Harbour Place #202 by Southern Vacation Rentals

I’ve had a great experience here for four of the past winters. The exception was the one winter I rented through Vacasa, which I do not recommend. Renting directly from owners has worked very well for me, as have Bret Robinson rentals and Beachball rentals, both locally owned and managed. The tricky part is that every condo is individually owned and managed by a different company, as is true in several beach buildings. I think it’s best to rent through a local company so you can deal with someone face to face if there’s a problem.

This is a great place in a great location. It’s older, but well kept, and I’ll definitely come back. My complaint is about the fire alarm tonight. The silence panel was unlocked and accessible in the garage, and even the door to the actual panel wasn’t locked. I imagine a code is still needed to issue commands, but being able to reach it could be hazardous in a real emergency. It should be secured in a locked room so only professionals can silence the alarm.

There was mold on the bedroom ceiling, one elevator was out of order, and the fire alarm went off five times during the month we stayed.

We were in room 212, and I wouldn’t recommend staying there. It was dirty: crumbs in the sheets, hair all over the towels, clumps of hair dragging on the doors, and furniture that felt soggy. Parking cost extra even though it was supposed to be included. Basic supplies were missing too, including trash bags, foil, salt, and pepper. The balcony door was almost impossible to open, even with two adults pulling at full strength, so the balcony was basically unusable. They also charged $75 for leaving the trash, though the condo directions never said to take it out. We followed the instructions to clear the sheets and load the dishwasher. We didn’t take out the trash because we’d only been given one bag for six people over three nights.