Romar Place 302

We had a ground-floor condo and really liked the place. During our week, the indoor pool was closed for one day with no explanation. The rules are taken very seriously: children under 13 can’t use the hot tub, and any child in the pool must have a parent there, since an older sibling doesn’t count. We heard the manager tell another guest she has more than 30 cameras and watches them closely to enforce the rules. She also called the company we rented through to complain that we had more than eight people in the condo for lunch. It took some of the fun out of the stay.

The location was convenient, with restaurants, stores, and pretty much everything close by. In unit 202 at Romar Place, the living room and main bedroom both had spectacular views of the beach, palm tree, and pool. The condo was very clean, nicely decorated with a beach theme, and furnished comfortably. I loved staying there and can’t wait to return.

Beach access was easy, and there were plenty of clean-off stations. We loved our stay and found the indoor and outdoor pools cool. I just wish the outdoor pool had shade umbrellas. The sun gets pretty brutal there during the day.

We only stayed two nights, which was manageable. At around $500 a night with cleaning fees, I’d expect the place to be much spiffier, and a full week could be challenging if it hasn’t been updated. We booked on short notice for a hot deals short stay because the beaches were at capacity and we had limited choices. I’d seen a few cautionary Google reviews, so search for Romar Place 1102. The view from the 11th floor was great, with sunrise and sunset from the porch. The beach was nice and just a few steps away, and Orange Beach was as family-oriented as expected. Check-in was easy: Liquid Life texted the door code, the elevators were fairly quick, and there were plenty of carts for unloading. The management group responded when I texted about the roof, which had peeling areas and a water stain. Liquid Life was great to work with and very responsive. There was no hand soap, just small amounts of laundry soap, dish soap, and dishwasher detergent. For a week or longer, you may want to bring paper towels, toilet paper since they start you with one-ply, and dishwasher soap. We bought groceries at Publix, where prices were higher than in Dallas. Planning ahead could save quite a bit. I’d forgotten salt and pepper, so I picked up packets at lunch, and the same goes for condiments like ketchup and mustard. The WiFi worked fine on all our devices, but trying to watch Wimbledon involved a lot of buffering. We couldn’t get ESPN on the LG living room TV, though that might’ve been user error. We could AirPlay to the Vizio bedroom TV, but there was still lag. We were there for the beach, not TV, though it was pouring rain. The oven worked well, but cooking sausage and frozen pizza set off the smoke alarm, an issue mentioned in other Google reviews. There were only two towels in each bathroom, so a larger group might do a lot of laundry. The washer worked great and had a large basket and agitator, but it was loud and sits in the open hallway with no door. I was glad we could do laundry. The biggest problem was the neglected condition. The king bed in the main bedroom sat on plastic risers, sank in the middle, and had a thin, hard mattress. The mattresses in the other two bedrooms weren’t great either, though not awful. The sofa cushions felt like cardboard, and the sofa was so dirty I put down a towel before sitting. The chairs were in similar shape. A good steam cleaning might help with the dirt, but the sofa needs more cushioning, springs, or replacement. The patio had a talk table, but one chair didn’t work, leaving only three seats for our family of four. The other chairs were too short for the table, and two tall chairs had broken legs, though they were still usable. I didn’t notice dirt on the tile floor until I looked at my feet and saw how brown they were. Tile makes sense for a beach condo, but a living room rug would be nice for sitting on the floor. There’s only a very cozy sofa for three and two upholstered chairs, while the dining table seats six.