Pirate's Cove Realty — Hotel in Manteo

In August 2018 we planned our 3rd stay with Pirate’s Cove in Manteo, NC. We arrived in Manteo to beautiful weather and upon check- in we were asked to hold in the office while an inspector confirmed our unit was clean and ready.

Once we got to our 3rd floor room we found the sand that we expected to find at the beach, all over the floor (keep in mind this is not an ocean front facility). Our crawling 15 month old was on the floor less than 5 minutes and his hands and knees were covered in sand and dirt. This prompted us to sweep, which made it apparent the floors had not been cleaned even on a low standard. There were various crumbs on the tables and counters, indicating that they had not been thoroughly cleaned.

At this point we contacted the front office to request a vacuum and mop, and they got us in contact with Ken Herman the Rental Coordinator. He promptly delivered the requested items as well as a bag of cleaning products that we were grateful to have. We spent several hours on our first day of vacation cleaning to mitigate the problem. They did offer to send cleaning staff out, however we feel that they failed the first time even with an inspector’s approval, and felt more comfortable cleaning the unit ourselves.

Less important than the filthy floor, but worthy of noting- there were ants on the counter, dishes were dirty, the rooms would not cool, the ceiling fan in the master was unusable due to an awful squeak, and there were countless other cleanliness issues. This made for a very uncomfortable stay of which we decided to check out of 4 days early. My family and I do not expect the newest and nicest of things, however we do expect a clean and sanitary environment.

Furthermore this building is one of the older buildings in the complex, which is not equipped with fire sprinklers. Typically this is not a bother, however it concerns me when you have a multi story residential building that allows vehicles to park under the rooms, and only has one means of egress. The unit is only equipped with one smoke/ carbon monoxide detector which is on the ceiling just inside the front door. (NFPA 72 for many years states detectors should be placed in every sleep room as well as outside each sleep room.) With fire places in the units, the need for adequate smoke and carbon monoxide alarms are paramount especially when combined with the single means of egress, parking under the building and lack of sprinkler system. With Carbon monoxide being heavier than air, the entire room would have to fill with carbon monoxide to properly activate the detector which could be fatal if occupants are sleeping. (That is if the alarm is even heard in the master when the door is closed with tv or the squeaky ceiling fan on). This is just a side note that should be addressed by the property management to ensure the safety of their guests in the event of an emergency during their stay.

Overall it seems they were more concerned about the fishing tournament that was taking place over the satisfaction of their guests. We had hoped to make the OBX and Pirate’s Cove an annual vacation spot, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice,...

Was just in Unit BV914. Pics on rental site show tv's and cable boxes, but when we arrived they didn't work. We called the office and they said they'd put in a work order. That night as we were getting ready for bed 2 cockroaches came running out of the bedroom (and we had found a dead one earlier out on the patio). We had to go out looking for bug spray at 11pm. The next morning we went to the office and were told they were "water bugs" - they were NOT - and they'd call in their exterminator but it was just how it was living near the water. We were told again they would look at the tv situation. Went out for our day and stopped on the way back to see if the exterminator had come. They "didn't think so" and didn't seem concerned; said the work order had been submitted. Only when I said we would not sleep another night in there with roaches did they call to confirm the exterminator had been to the unit. We complained more about the tv and then were told "there's supposed to be a roku in there" (funny that wasn't mentioned the prior 2 times we asked) and only then did the office person offer to come look at it. He was able to get us Youtube so we could look at videos, and said he'd be back with a roku but never showed up. And if you have TVs in your pictures THEY NEED TO WORK!!! Or there needs to be a huge disclaimer/warning. FYI, I just looked at the info and they've changed it to say you can only use it with our own netflix, etc. - we just checked out this morning and it did NOT say that yesterday!!!

Also, the toilet paper holder in bathroom was broken off, the bathroom door wouldn't shut all the way and the toilet was not level - felt like you're sitting at a big angle.

Definitely will NOT spend my money at ANY Pirates Cove Realty properties again. I get that things happen, but act like you care about screwing up...

I have stayed at Pirates-Cove Resort in Manteo for many years and always used the rental office located at the resort. In the past I have received good service and friendly people to work with. This time the people were not so friendly and the service was awful. Travelling with a pet and 8 year old and knowing the weather was calling for rain I asked the resort personnel if by some chance the condo would be ready early. Talking with 2 people the week of arrival assured me it would be no problem as the condo wasn't rented several days before arrival. WELL...that was a joke. We arrived around 11 and let the rental office staff know we had arrived and would check in whenever it was ready. I was told it wasn't ready when the lady head of housekeeping walked in and rudely said "it was cleaned on Friday" and walked away. The guy that was helping me said well early check-in isn't until 1 so we will call. 5 hours later, sitting in a car with an eight-year old and a dog with rain pouring down, so we had to keep the car running, we were finally notifed. I had called the 1-800 # manager, was told he was busy and would call me back (the 1-800 # was the one I had called that said early check-in wouldn't be a problem) 1 week and 2 days later...no returned call. During the week it poured like Heaven had opened the doors. The roof leaked in the bedroom and water poured down the blinds in the window. The leak was never fixed. Also, the wait time was for the inspector to check to ensure the condo was clean. Not sure why we waited because it wasn't clean, the counter was dirty, plastic bags were thrown over the frying pans in the cabinet and black dog hair was all over. Think I will try another rental company next...