Carolina Designs Realty & Vacation Rentals — Hotel in Duck

We stayed at a Carolina Designs Realty property 7/12 - 7/20 in 2024. The house was enough to have 10 adults and 9 kids under 6 years old.

On Monday 7/14, we contacted Carolina Designs Realty because we noticed that the upstairs AC unit wasn't working. They sent an HVAC company out to fix the unit, which did help a bit. It was enough to sleep up there for that evening.

On Tuesday morning, 7/15, we contacted Carolina Designs Realty to advise that the unit again was not working. They sent an HVAC company to address the issue. These technicians worked on the outside unit for approximately 3-4 hours. They never checked in with any person staying in the home and they did not fix the issue. At no point was this unit cooling the upstairs. We called CR back again to advise that the technicians had left and the issue had not been resolved. We expressed our concerns that the unit was still not working and that we had young children (in this case a 3 month old) sleeping on that upstairs level. The representative that we spoke with told us that the technician had in fact fixed the issue and to give it a couple hours to cool off. The next 3-5 hours were spent making various phone calls to CDR only to be told that the technician had in fact fixed the issue. Now, lets park here for a second; these HVAC technicians never entered the house. How can someone validate that a unit is pumping cool air without entering the house? And furthermore, what do the week-long-renters have to gain by lying to the property management company about the state of the AC unit? This would make us insane people to waste our own vacation time describing a problem that didn't exist. Yet, we were told to keep waiting. Finally we got someone on the phone that either believed what we were saying or got tired of fielding our calls. This individual sent a company to install 4 floor units on the upstairs - two in the living area and one in each bedroom. This was late at night and did help enough to make sleeping in the bedroom tolerable.

Wednesday a technician was dispatched and confirmed that we needed a new compressor (I think). On Thursday morning the compressor was replaced and the AC was working by Thursday late afternoon.

Another indictment on Carolina Designs Realty is that they dispatched another company to install more floor AC units after the central air was fixed. Apparently no one closed out the workorder or some lines got crossed. No real issue on our end, I just want to make sure that I present all facts during this review. Also, our pool never got serviced. I don't really care about this but other people in the group thought it was in poor taste, especially given that it was scheduled to be serviced.

My group and I will not rent with Carolina Realty again. I'm sure they are nice people and based on the 4.5 stars, they do a pretty great job most of the time. We did not feel that way. It wasn't their fault the AC unit was out - this happens. But we had to deal with a busted unit for way longer than we should have because of poor service/communication by the technician that was dispatched. On top of that, we were told to keep waiting when we knew the issue wasn't fixed. THAT is where Carolina Realty fell short. I probably wouldn't have bothered writing this review if someone from Carolina Designs Realty had followed up with us after we checked out and offered an apology. But we got nothing. So, here's your two star review....

PLEASE READ if booking the #702 Playwright. My family and I utilized Carolina Designs Realty & Vacation Rentals in 2020 at the Playwright and decided to book this house a second time in 2021 after thoroughly enjoying our experience at this accommodation. Much to our dismay, our experience in this home the second time did not compare. The cleanliness of the home had dramatically declined along with several deteriorating structural aspects. We have utilized several homes throughout the Outer Banks for many years, second time utilizing Carolina Designs and this had been the most disappointed we had been before with a lodging experience. See pictures posted of several of the areas of concern. A few examples included the mildew/mold covering the ceiling in the bathroom of the 1st floor bunk master. We decided not to use this bathroom/shut off access due to this. There were numerous areas throughout the home with visible stains on the carpet. Possible animal excrements? Several of the shower curtains were covered with mildew at the bottom. Drainage was clogged in BOTH of the bathroom sinks on the 1st floor king master bedrooms (ocean side). The blind in the 1st floor king master to the right down the hall facing the ocean was torn unable to provide complete coverage. Overall, the cottage looked like it had not been dusted in a while. Dust was present on window seals and covering all fake floral arrangements on the second floor, with pieces of some lying on the floor. The floor on the second story & kitchen felt sticky when we entered which made us wonder if the floor had been vacuumed. Thank goodness we brought a handheld vacuum with us just in case. The first wooden step leading down to the pool area was loose/unsecure. Latches on gates to the pool & ocean were broken. First floor ice maker wasn’t working which we were notified by an email prior to arrival. We saw a few roaches. There was visible dirt in the bottoms of all sliding doors, on windows and present on several components of the exterior structure. While the later concern, did not directly impede our stay it poorly reflects the quality, well-maintained homes that are part of the Carolina Designs reputation.

You may question why we did not reach out to Carolina Designs when we first arrived, and this was because of the importance of this week to my family. It is the only time my family is able to gather during the year, and thus our time together is very precious. We did not want our family time disrupted with the presence of cleaning and/or maintenance crews. When a pretty penny is spent for a vacation rental, there is a level of cleanliness expected. Carolina Designs and thus the Playwright certainly lacked in 2021. I hope this home and the service provided by Carolina Designs can be improved so that future renters can enjoy the many wonderful aspects this home does have to offer.

Carolina Design was emailed with these concerns at the completion of our vacation. They promptly responded with their apologies and that we should have contacted them so they could dispatch a crew to make things right. While we appreciate their condolences, these issues should have been noticed by the crew who cleans/prepares the house and they should have alerted the crew to help make the house right before the next...

Where do we even begin? First let me start by saying Carolina Designs Realty is: Hands Down the Best! They are extremely accommodating when it comes to searching, booking, and delivering the best vacation rentals in the OBX! We were fortunate to stay in the Seahawk | House #023 this past summer and it was a trip that will be forever remembered. The house is about a "beach block" away from the community access beach. Our main form of transportation for the week were...YASS! Beach Cruisers supplied by DVO (Duck Village Outfitters) and it was the best decision ever. The house was conveniently located not only near the beautiful beach, but just a brisk bike ride away from anything and every one would need in town, which made it extremely easy for us to wake up early get some morning yoga sessions in at Village Yoga and then visit the local java/breakfast HOTSPOT (Tree House Coffee - the biscuits to die for!) The house was fully stocked with all the kitchen necessities one could ever ask for and then some. If you needed a break from the hot sun and sandy toes, you can cool off in the home's private pool and hot tub. Did I mention the outdoor shower!? If traveling with kiddos, there was a beach volleyball court where little ones could play while parents could catch up and VACAY away. There are a wide variety of rooms for everyone in the family—one of the best perks— the rooms are very spacious. Plenty of closet space too. The multi levels helped with accommodating all parties and distributing sound from noisy to quiet and visa versa. There were also decks off of various rooms of the house—to steal away and have quiet conversations with friends— as well as different areas to play epic card games and catch the salty breeze and sunset. If I could give this vacation rental company and beach house 10 stars— I would. Excellent customer service. The house was extremely cleaned and organized upon our arrival. Our entire experience with CDRVR was above and beyond and we cannot wait to get back next summer! Thank you again and again! You guys ROCK! What we planned for was a vacation and what we left with was wishing we could have turned it into a STAY (forever)cation after staying in such a beautiful and spacious home. Only recommendation: get all your supplies, groceries, and hydration fluids before arriving at the house because you will want to spend as much time in and around this house/beach as you can! Using bikes as your only form of transportation the...