Oak Island Accommodations — Local services in Oak Island

Can I give negative stars? I am the person who 100% will give stellar reviews when warranted and think long and hard before giving a negative review.

We understood that in the midst of a pandemic and then the island being hit by a hurricane that there would be delays in responses. As we were trying to figure out two weeks prior to our planned vacation whether or not we could even take it, we could not get a call, email or anything back from OIA. Finally, I figured maybe they would answer social media, which they did, telling us that others had to be answered first. Didn't help us much in choosing whether or not we needed to purchase plane tickets for some members of our party.

Because we are resourceful and self-sufficient, we looked closely at the Oak Island evacuation orders and figured we would be okay. We finally got confirmation from OIA and we planned our trip, packing as much as possible, not aware of what might be available on the Island.

The morning we were to check in, we got an email stating that each member of our party had to sign a waiver that we would not hold OIA responsible if we got COVID. We would not receive the code to the house until this was completed. Considering we were already well on our way, the waivers were signed under duress. Were we supposed to turn around and head back on a 12-hour drive?

Once we arrived at the house, code in hand, the code didn't work. By the way, we were supposed to check in at 3:00 originally and then told to check in at 4:00 and we arrived at 4:15. We did not get into the house until almost 6:00 PM and the staff member who came from OIA was nothing short of nasty and rude and appeared to be bothered to have to come out to open the door for us. We never did get a code that worked.

We loved the house itself (except for the gross outdoor shower that wouldn't lock, again, fixed with our resourcefulness, and the hose that needed special mental skills to figure out how to work) and it was nice to have the linens provided. However, on all previous visits with other rental companies, we were provided with a welcome package to include information such as when to put out garbage, wifi password, etc. We were provided with nothing and had to wait for the offices to open Monday morning for these.

Monday we called because of a running toilet. We were told that someone would come and turn off the water. That was the last we ever heard. Nobody ever came to fix it, and we ended up with only one bathroom anyway for 7 people.

Now, the next issue isn't necessarily the fault of OIA, but should have been disclosed. It turns out that where our rental house sat, when it rained, garbage floated down the street and to get to the beach, you had to wade through water that had been standing and smelled horribly. The water was so deep that if you didn't have an SUV, you needed to stay at home.

Finally, the day before we were to leave, we were sent an email stating that our checkout time was now an hour earlier. That was enough. My husband did call and tell them that we would not be leaving earlier. Regardless, the linen company arrived at 8:00 am to change out the linens.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. PERIOD. AMEN.

We will be back to Oak Island, but will NEVER use this company again. NEVER.

Edited to add my response to OIA:

Oak Island Accommodations you were not "able" to extend our time as some sort of courtesy. You informed us the day prior that we were to leave an hour earlier than planned on the date of departure and after my husband had to call and fight with your staff about the issue, your staff relented. You changed the rules at the 11th hour and then we had to call and fight on our vacation only to get what we had originally agreed to.

It would have been nice if your maintenance staff was so attentive during our stay.

Very little information regarding the house was sent through email.

The issue was not the hour lost due to COVID and additional cleaning (they really missed the disgusting air vents!), it was because we had to...

Our family was not satisfied with the level of customer service and accommodation offered by Sea Style, Oak Island Accommodations (OIA), and the property owner. We have stayed at many VRBOs and have never had an experience like this. This was the most expensive rental we have booked so there were some reasonable expectations from the start for the price we paid. Much cheaper VRBOs have been cleaner and more accommodating.

Upon arrival, there were dishes in the dishwasher. The first thing I don’t want to do upon arrival on my vacation is put dishes away and wonder if they are clean. I found a roll of toilet paper, a couple of bundles of sanitary strips, and wrappers lying on the floor of the bedroom. Trash around the deck area by the pool was left behind by the previous guests and had ants on it. There was broken glass around the pool deck area and the pool had algae and was dirty. (Especially concerning because we have a young child.) The overhead microwave was broken. There was a lot of condensation found inside the microwave which shorted out the microwave display. Seems like a fire hazard to me. There were only a couple of rolls of toilet paper and a couple of hand soap bottles. One of the hand soap bottles was empty. (ALL VRBOs we have stayed in have provided soap and toilet paper.) The outdoor grill had old food on the grill with used charcoal underneath. (Who knows how long it has been that way.) There was dust everywhere and a lot of the dust had been there for a long time. It doesn't appear the place has ever been deep cleaned. The carpets were not vacuumed and there was trash and other stuff just lying in the dresser drawers. The front door knob comes off. The refrigerator’s freezer pull comes off.

Later on in the week, the vent in one of the downstairs bathrooms leaked water when turned on. This concerned us even more because of the microwave issue.

OIA is a horrible host. The first issue is finger-pointing. Instead of taking full accountability, I was told that the property owner was to blame for some of the issues. OIA even gave my phone number to the property owner but I didn't get any communication from them. OIA would make promises or plans to fix issues but never follow up on them. They wouldn’t call back or anything. Subsequent people we spoke to weren't aware of the issues and even had some of our concerns wrongly documented. The maintenance guy who did something to address the leaking bathroom vent (and finally brought a replacement microwave after 3 days of promises from OIA) left after he was done. Never said a word to us and we were there when he was. I have no idea what was done.

Over the course of the week, during our vacation, we called OIA a dozen times. And had to be on call for their calls back, not knowing when things would happen or get fixed. I talked to housekeeping, maintenance, customer support, and whoever manages VRBO messages. I was promised a loaner microwave but that didn’t come until several calls and on Wednesday. A cleaning crew was sent on Monday but they barely did anything. I even heard them make some remarks. We still had to go behind them to clean up the broken glass, run the dishwasher, and put away dishes found upon arrival, and more. A pool company came out and cleaned the pool. They did a good job.

This was my first trip to Oak Island and the experience at Sea Style has left me not wanting to come back. If I ever do, I will make it a point to find a property that is not managed by OIA.

TL;DR: There are a lot of issues with this property. The owners and Oak Island Accommodations do not take responsibility for the issues. It’s frustrating to get any sort of resolution if any is given. If you want to enjoy your well-earned...

The Fairwinds home located at 653 Caswell Beach Road, Casewell, NC was spacious, but I could tell shortly after arriving things were not as expected or promised. The garage was cluttered with maintenance items, the beds around the grounds were not well kept and several light bulbs were blown throughout the house. The back french door handle and door facing to the ocean side was lose, dirty and separating from the wall. My thought was our family is the last 2024 summer rental and upkeep has been minimal.

I arrived late Thursday to a puddle of water between the kitchen and dining area which I reported, and maintenance came the next morning. The puddle was coming from the wine cooler. However, it was not fixed, and we spent our 6-day vacation with a towel collecting this water to prevent falls and a larger mess in the floor. To pack our beach coolers the next morning the free-standing ice maker was not working .... and yes, the frig did provide ice but not enough to fill our coolers for our beautiful days on the beach relaxing, swimming and fishing with our 18 family members.

Then it was the large cockroaches that on two separate occasions literally climbed up my leg and arm while sitting at the dining room table and on the deck. These nasty insects crawled freely throughout the house during our stay even after we sprayed with cans of Raid. The kitchen did have all the cooking utensils, glassware and dishes we needed, however, a majority of the dinner plates had large chips on the edges, so we left them out for the cleaning service to discard, hopefully.

The real clincher was when a portion of the ceiling in the living room came crashing down on a chair one of my guests was sitting in. Luckily, she was not seriously injured but the large heavy chair she was sitting in broke. Maintenance came and attributed the collapse in the ceiling was from the 3rd floor bathroom above the area of the 2nd floor living room. Maintenance turned off the water to the bathroom and picked up the wet ceiling pieces, pushed the broken chair back and departed. The family of 4 who was staying in the 3rd floor bedroom felt uncomfortable staying in the room with their children that joined the bathroom where the leak occurred and chose to go home two days early from our family vacation.

All problems encountered were reported immediately to Oak Island Accommodations who was the booking agent for Fairwinds. Were they resolved? No, not to the satisfaction we felt they should of been so after returning home .... I reached out to Oak Island Accommodations for them to provide or seek on my behalf some type of refund or payment adjustment by the owner. The owner agreed to deduct $200 from the $7,500 payment I made. This was not acceptable, and I requested again for a better adjustment only to be told the $200 is all the owners are willing to do. I find this to be an insult since all of the issues encountered by our family could have been resolved with better oversight and management of the Fairwinds property.

We have stayed in several rental properties in the Oak Island area with wonderful experiences and memories ....at Fairwinds, the deck nearest the beach was perfect just wish I could say the same about the rest of the property. I do not recommend this property for your next...