Shoreline OBX Vacation Rentals — Local services in Kitty Hawk

Response to Shoreline 6/6:

Thank you for your response. I’d like to take a moment to address both the substance of your reply and the tone—particularly the dismissive and unnecessarily condescending private email that was sent to my father, which, notably, came from your company’s President.

Our review was not written lightly. It accurately reflects our experience, and the safety issues we encountered—such as exposed nails on the deck, an aggressively slamming pool gate that injured my young niece, pest issues, and an unsanitary outdoor bathroom—were significant enough to merit documentation. Additionally, features that were advertised as amenities, like the outdoor shower, were completely unusable. These aren’t subjective inconveniences—they are objective issues that contradict the standard your company publicly claims to uphold.

While we understand your policy encourages immediate communication, it is not the responsibility of the guest to inspect a property for safety hazards upon arrival. When a family spends over $6,000 for a vacation home, the BASELINE expectation is that the property has already been thoroughly cleaned, maintained, and made safe for guests. Our focus during the trip was not on playing property manager—it was on trying to salvage a long-planned family reunion.

Your response suggests that our concerns are invalid simply because not every issue was reported during the stay. That’s a deflection. A post-stay review is an appropriate and common forum to share a full account of one’s experience, especially when issues go beyond minor inconveniences and indicate larger concerns with safety, maintenance, and property oversight.

Lastly, the tone and content of the email sent by your President—suggesting ignorance or dishonesty on our part—was not only unprofessional, it was frankly insulting. This kind of communication does not reflect the guest-centered, hospitality-first approach you promote on your website, where you claim your guests are “treated like family.”

We stand firmly by our reviews.It was written to help future guests make informed decisions—and we hope this feedback encourages your team to reflect not only on property maintenance, but also on how you communicate with your customers.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

My parents rented this property for our long-awaited family reunion — 14 of us, including relatives who flew in from Hawaii. We were excited to spend the week together in what looked like a beautiful and spacious home, but the experience was unfortunately full of red flags — from safety concerns to management’s dismissive response.

Serious Safety & Cleanliness Concerns: • The deck had multiple exposed nails, which caused injuries — including a cut foot. • The pool gate slammed shut with extreme force. It actually struck my young niece, leaving her hurt and shaken. • The outdoor bathroom was dirty and unusable from the start. • There were visible roaches in the home when we arrived. • The outdoor shower, which was advertised as a feature, was filthy and completely unusable.

Disruptive Conditions That Weren’t Disclosed: • Construction was happening on both sides of the house all week, bringing loud noise and disruption every day. • We were never informed about this in advance, even though the reservation had been made months prior.

Instead of offering any resolution, the president accused us of “extortion tactics,” which was insulting and unprofessional considering the legitimate issues we raised.

A Stark Contrast to Their Own Promises:

What made it even more frustrating is how the company promotes itself. Their website claims: “Experience the Shoreline Difference and see why we are rated #1 in Guest Satisfaction! As our guest, you are our family and will be treated to the best in...

We rented a house in the outer banks for the third straight year. When we walked through this year’s house, we were immediately disappointed. The house looked dirty, but they were kind enough to leave a tip request in the kitchen for a job well done with cleaning. I am talking outside and inside was dirty. Trash all around the outside of the house. Kitchen and bathrooms looked like my teenager attempted to clean it. Needless to say, we cleaned the bathrooms and kitchen before getting settled, washed every dish and silverware before using. Pool was beautiful, but the steps were full of sand. Nails were popping up on the deck. We were told that the trash had to go out that was left there before we arrived, looked like at least two weeks worth of trash pilled up around the trash cans for us to take care of. I let Shoreline know that my displeasure with everything and they offered to have someone come take the trash down, no one showed up, so we had to do it. The trash men did not take the boxes filled with trash and maintenance was out after trash pickup and did nothing with it, so of course we had trash outside the place all week. We did not clean under the beds or coaches, as I reported to Shoreline all of the trash collected under them, including several five hour energy bottles, vacuum accessories, fruit, etc… Lastly, first time ever seeing roaches, extremely disgusting, but not surprised with how dirty the place was. To be clear, roaches were only found outside, but they were very active, and large lol. I am not sure if the property owner realizes how little is done to protect their property. We took many pictures when we arrived so we do not get charged for anything. Curtains and blinds were broken, screens damaged, random holes throughout the house…I could keep going, but I doubt they would take the time to read this.

Follow up, Shoreline did offer to send someone out to clean the house and to their credit, they were not notified until after we cleaned the house as we drove all day and were frustrated. They did refund my cleaning fees, had someone resolve the nails, had someone drop off a gift card for pizza as an apology. I did receive a call apologizing as well and offered an explanation as to why I may have received the house the way I did. I wanted to post this as most negative reviews only offer the frustration and never express steps taken to resolve...

I've rented twice from Shoreline OBX-the same vacation house. After the first rental, I was charged for a carpet cleaning for stains. I protested since we didn't use the rooms that had carpet. The stains were there when we arrived. I didn't complain because it was end of season and I thought they probably did a deep clean during the winter. We also did not use those rooms. It was also more than 2 weeks after we checked out. They did refund the carpet cleaning but told me to report anything like that when we check in. I just got back from the same house, same week. I took photos of the carpet in the 3 bedrooms we never even walked in, which looked to have the same stains from the previous year. As requested, I sent those photos in immediately when we entered, to make sure it was notated so we would not get blamed for the stains. I received a thank you email and we went on to enjoy our week. We checked out early Saturday morning to avoid traffic. I emailed to let them know we left early, as they requested, so they could get in to clean early. I get an email back saying they will check the house, and that the photos I sent in on check in day "did not come through". I let them know I could resend that email but I would not pay for the stained carpets. I really hope this will not be yet another fight to avoid being charged for a cleaning that really should be on the owners as these stains seem to have been there for at least a full year. Other than worrying if they will try to hit me up for some charge after the rental, we've had no issues. The house otherwise, was clean. We appreciated the call when we first arrived to make sure everything was ok since their office would be closed until Monday. They provide a direct email for maintenance or cleaning issues so those subs get the email directly. Very easy booking. I would give them 5 stars if I didn't feel like they will try to get a carpet clean out of me. If you rent from Shoreline, I would make sure to fully document the state of the vacation home and submit those photos so you will not get charged for something that did not result...