Our house was on a private street, about eight houses from the beach and the price we paid reflects that.
BUT.......The beach was CLOSED so my husband had to pack the car, drive 30-40 minutes, pay for parking, unload the car, and walk for what felt like to be a mile before we could sit and relax on the state public beach.
We have previously rented houses that are in walking distance to the beach, if not on the beach, using VRBO and Royal Shell and have always had great vacations up till September 2021.
For this vacation, it was difficult to find an available house for just my husband and myself but we did find a rental that was eight houses from the beach. This was very important because I was recovering from surgery and could not walk far and could not carry anything.
There was mildew/dirty around the pool and the entire screened in area of the pool was infested with spiders and webs. Just walking out to the pool area, you would most likely walk into a web not to mention alert the spiders and the next thing you know, a spider is right next to you or on you.
The beach project was something that the property owners and ALL businesses knew about but Royal Shell NEGLECTED
to tell us.
We went to the office of Royal Shell and spoke to a woman there telling her of our HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT and how this is not honest or acceptable to rent a beach house when the beach is closed for the "Re-nourishment" (dredging) project.
She replied that she " didn't know about it " even though the closures were all over the news and online with maps of closures for months if not for years.
When we told her about the spider infestation, she replied,
"well this is South Florida". None of our South Florida houses or any other tropical house has ever had any bug or spider INFESTATION..
When we told her of our disappointment in how much work it was to go to the beach especially considering my medical condition and because the beach was closed, she commented on how "beautiful the state beach is". Total disregard for everything that we said.
Not to mention that a couple of times, including this morning, I have received text from Royal Shell encouraging me to "rent again "for next year and "review your stay".
I have made numerous calls and went in person to Royal Shell to find how how we would be compensated, wether it is a complimentary week to a comparable house of our choosing or a complete refund.
We have not had any replies.