Cherry Grove Villas by Elliott Beach Rentals

For our first visit to Cherry Grove Beach, my family and I stayed in unit 402. We may never come back, but if we do, it will NOT be at this location. The unit needs a top-to-bottom cleaning, including the couches, and the appliances, furniture, box springs, and mattresses all need replacing. I found a young man’s wallet under the front of a couch cushion. It had been lost in January, and it was now JUNE. I found him through social media, and he said he’d been assured it had been found after a good cleaning. That tells you the cleaning isn’t getting done. The pictures say it all. Dirt, dust, and hair were everywhere. There was black mold in multiple spots, including the fridge ice dispenser, which was held shut with a flimsy child safety lock that didn’t keep the freezer closed. We lost food and money. The same fridge’s regular compartment froze our 36 farm-fresh, cage-free eggs for several breakfasts, another loss. We bought ice and drinking water so we wouldn’t drink molded water, spending more money. The other fridge was filthy inside and out, with black mold on the freezer door and rust. The appliances looked like castoffs from someone’s garage, fit for the dump. One bedroom had popcorn kernels on the floor, including under the bed, along with empty sandwich-size ziplocks, dust, and coins. The bed box-spring covers were filthy. The furniture was pressboard, which would be fine at the beach if they weren’t covering the tops with contact paper instead of replacing it. The drawers wouldn’t stay in when opened. There was mold around the shower water mixers, and the dish drain was so dirty I wouldn’t put dishes in it. The dishwasher rack fell off its track every time we loaded or unloaded it, and we weren’t even sure it belonged to that dishwasher. The coffee pot and machine didn’t match up. The four-slice toaster only worked on one side. The light under the microwave above the stovetop was out, the stove top needed scrubbing, and the oven needed a major cleaning. On our first night, taco shells in the oven for five minutes filled the kitchen with smoke and set off the alarms. The same happened whenever we used the oven, even to toast bread on a pan, bake biscuits, or cook fries. The kitchen faucet wouldn’t shut off completely and kept running in a small stream. Many light bulbs didn’t work, and the table lamps had no bulbs at all. The dining tables had what looked like glitter glue all over them and food splatters on the legs. Some chairs seemed unstable. Be aware that the elevator is external and won’t take you to the upper floor inside the unit. I called and asked if it went to the second floor inside, and was told yes, which wasn’t true. If you’re traveling with several family members with disabilities, you need to know what you’re booking. The stairs were out of order, and there was no sign showing where the next closest stairwell was, so we couldn’t plan how to get my disabled father out safely if there were a fire or the elevator stopped working.