Bluewater Vacation Rentals Emerald Isle, NC — Attraction in Emerald Isle

*Edit in response to Bluewater's response: This is a misleading response from Bluewater to make it appear as though they will make things right. In reality, I had been in touch with Bluewater's Guest Relations department since day 2 of our trip and continued to be in contact with them on a regular basis for more than a month AFTER our trip trying to come to a resolution. The bottom line is that Guest Relations refused to offer proper compensation for the poor condition of the property and everything we had to deal with. They continued to argue that matters were dealt with in a "timely manner" and that the property was "habitable."

We rented SEA WINDS WEST through Bluewater Vacation Rentals in July 2021 and had such a disappointing experience. Please beware before renting this property. This property looks very nice from the photographs published on Bluewater's website, however, the property was in poor condition upon our arrival. This home has carpet on all the many stairs in the house as well as carpet in every bedroom. The carpet in every room and on every stair had dark, filthy stains! Bluewater's idea of "cleaning" the carpets was to simply vacuum over the stains. The carpets were so dirty, you would not even want to walk on them in bare feet. The shower tracks were full of thick black mold. The mold was so thick that the water pressure caused the mold to chip off (landing on us!) while we were showering. After calling in these issues upon our arrival it took THREE days for anyone to come out to the property to properly clean the showers. While Bluewater addressed the carpets by having them properly cleaned, we also dealt with the following: stains on bedding, yellowed pillows, unpleasant odor in master bedroom, dirty coffee maker, stopped up drains in all bathrooms, crumbs on kitchen counter and floor upon arrival, broken cabinets, and stained coffee cups.

It took THREE days of continuous calling about these issues AND having to send in pictures of what we were dealing with to get any resolution. On the third day, we still had cleaners in our home at 10pm working to clean the showers. We couldn't even put our young children to bed that night until the work was completed.

Upon surveying the property after our arrival, we requested another property in which to stay and were told no other properties were available to move us to. We then asked to be refunded for half of our stay due to the multitude of issues and the length of time it took to resolve the issues. We were told that process could not begin until AFTER we had checked out and was contingent upon the homeowner's approval for any form of compensation. The homeowners of SEA WINDS WEST refused to offer ANY compensation for the condition of their property. The homeowners claimed that everything was addressed in a timely manner. How does 10pm on the third day of a 7 night trip qualify as timely?? Bluewater offered a VERY minimal amount of compensation that didn't even come close to making up for everything we had to deal with on our "vacation."

This experience essentially ruined our stay and left us with little trust and faith in Bluewater Vacation Rentals. Please do your research and be extremely careful in selecting a property to rent. Bluewater's website, photographs, and reviews on their website of SEA WINDS WEST was not an accurate representation of the property. SEA WINDS WEST never should have been rented in the condition it was in upon our arrival. Beware that these homeowners have neglected the condition of their property and will refuse any compensation!

Furthermore, during Covid times when Bluewater's website indicates enhanced cleaning protocol, we found the cleaning to not be anywhere close to thorough! Crumbs were left behind on the kitchen counter and the floor. A previous guest's used towels and used fitted sheet were left behind in one of the bedrooms. Mold and filthy carpets....this home did not even have the very basics met. We love the beach, but this home was terrible and we couldn't wait...

Sigh! Where to start with this review?? I never write bad reviews, but I felt like this could not be overlooked, especially in light of the response I got from management at Bluewater Vacation Rentals (BVR). We booked Splash Of Lime E from 8/5- 8/12/17. Arrived at 6pm, & by 10am Sunday I was at BVR offices. Here is a list of my complaints & the responses I received. I added my thoughts on each response: Complaint (C):A ring on stovetop doesn't work. Mngr response (MR): Happens all the time. Sometimes the ring isn't pushed all the way in when cleaner cleans, so check it. Final thought (FT):Why don't you teach the cleaners to push it all the way in?2. Complaint (C):Batteries in the TV remote are dead. MR: People take the batteries. We can't control what people do. We'll send new batteries. FT: Batteries were still IN the remote! Train staff to check. 3.C: Washer is moldy and stinks.MR: It's a manufacturing flaw with front loaders & people leave door closed. FT: Train cleaners to CLEAN mold & open door. 4.C: There's blood on mattress protector.MR: We'll get someone in to change sheet. FT: Only thing they did with any speed! BIG Health & Safety issue! Bloodbourne diseases & germs! 5.C: Tiles in bathrooms are cracked & grout is chipping.MR: We'll tape the grout. FT: Health & Safety issue! Shards of grout are sharp and can cut. Someone did tape the grout. 6.C: Paint on front stairs is worn & sand causes slipping.MR: It's late in the season,& 80% of our properties are in this condition. FT: Health & safety issue!! Someone could easily fall & get injured.7.C: Entire house is FILTHY!! Walls are marked & dirty, bathrooms & back door are dirty.MR: We can't control what people do. FT: housekeeping needs to clean! NOT acceptable! 8.C: Back deck is moldy & not treated.MR: That's the climate and it's late in the season. 80% of our properties are like this .FT: There's sharp pieces of wood, as well as slippery boards at the hose. Another Health & Safety issue! 9.C:Drains are blocked. MR:We'll send someone to look. FT: Why doesn't the cleaning crew know that the drains are clogged? 10.C:Bathtub faucet comes off in your hand. MR: We'll have someone look at it. FT: Why don't the cleaners report this? 11.C: Wall paneling is warped & coming away from walls. MR: It's the climate & it's late in season. 80% of properties are like this. FT: Neglect is all it is! Repairs need to be made. 12. Management: If you want any compensation, you need to let me know NOW! I'll contact the owner with your dollar amount. My reply: I want a house that is livable for the week. I'll leave it to your conscience, & that of the owners, to decide on compensation. I HAVE NOT SEEN A DIME and it's been almost a week since we left. 13.C: I want a clean, livable house for the week. MR: We ONLY move people if it's a Health & Safety issue & it makes my job hard to move people. FT: If #4,5,6, & 8 are NOT a health risk, then what is?...I'll soon mention the roaches in the kitchen too! Heaven forbid we inconvenience you at your OWN job! Other things that we gave up on reporting to BVR:- The towel rail in bathroom is almost coming off. Previous drill holes are just left in the wall. Looks terrible.-Paint on inside of windows is chipping & peeling. Not what I expect from an expensive rental for the week.-There are curtain rods, but no curtains! Odd! There are blinds.-There are cockroaches crawling on kitchen countertops & crawling out cabinets: Heath & Safety issue when people want to prepare & cook food in the kitchen.-Dishes put away dirty by cleaners. Run your nail along utensils & see the grime peeling off! ALL of this made for a VERY unpleasant stay, esp. since it rained a lot & we were confined to being in this FILTHY house. We tried to not let it affect our vacation, but how could it not? We didn't expect it to be uninhabitable. DON'T rent from Bluewater...

ZERO stars~ ZEROOOOOOOO A police report was filed and they did not have the courtesy or care to assist me in any manner. This is not a customer oriented business. They do not believe in customer safety, customer health or customer service. Their business plan mirrors a scheme of nothing more than just that a scheme. Blue Water Realty, Blue Water Vacation Rental Agency of Emerald Isle, NC, does not represent a reputable business and their claim to being voted best vacation rental agency can not be taken seriously when they ignore a customer's call for help when their own Blue Water Realty, Blue Water Vacation Rental Agency employee is hostile and verbally abusive prompting a police report. A vacation getaway on the Crystal Coast on the delightful Emerald Isle~ is simply not possible with this company. Please, heed this warning. Book directly with an owner and do not provide this company with an opportunity to wreck your vacation.Please do not trust Blue Water, Blue Water Vacation Rental Agency to take your health and wellness seriously. They do not care about you, the customer, under any circumstance. I arrived at the property. It was dirty. I called. They sent me a hostile employee who upon arrival was extremely aggressive, flailing her arms about, yelling at me to the point that I felt unsafe. I had not even had a conversation with this employee because I was on the phone with a Blue Water Realty, Blue Water Vacation Rental Agency representative. The representative heard the commotion, she heard the employee aggressively berating me for reporting the dirty property. I requested further assistance and told the Blue Water Realty, Blue Water Vacation Rental Agency representative with whom I was speaking to on the phone to please send someone to de-escalate the situation. I was told there was nothing she could do, there was no one available to assist me, there was no one she could contact. This is the mirror charade/scheme mentioned above-I was begging for assistance during a hostile situation brought on by THEIR employee and got nowhere. I was being verbally attacked by a Blue Water Realty, Blue Water Vacation Rental Agency employee to my face and the representative on the phone reported that there was no one she could contact to de-escalate and resolve the situation. I left the property. I did not stay a single night or day. I was onsite for approximately 2 hours. I was extremely shaken by the abuse I endured and filed a report with the Emerald Isle Police Department. Prior to filing the report, I tried to communicate with Blue Water Realty, Blue Water Vacation Rental Agency to assist me with a different property as I had no place to stay. They responded with, "I'm sorry we have no other property available." This is suppose to be the BEST Vacation Rental Agency and they have no other property available??? After spending the night, an hour away in a hotel room, again, I requested a resolution from Blue Water Realty, Blue Water Vacation Rental Agency. They gave me the run around. I was verbally abused by their employee and they didn't care. I was told someone would contact me the next day, they never contacted me. I waited 5 days they never contacted me. After 5 days, I contacted them and finally got to speak to someone. I was told by Rebecca Jones, property manager, we are still working on it, we don't have a resolution yet, we will know something tomorrow and I will call you. Well, Blue Water Realty, Blue Water Vacation Rental Agency disappoints again with yet another run around, no contact was made. I was verbally assaulted by their employee, filed a police report and they can't even contact me. Fast forward 6 days- they have made no attempt to contact me but they have removed Ocean Reef 9B2 from their website. Is this coincidence? 1 star minus 1 star = ZERO...