Our week was cut short by 3 days because of the hurricane, something that can’t be predicted or is anyone’s fault, it’s a roll of the dice every year if weather is going to hamper any vacation - we were happy to wait until given the go ahead to check-in.
We received an email telling us Surf or Sound Realty had inspected their properties and luckily they all sustained either minor damage or none at all - we were cleared to enter the island and start our vacation on Tuesday in lieu of Saturday, we were excited!
It became apparent the realty office’s opinion of a property that is ready to accept vacationers and our opinion are pole opposites. The moment we entered, our breath was taken away by a putrid, acrid, ammonia laced odor, it was if we had walked into a cats litter box. We immediately opened windows to create cross ventilation and hoped that would help.
Our granddaughter sat on the leather couch to turn the TV on and asked me why it was wet. Everything in the house, from furniture, curtains, the mattress all the way to the complimentary roll of toilet paper was damp, we hoped airing the house out would not only help the odor but the dampness too.
Then to top it off, the cable and internet were not working. Do you know what it’s like vacationing with an 11 year old that can’t watch TV or get on the internet.....it’s brutal. I immediately called to have Maintenance come fix that problem (that was Tuesday around 2:45pm) fast forward, it was finally fixed THURSDAY.
We paid the extra charge to have the pool heated -assuming it was full of cold hurricane water we figured it would probably take 24 hours or more to heat to 80 degrees. We checked it Wednesday and Thursday and the temp didn’t change. My husband investigated & found the heater control box - you guessed it, it was OFF, he flipped it to ON and nothing happened, it was broken and never heated the pool. Plus, the pool was never cleaned while we were there, a paper on the fridge said the pool will be cleaned twice a week.
A representative from Surf or Sound Realty visited Thursday to access the odor and dampness, he admitted our house took on water during the hurricane and they didn’t have time to run the fans to dry everything up.
In my opinion, the house was NOT ready to occupy. Stench, dampness, no cable or internet, no pool heat...tell me this prior to my arrival and let ME decide if I want to still come, that’s just the right thing to do.
