It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere

Lovely home, but the main floor doesn't have enough AC for high temperatures. This needs to be addressed.

- K R , Posted: 10/02/2025

- H A , Posted: 10/02/2025

Go to "5 o'clock somewhere" - else. Great location. The place is a disaster.
We spent 3 weeks here to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary with our kids and grandkids. The AirBNB rental was not what we were expecting. If we had known the deficiencies of the rental beforehand, we would have never booked this place. Get your money back and book somewhere else if you can!!! If not, document with time and date stamp each discussion with Lewis / AirBNB. General Comments: From the moment we pulled up we genuinely felt deceived. The pictures in the listing are not recent. I talked with the owner of the adjoining unit and he said that the pictures online were the ones he used to sell it when it was in much better shape. I walked through his unit, and if this had been maintained like his, we wouldn’t be writing this. There are only 5 bedrooms and a loft outside the master with bunks. The loft bedroom had neither a closet nor even a dresser. It did include the torn out inside of a man’s swim trunks stuck behind the TV. There were 2 handles for opening windows, but neither worked. Most of the windows were painted shut. Many windows throughout the house had busted seals and did not allow clear views. My son-in-law who stayed in AirBNB’s around the world said, “every single surface was covered with a decades worth of filth and it would take a professional cleaning service a week to make it presentable.“ The vacuum in the rental didn't suck! Lower Level: The garage doors are rusty and beat up and the man door to the garage had been kicked in. The garage is directly below the bedrooms and is terribly moldy. People sleeping downstairs were getting sick, so we kept the man door open to allow circulation and bought DampRid for the bedrooms to help remove excessive humidity. At the top of the outside steps, looking at the entry door, we considered turning around. Multiple bad first impressions were mounting up. Scraping and painting would make a world of difference to the entry and the door. Upper level / Master: The master is large, and has a broken closet door. When we removed the crib to take downstairs, dirt and dust balls flew everywhere. The crib’s mattress has duct taped holes. The master bath was a real joke. It is the only shower with a hand-held head. We couldn’t use it because we found that it leaked into the living room. Maintenance visited twice to repair, but was not able to fix the leak. The maintenance man saw the water leak around the light at the end of the dining room table and said not to use the attachment to the tub faucet because it leaked to the lower level as well. The left-hand sink did not drain and was not usable. We couldn't use the shower, nor the tub and only 1 of the 2 sinks in that bathroom. At least the toilet worked. The flooring in that bath had cracks in the tile that were covered with rugs. Air conditioning had 2 separate in-room A/C units which worked nicely. A thermostat on the wall appeared to control a central unit. I could see that lines were run up the outside wall from an outdoor unit, but this didn’t work for the bathroom. The maintenance person was unsure if the central unit worked at all. Main Level: Kitchen / Dining / Living room: The kitchen has a nice bar to spread out and prepare meals. Unfortunately, many of the dishes were dirty and needed to be washed before they could be used. The refrigerator was not keeping cold. We lost 4lbs of shrimp and some lunch meat before the refrigerator was replaced. We were told that it had been worked on multiple times. The new refrigerator had a bucket for a non-existent ice maker in the freezer section. The tiny ice maker in the refrigerator could in no way keep up with the demand for more than 2 people - much less 12. The pot filler at the stove leaked water from every joint. It did give us the opportunity to wash the stovetop. The front right burner worked at times, at other times, would continuously heat on high even though the control for it was turned to low. Burnt multiple meals thanks to this feature. In the dining room, the table is not at the proper height for the chairs. The right slider to the deck required muscle to open. The left slider was painted closed. The living room furniture was sand covered and torn. While trying to clean the cushions, my daughter found a disgusting hair brush tucked behind a cushion. The space on this level was ample for meals and playing games on rainy days. The rainy days revealed another source of water leaking into the living room and dining room. In the upstairs bathroom, the window to the right of the main window (broken seal on it) leaked during storms and filled up many small bath towels. Lower Level: 4 bedrooms and 2 baths. The sliders to the deck in both of the bedrooms leak terribly each time it rains. The floor showed evidence that this has been leaking for quite some time. The toilet paper holder in the right side bathroom was broken. They tried to repair the dryer twice, but it still took 3 runs to dry small loads. The air conditioner for the lower level did not cool. A separate maintenance contractor came out and fixed it. Decks / outside: The deck held a nice size table with a few usable chairs. Many were too rusty to trust sitting on and were hazardous to the young ones. One support post on the lower deck was totally detached. So many of the spindles were loose that it was not only a hazard for the toddlers but for the adults too. Maintenance came out and fixed the support post and many of the loose spindles on the decks. After they left, we found more that were loose. This hazard made us uncomfortable to allow the toddlers on the decks. The circle picnic table was broken upon arrival, but was fixed by maintenance during their first visit. The listing indicated that an outdoor grill was available, and even had charcoal in the pantry. There was no grill. Final comments: After maintenance visited twice, and weren’t able to fix some of the issues, and having the refrigerator replaced, we resigned to use what we could and do better research for our next vacation. Our son-in-law commented, “I’ve seen frat houses in better shape than this.” Lewis realty was attentive and quick to respond. We did not want to spend any more of our vacation time taking care of repairs and maintenance of the rental that should’ve been attended to prior to our arrival. The location is good. We really enjoyed the beach. It’s just a shame the house has not been maintained.

- Anonymous U , Posted: 06/17/2025

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. We also responded to your feedback directly on Airbnb, but we want to again extend our sincerest apologies for the issues you and your family encountered during your stay. Celebrating a milestone like your 35th wedding anniversary should have been a joyful and memorable occasion, and we are truly sorry that the condition of the property fell short of expectations.

This is not the standard we aim to provide, nor the type of experience we want any of our guests to have. We understand how disappointing and frustrating it must have been to arrive and feel that the home did not reflect what was advertised. Please know that your concerns were taken very seriously and have been shared in detail with the property owner.

Since your departure, our team has worked diligently to address every item that was reported—from structural repairs and appliance replacements to deep cleaning and exterior updates. All areas of concern have now been resolved to ensure that future guests will not encounter the same issues. We are committed to providing a safe, clean, and enjoyable environment for every reservation.

Despite the challenges, we do hope that you and your loved ones were still able to enjoy some moments of relaxation and togetherness during your time on Topsail Island. As a gesture of appreciation for your patience and understanding, generous compensation was issued through Airbnb on behalf of Lewis Realty and the property owner.

 

We truly appreciate your feedback, as it plays a vital role in helping us improve. We hope to have the opportunity to welcome you back for a much more positive experience in the future.

- Lewis Realty Associates staff, Posted: 07/17/2025

- Octavian P , Posted: 04/21/2025

- lLinda W , Posted: 04/21/2025