Villas at Seacrest Beach by Southern Vacation Rentals

The pool and tiki bar were definite highlights. The pool is among the nicest in the area, and the tiki bar food was surprisingly good for reasonable prices. We had a fun trip and liked the place, but Unit 201B felt dated for somewhere charging premium rates. The guest bathroom shower showed ongoing water damage and had a bad smell, probably from a failing P trap in the shower or sink. The furnishings looked okay, though like discount-store pieces, and the guest mattress was very worn. Pool attendants were strict: drinks of any kind had to stay 4' from the water, gates stayed locked until 9a despite people waiting, and towels or belongings could be removed if you left the pool area. I get that the rules are meant to benefit everyone, but they felt patronizing to me. Nothing catastrophic happened and we did enjoy ourselves, but the experience made us feel like numbers rather than guests.

The place I used to love visiting with my family has changed, and I won't be coming back to Seacrest. It's crowded everywhere now, and the shared beach area is so small it turns into a fight for space. La Dolce Vita rents chairs, but you might end up four rows back. Two chairs and an umbrella cost $900 a week, which is quite a price. If you skip that, get to the beach before 7:30 am to have a chance at a spot. We even watched people move and steal neighbors' things. The biggest pool in 30a is kind of neat, but doesn't have enough room either, so you have to choose beach or pool early. Guards remove unattended belongings, which seems fair, but by mid-morning people leave a shoe or magazine on a seat and disappear for 5-6 hours without the rules being applied. The worst incident came on our second-to-last night. My 8 and 5 year old wanted to look for ghost crabs, so we stayed about 15 minutes later than usual. We didn't know the beach is locked at 10, and there were no signs, nothing in the welcome packet, and apparently nobody knew. You can jump the beach fence if you're young, but then we were trapped inside the other facility and couldn't get out. My kids were crying and it was a mess. I can't urge people enough to NEVER come to sea crest. We'll head back toward the Blue Mountain Beach side of 30a next time. Goodbye seacrest!

The pool was closed every day we tried to use it because kids had left feces in the water. It's ridiculous that we couldn't use an included amenity because parents couldn't manage their own kids. Neither Villas LLC nor the parents apologized. I'd recommend staying in Rosemary instead, where the environment is better and there are fewer incompetent parents.

The home was beautiful inside and out, and the place stayed quiet with everyone being respectful. We had plenty of kids with us, and the walk to the beach was a decent one. We also liked using the pool at night. We enjoyed our stay.