Island Vacation Properties — Attraction in Holmes Beach

We rented a unit called Beachside Palms 3 for 9 nights thru Flipkey to celebrate our son's 21st birthday. I spent weeks poring over properties to find the right unit, and the one I chose was, indeed, super nice. We were very happy. For 2 days....

Unfortunately, on the morning after the 2nd night on 7/27/17, we woke at 7 am to step out of bed to find the entire unit flooded. There was three to four inches of filthy water on the floor, the entire first floor was under water, including closets, and water was still gushing in thru the front door from a dirty parking lot. We were scared to death we were going to step in it and get electrocuted! This was after a very minor rain. It was very traumatic watching our belongings -- suitcases, shoes, books, clothing, towels, an iPad, my son's PlayStation, floating in filth. We called the emergency line, and did nit hear back for 1-1/2 hours. At 8:30, after a call to the owner where he confessed this had happened before, someone showed up to say, Wow, that sucks.

Because the private owner of Beachside Palms 3 uses these sheisters, the Annis' to "manage" for him, (he lives in Ohio), and because he completely stranded us and never attempted contact or resolution after we were flooded, by no fault of our own, we were stuck with Island Vacation Properties and at their mercy when it came to being relocated. Of course, all they were worried about was their money.

Rather than doing the right thing and being compassionate by placing us in a suitable unit and allowing us to participate and choose fairly, they shot off three choices in an email, only showed us two -- by an embarrassed employee who made sure we knew that she knew there were problems at both the units as she showed them -- at their dumpiest properties, neither of which were even close to being satisfactory.

When it became immediately apparent that we were placed in a mismanaged dump with a filthy pool, dirty grounds, a grill and dryer that didn't work, and a sofa bed that was unusable, we complained. We were told to stop complaining, basically to shut up and take it or leave it. During high season and midweek, leaving was not an option. After writing reviews on Facebook and Yelp, to help others avoid this misfortune, they attempted to cover by lying.

Although THEY PLACED US in Alamanda Villas and admitted full knowledge that it has many issues, they shifted blame to another property management company. At the same time, they advertise and RENT OUT 5 units at this property on their website, luring vacationers and honeymooners with old, outdated misleading and completely inaccurate photos. They also twice cited a tropical storm, a despicable attempt to excuse their bad business practices. They are fully aware that the storm they cite happened 5 days AFTER our flooding incident, and 3 days AFTER untouched photos I posted of the poor conditions at the property we were stuck with.

I am writing this review to hopefully alert anyone considering using their services to weigh their options and to choose another property management company in the area, as there are many other reputable companies. A company is only as good as the service they provide during a problem. Avoid this company...

I'm so sad to write this review because honestly, the property was very nice. We had almost no complaints.

And then came the charges after we left. Keep in mind I had had multiple phone conversations, we confirmed a one month rental while we waited to close on our house, and everything seemed on the up and up.

Then they said we hadn't informed them there would be dogs and there was a pet fee. I replied oh yes I did, it was the first email I sent and the first conversation we had in late June. They said well whatever we are charging you. I said no, I told you about the dogs, and we negotiated the month long rental fee which I agreed to pay, and you already knew about the dogs so I assumed it was in that total amount.

Then came the rudeness, the gaslighting, and shutting me down. They are not interested at all in customer service, even though I have in writing that I informed them of the dogs. The dogs were part of the deal from the beginning.

They charged the card they had on file without my approval and with no additional paperwork signed.

On their invoice, it tells you you can go to YapStone Inc if you have complaints about the charges. I did, and followed the info to Florida. The number they tell you to call for Yap immediately is picked up and hangs up on you. So clearly not a legit business number. They also give you a number for Florida Office of Financial Regulation, but THAT number is a scam trying to sell me fake Medicare. Wow wow wow.

So now not only do I think the company is just unethical and rude, but I am wondering if this is a fraud scheme from top to bottom because their payment processing company clearly isn't a legit business.

There are lots of rentals in Florida folks, look elsewhere and get it from a mom and pop owner who won't scam...

My family and I stayed at Bayview Condo B for a week during a trip to Florida. When we arrived to the unit - everything was clean and how one would expect a condo unit on AMI to be. There were supplies for dishes and trash and beach supplies as well.

The real reason for my review though is to call out my experience with Island Vacation Properties (IVP) and specifically one of the employees - Leah.

First and foremost - when we booked our stay, the property was being managed by another company and when IVP took over they did an amazing job communicating with us. Their communication as we got closer to checking in was also superb. Once we spent our first night in the unit - they sent a text asking for feedback on everything with check in. I responded letting them (Leah) know that the bed was absolutely shot in the unit and that it was so bad that I wouldn’t be able to in good conscience recommend the unit to anyone. Leah immediately apologized for the experience and then went above and beyond from there. She followed up with the owner of the unit to confirm that they had just recently replaced the box spring, but then she didn’t stop there. She went on to get approval for a NEW MATTRESS (and it was delivered just one night later!)

I have NEVER had such good customer service from a property management company. We travel often and come to AMI at least twice a year and IVP (because of Leah!) has won me over. I will recommend them and their properties to all my friends and family and any chance I get on...