.