The Rockaway Beach House is well furnished, lots of home-away-from-home comforts, extra blankets, comfortable bed, kitchen condiments and baking supplies, its beautiful decorated, up-to-date appliances and tasteful done.
This renovated beach cottage is visually pleasing and modern. Sadly, a strong moldy odor comes from the lower level. The odor permeates the towels and linens too. We narrowed it down to the washer. This smell is usually an indication of mold or bacteria growing. We would have loved to wash our clothes on this trip but decided against it for fear of the smell. The downstairs is pretty chilly compared to upstairs, cold and damp. Between the dampness and smell, it kept us away from enjoying the downstairs.
The VRBO pictures are not 100% accurate, fireplace gone, and the room sizes are much smaller than anticipated, yet comfortable for two. We initially planned to invite friends to fill the three-bedrooms yet the upstairs would have been really crowded with more people. Even two people cooking at one time was challenging.
Sadly, the owner and management team, Evolve, were impossible to reach weeks prior to coming. My initial outreach efforts were ignored, asking for an outdoor table, none was provided, which is a shame because the deck is big and attracts a lot of sun. We would have spent so much more time outside, if only there was a picnic table. I emailed and called both contacts, about the request, no response from either. Evolve provided the typically contractual paperwork and home access instructions, appeared ‘form-like” as well as informing me I lacked insurance coverage. I spent time to prove the coverage, purchased through VBRO’s reservation process, still nothing.
Upon arriving at 8:30 p.m., it appeared the cleaners ran out of time. Sheets and bathroom rugs were hanging all over the lower level doors, still wet and drying so we were put to work doing someone else’s laundry. Also some towels were folded and put away damp. Later in the evening the cleaning woman came to apologize for not finishing. Outside of that, there was no personal note or communication from anyone to welcome us to this rental. Rest assured, this place is real, just not as I expected.