Barrier Island Station

The staff really made the stay. Kevin from Maintenance quickly and thoroughly fixed an electrical problem in our unit, and GM Mark was easy to talk to and genuinely welcomed our feedback. The location is great, and while the unit had a few issues and could use some updating, they were easy to overlook with such helpful, welcoming people around.

The kids were happy playing pickleball and volleyball in the mornings, and that kept them busy for hours before the adults were ready to head out. We stayed in a three-bedroom place in summer and had a great time. The beach and pools were just a short walk away, and the game room and indoor pool were favorites in the evenings.

I really wanted to like this place, but the stay left us unwilling to pay extra for another night. We booked Wednesday through Saturday, arriving on New Year’s Eve. We understand holiday staffing can be different, but our confirmation only said to check in between 4 and 6, with no warning that the office would be unattended. We got there at 6:35 in the dark. The lighting from the guard gate onward was poor, especially confusing on the one-way roads when you’ve never been there. We waited outside the office, then went to the gate to ask about keys. Thankfully, they had them. At first the room looked clean, and the couch seemed new, but moving the glass coffee table revealed a broken leg. The spare bathroom ceiling was unfinished plywood, which made me think there may have been a major leak before. In the bedroom bathroom there was blood on the trim by the toilet, and a heavy light fixture was hanging off the wall. My husband is an electrician, so that was especially concerning. The bathroom GFI didn’t work either, a problem with three girls in the room. There were four of us, two adults and two children, and we had only two towels for the two days the office was closed. The pool had no towels available, and we hadn’t been told that was the case. The girls had to air dry before we went back out into 30-degree weather. There were plenty of empty rooms during our stay, yet ours felt like a pretty poor one. My husband mentioned some problems at the desk when he had to ask for towels, but the person there didn’t seem to care much. The renovations they talk about felt like quick patches rather than professional work. Also, we thought we had booked an ocean view, but got the backside inlet area instead. The room description was misleading. It’s outdated, so bring your own towels and don’t expect much concern if something goes wrong.

The place we had rented wasn’t available, but management never gave us the courtesy of a call, even though they had our number. The manager called at 3:45 to tell us we could check in, and only then explained that we’d been assigned somewhere else. It was far from both the beach and the pool. When I complained, she said she was giving us a two-bedroom for the same price. There were only two of us, and that wasn’t what I had booked. We had to drive to the beach every day with all our things. The refrigerator had rust inside, the stove looked like it was from 1980, and the living room carpet was dirty. She didn’t even try to find us something closer to the place we’d reserved. Poor management. It felt like a bait and switch, and they may do this routinely. I wouldn’t recommend it.