Akers Ellis Real Estate & Rentals — Local services in Kiawah Island

We love Kiawah and have been coming for over 10 years and have never had any issue with our rentals as bad as we had with 4843 Turtle Cove Villa. This should have never been rented to us. We got to the island early so we asked if we could have an early check in they said no because the unit needed to be inspected. So that was fine we were happy it would be spotless. Well, we walked into the smell of mold and dead bugs on kitchen counter and coach roach traps on counter and hair on the bathroom floors. As we opened doors to get the smell out we noticed mold all over the ceilings. One register over the kitchen island had mold all over it and was actually dripping water onto our food on the counter. We cleaned the unit ourselves because we wanted it to be done and not bother with anyone coming into our place but the smell and mold did bother us as the day went on and it caused all of us to have itchy eyes, cough, stuffy nose and my one friend with asthma kept having an asthma attack. We called and told them about it and they never offered to change our stay to another unit or refund us. But had someone come out to clean it off only for it to grow back in a couple hours.They told us it was just mildew 😡and basically to get over it. The pictures I have show it was not just mildew. It was horrible. Mildew/black mold both cause health issues it should never ever have been rented we all got sick from it. We spent over $1650 for 4 days and would never pay a penny for what we got. It was false advertising and we have had to fight for a tiny reimbursement and have been made to feel like we are a burden on them and was told they are done with with us. I’m sure the company will respond with they went all out way to help us and did everything possible and we were not happy. This is not true!!!!Look at the pictures and ask yourself would you be happy with a place like this????This company has very very bad costumer service and false advertising and does not care about people’s health! How did a professional inspector miss all these problems????I am very disappointed in the treatment and condition of our unit!! We have rented before with them and never had an issue like this with our stay but I guess be aware if you do they are not on the costumers...

DO NOT RENT FROM AKERS ELLIS OR USE THEM TO MANAGE YOUR HOME!! We rented a lovely home on Surfsong right across the street from the beach through the second gate on Kiawah. When we arrived to the rental at 11:30pm, 5 palmetto bugs scattered through the first floor as we opened the front door. We walked to the living room at the back of the house to find the patio door wide open to the outside (not an enclosed porch but “the outside” and literally wide open). Bugs were covering walls and ceilings anywhere lights were left on along with the palmetto bugs and who knows what other wildlife entered that day/evening and maybe days that the door was open??? Akers Ellis does not have 24 hour assistance so we contacted Kiawah Island Resort Villa/Home Rentals and Ethan was a total rockstar and helped us relocate immediately! We immediately emailed Akers Ellis explaining the situation and requesting a refund. I then had to contact them the next day by phone to explain the situation- now provided by phone and written. They advised that they needed to “investigate” further and would let us know if we would be provided a refund. Later that morning, they said that they were happy to report that the bugs were primarily contained to the entry door area, but due to the shock of arriving with the door ajar that a refund would be given. I informed them that the patio door was the door left open not the entry and we have pictures of bugs all over the house. They also stated that they could not understand how the door opened. My husband had to jam his shoulder with exceptional effort to get the door to line up properly to lock it. Clearly no one informed the home owner that the back patio door was in need of repair and I am fairly certain that they probably did not give them the real story. If this is your house, I would check the house thoroughly for wildlife and your patio door needs repair. After all the chaos of that evening and dealing with the refund, Akers Ellis then informed us that they canceled our bikes. We then had to spend time finding new bikes to boot. I have been coming to Kiawah for over 40 years and have never had such a poor experience! WOULD NEVER USE AKERS ELLIS AGAIN AND CERTAINLY WOULD NOT HAVE THEM MANAGE...

Edit: To owner: We will NEVER book through your company, discount or not. Our honeymoon is canceled because of your company. That’s laughable trying to make us look cheap by saying you found “comparable properties within our price range.” These “comparable properties” either have a marsh view or have decor/ non updates from the 90’s, and on Seabrook. If I wanted Seabrook, I would have booked Seabrook. $3k is pocket change, you should have sent better properties to us, instead of assuming we had a low budget. Those properties you sent are not even comparable to what we normally book through Kiawah Island Getaways. Our normal place was booked and unfortunately we chose your company. Frustrations??? You should know what goes into planning a honeymoon or vacation. especially on a holiday week/weekend along with schedules since you are a rental company. Not to mention, we are looking to purchase a home in Kiawah, and we will definitely not use your company for our services. **Stay far away from these properties. We should have stayed at our typical place at Kiawah Island Getaways. This Ellis Akers company canceled our honeymoon trip 9 days before we were suppose to go, due to a leak in the shower. They did not offer anything else on Kiawah, but low budget properties on SeaBrook, we “should consider.” Yeah, no thanks….how am I suppose to find something July 4th week with less than 9 days to go on Kiawah, when we have planned this for several months and booked it?!? We were booked July 1st-July 8th. They ruined our honeymoon. Along with the reservations and activities we had planned on the island. Stay far away and do not make the same mistake we did. Once again, go to Kiawah Island Getaways, they have beautiful properties and know how to treat customers, and keep their properties in perfect shape. Oh, and an added bonus….we do not get our refund back until 5-10 days, even though it was not our fault. If you want your vacation or honeymoon ruined, definitely go here, they will make...