Carolina Retreats

We are happy with the property we have rented the past 5 years but are disappointed that check in is so late 4 pm. Most places check in is 2pm. This year we had to wait till 5 pm since the cleaning service was delayed.
I hope we get an early check in next year at no extra cost as a courtesy.

Topsail Realty did their best to keep me informed of the house we rented while I had many, many questions due to renovations from the hurricane last year. I will rent from them again.

Having rented through Carolina Retreats multiple times, I can honestly say that I was very disappointed with my most recent rental experience (June, 2019). Office staff were rude when inquiring as to why my property was not ready at the appointed arrival time; a requested/scheduled extra cleaning never happened; a power issue in the house was not addressed, even though I was told that an electrician would be on-site the next day to evaluate the problem. However, I will say that the beach front house, which I rented, provided our family with an enjoyable place in which to spend our vacation time together.

I can only give 3 stars because the lock on the main door wasn’t functioning properly and we were locked out for 4 1/2 hours. After 5 calls to report the issue, maintenance showed up and fixed the problem. The maintenance guy was super nice and said he never received any messages. Unfortunately, we lost an entire day on the beach while we waited for someone to come fix the lock. Everything else was perfect.

Contact less check in was great, measures taken within the home to safeguard against Covid was great, but:

Trip was booked early this year for a week in May before COVID. As the months passed it was looking more like the trip wasn't going to happen and/or wasn't in the best interests of anyone. I contacted customer service to see what my options are. At first, their communication was great (via email), they explained that they are monitoring the situation & are offering rebooking if you have concerns about the timing of your visit, in addition, they would be reassessing once the date got closer for my trip. Their email stated they would be sending out further communication the closer the date got. No communication was sent, and there was still uncertainty around when NC would be opening back up. It got to be almost a week before my trip dates and I hadn't heard from them so I called to inquire because at this point lots of things had changed. I was told I can cancel the dates and have until the end of the year to rebook. I was never told that at the time of cancellation I would have to choose my rebooking dates immediately. They also mentioned that I can release my dates (with one week left) and if it rebooks I would be given a full refund. This wasn't something that was pointed out to me in my first communication with them which would have given enough time for someone else to rebook. They claimed to be at 90% capacity and likely to rebook quickly but there was no certainty in that. At this point I asked if I had the option to release my dates and if not rebooked to still be able to rebook myself by the end of the year - I was told that's a question for the property manager and that she's currently on the phone - they will call me back with an answer. Never heard back. By the way, I had also asked about a refund after my initial contact with them via email (which is when they disregarded my question and stopped responding as well). I called the next day, told them I never heard back, was directed to the property manager. She was pushy, asking too many questions about why I want to cancel, why I can't make a decision about rebooking right now, pushing me to make a decision & saying I needed to do all of that the same day! While I understand the policies & some of these concerns are in the lease agreement, under normal circumstances, none of my concerns would be valid. But given that the entire state was under lock down and had not yet been given the green light to go in to the next phase, she was not at all understanding to why I would have concerns about taking my trip that I booked way before any of this was an issue. For all she knows, I could be living with an at risk person and going on such a trip puts others at great risk. The way she spoke to me was brash, & she beat around the bush until she finally gave me the answer I was looking for: do I have the option to rebook if you are unable to rebook by releasing my dates? The answer was no she cant give me both options. She then basically decided for me that we are going to release the dates because I don't know when I want to rebook - after I clearly stated to her that I DO NOT WANT TO LOSE MY MONEY! Careless and inconsiderate. I rebooked for the following week after she proclaimed that the governor has given the green light for phase 2, which in actuality was not official - it came later that day. We agree to change the dates, I ask if the property is pet friendly. She says no - did you not do your research when you booked? Great customer service! Condescending your customer is the way to go! When I booked my trip months ago, I didn't have a pet so pet policy wasn't a concern. Her response? so this all about a dog not covid! So professional and understanding.

The home was great in the living and kitchen areas, bathrooms run down & in dire need of renovation. Paint peeling, faucets just plain gross. Fridge was leaking, private access to beach blocked off. Save your $$

Read info realty provided re all the precautions that were being made to make vacationers stays safe
Rental began on Sat but because we were not guaranteed a 4 check in n trying to be cautious we did not want to arrive n just have to hang out so we waited until Sun morning.
Upon arrival I sanitized all door handles n bathroom vanities n commodes; was very surprised to find urine on 2 of the toilets; are cleaners just spraying sanitizer n not cleaning?
2 service men came to check microwave, neither wore masks n the one touching the microwave wore gloves; when the other one started opening cabinet doors n used the faucet; I asked if he had gloves he replied that he lysoled his hands when he left the truck. So I sanitized cabinet door handles n faucet.
My son picked up groceries n all food from restaurants; he was very surprised that none of the employees at the restaurants were wearing masks.
I see all numbers in NC increased today and I feel people are getting slack; public officials n businesses need to start implementing the 3 Ws; wear masks, wait 6’ wash hands/wear gloves
We love the cottage; stayed there in 2018 also

After being there for 7 months, would have liked a little more communication regarding being able to continue on and how much advance notice I would need to give. i was looking at it more like an apartment and it is handled more like a hotel. For someone long term, it would be nice to have a practice of contacting him before booking the condo to others and see if he wants to continue before just booking it up. The agent was a little cold and unsympathetic about that point. On the whole though outside of that, everyone was friendly and helpful and accommodating. It was a good experience.

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