We stayed 27 nights from the end of May-end of June.
PROS: The home is well appointed & the patio and rock gardens are beautiful! Flagler Beach is a wonderful place!
CONS: The adjacent motel had a few rowdy parties against her shared fence. The motel dumpsters were next to the property & covered in buzzards daily. This ONLY became an issue for us on one of our last days. My 5 yr old witnessed (to our horror) our sweet cavapoo kill a large RAT running through the rental’s garden. We concluded that the motel may have a rodent problem! This changed our minds about returning to this rental.
Another CON: a week in, my 8 yr old woke up w/his back COVERED in bites. After research, (& the rest of us having ZERO bites), we concluded that her pull out where he slept must have bed bugs? We purchased spray, treated the area, & the problem NEVER reoccured. We do not & have not ever had bed bugs in our home in ATL (we drove straight down).
Last CON: the OWNER. Communication was fine until our check out when the owner wrote that we left the place “a mess”. In response, we shared our exit photos showing the home & yard in clean, tidy condition, and we shared the cons described above.
About the bites, she wrote: “As for bed bugs…ABSOLUTELY NOT!! I have an exterminator and, they would not only be in one bed…they spread like crazy…your son got bit by no see ums which are very prevalent at the beach…That is completely made up on your part. No one would stay in a home with bed bugs for a month!!”
FYI for future renters, No See Ums seem to be easily treated w/ BB spray!
She then concluded….“SO HOW ARE YOU ALL OF A SUDDEN COMING UP WITH THESE FALSE ALLEGATIONS. RIDICULOUS. Unfortunately, I will have to keep your deposit”.
So, although we left no “damage” after departing from our 27 night stay, the owner invoiced us for our pet fee (which we agreed to pay), & immediately charged our CC for the FULL deposit. Stated that poop in the yard, “automatically forfeits your deposit”(we pooped scooped), stated “huge amounts of garbage when garbage pick up was one day before they checked out” (trash pick up days are Mon and Thurs, we checked out on a Sat), stated “pet hair EVERYWHERE” from our 8lb Cavapoo and a medium Goldendoodle who were confined to the tiled in front area during our entire stay.
This was our honest experience… Ask yourself, if you are prepared to risk the owner’s displeasure (and the other cons) in order to enjoy an otherwise beautiful beach home.