Island Guesthouse & Motel — Attraction in Manteo

Dirty. Owner is unprofessional. Treats guests poorly if they request clean amenities. Will curse at guests and threaten them if they have concerns. Left without staying because the owner was hostile.

As the owner has decided to change the narrative and tell a complete lie in response to this review rather than apologizing for his verbal abuse, I have edited this review to tell what truly happened as I do not believe it is safe to stay here and I want others to know.

Arrived to find that the room was dirty and there were hairs on the sheets. Asked for clean sheets. Received clean sheets and stripped the bed to change them ourselves. This is what the owner means when he is accusing us of "throwing our bedding all over the floor."

Realized that the new sheets we were given also had hairs on them. We went to the front desk to ask for a cleaner room. No foul words were said. Even made a joke about how dad didn't have a lot of hair so we know it wasn't his hairs and the receptionist laughed--as did we. The receptionist helped us and we were thankful for that. Thought everything was fine. Did not have a chance to put the bed back together in the original room as we were moved to a new room which we really appreciated. The new room was great and we were happy to continue our stay.

We begin setting up in the new room when the owner bangs on the door. At first we believed he came to apologize. Instead he came in spitting and red faced and cursing us out. It was really upsetting. Accused us for "berating the staff" which we would /never/ do...our family members have worked in the service industry. We understand how tough these jobs can be...but for the owner to scream and yell at his guests for asking for simple clean amenities isn't appropriate. The owner continued to insult dad telling him "what kind of person he is..." and then made comments about dad's intelligence. Later responded to this review by calling us evil people. Dad is a veteran and far from evil. Goes to church every Sunday. Believes in manners and kindness. That's the kind of person he is. Asking “hey I don’t think these sheets are clean could I have some new ones?” Isn’t evil by any means.

Then the owner continued insulting us and even said something about us being democrats which was…odd, but demonstrated prejudice. I think there could’ve been some miscommunication between a staff member and the owner when we asked for a new room that had been cleaned. The owner assumed we berated the staff and came to give a piece of his mind without fully understanding what happened. We just wanted a clean room and sheets that were sanitary without a lot of hairs on them. We asked nicely. Staff granted the request. We thanked them. That should’ve been the end of things.

It isn't appropriate to act in such a hostile manner. And for the owner to respond to a review calling his guests evil and such...asking for clean sheets isn't berating a staff member and it isn't evil. Twisting a narrative after verbally abusing guests for asking for clean sheets...now that's questionable morality if you ask me. Guests asking for cleanliness isn’t a reason to get the cops involved. The owner had nothing to defend or “stand up for.” His conduct is unprofessional and deeply immature.

And I must reiterate that we did no harm to the room that was unclean. We stripped the bed to change the sheets. Apologies for leaving the bed unmade when switching rooms but there was nothing meant by it and we believed the room would be cleaned and reset. There was no malicious intent whatsoever but the owner wishes to make it out that way regardless.

We wanted to support this business because it is a small business and veteran owned. But the owner is only kind to you if you don’t have anything to ask for or if there isn’t a problem with your room. He’ll accuse you of berating his staff and shout “we don’t have problems here” in your face until you just decide to go back home to Raleigh.

Make your own choice when deciding to stay here but I hope you take this story...

Went with two others. One of us was called on day two from management saying we caused a catastrophic event that has caused them 3 hours of clean up. Accused 'one of us girls' of making a huge coffee mess in room that required hours of clean up and even had to repaint. We didn't do anything. Blamed us constantly. Didnt believe us. said ... its ok, we took care of it. But still we were left feeling like we were terrible guests that made this huge mess. My friend didn't even drink coffee. Why would they call us while we are out on our first vacation day and just accuse us and assume we were lyiny? They called my friend and apologized. Said it was a staff member that made the mess. Why is a staff member drinking coffee in the rooms while the guests are out? I've been to a lot of hotels in my life, but I've never heard of staff going into rooms with coffee... wads someone relaxing and watching TV in the room while we were out? Idk. Someone is in the rooms at while you are out. And not to just clean. Be aware. I'll not stay there again. Ruined two days of our vacation worrying and stressing about how this happened... when it turns out it was a staff member in the room with coffee that spilled all over the place, splashing on walls, Ceiling and entrance door. Mgmt explained how he thought we made the mess... still inferring it was 'one of you girls, not sure which one of you'.... that's what you have here. STAFF lied and blamed us. Be aware. Take pics of your room if you leave for the day, just so you have evidence of how you left it. It will save you a lot of headaches on your vacation. Review reply ... If in fact, it was another guest, and you portray a 'chill' atmosphere, why are you calling your guests while they are out enjoying vacation activities? What a catastrophic event... coffee spill. That's worth a phone call for sure. It was not my room but it affect the three of us that stayed there. I'm not trying to 'cancel' you and sorry you are turning this political. More to add to the review. Accept your mistake next time and don't accuse people of things they didnt do and maybe you won't get bad reviews. 'One of you girls, idk which one.'... that's directed towards both of the two ladies in our group. All three of us in our party were affected by all of the accusations by your staff. No one believed us. Do you understand how that makes us feel? You canceled yourself. ...

A company lacking integrity. They gave me a quote but later charged me $50+ more without any notification. The manager and owner were very rude and blamed their customer for their own mistake. The staff and the owner appeared has anger management issues even in the phone. So glad we cancel our booking. Very scared. I would NOT recommend this motel to anyone.

Response from the owner: This guest was issued a full refund, not sure why she's protesting so much. No one was rude to her. She made a reservation to stay with us, for 2 people. She then informed us there would be 6 travelers. Our staff added the extra cost, all rates, no matter where you go are based on double occupancy, 2 people. Basically, she lied when booking, then did not want the corrected price. If anything, she was terribly rude to our staff. However, we just went on with our day, apparently she likes ruining folks day. No worries, we still like most guests.

My response to the owner: This is the scariest part of this place. The owner and his staff will lie about anything. There is no integrity in their business. From the beginning, I told the staff, Allen, that we had 6 people (If I had lied, how would they have known we had 6 people instead of 2 during a phone call?). I did not hide this information at all. Allen gave me a quote of $161, but he ended up charging me $230. I informed the manager (Tara) and owner (Kris) multiple times about the situation, but they continue to lie in their responses. If Allen or Tara had called me back and told me there would be additional charges before processing my credit card, I would have had no issue with them.

I canceled the booking within 10 minutes of receiving my invoice via email. It took me seven phone calls over two days to finally get my full refund. They never initiated any contact with me. I have kept all the records and call history. I reserve all rights regarding this incident.

NO communication, NO grace, NO integrity.

STAY AWAY...