Walk to Hawk's Nest Beach: Coastal Old Lyme Apt

Reviews

• Dissappointed

  2/5

  First the beach front was blocked by a big house.the reason I rented this place is because I thought it was on the beach as I have trouble with my leg walking so I did not get to the beach at all I sat in a two foot area in the front of the house.the second thing was every time I called the care taker he never got back to me to answer simple question.there was no cable. Tv ,the bedrooms were so small the mattresses where only three inches thick and very low to the floor there were no lamps or end tables in the bedrooms so I had to put my chap on a cooler.there were bunk beds and a child size day bed with a thin mattress.there were no instructions on how or where the trash containers were there wasn't any chair in the house that was comfortable I would not recommend this property to anyone the price I paid over eleven hundred dollars was way overpriced.i did not contact the owner because he wouldn't call back. I did send a email to envolve and they said e where was not going to refund any money I paid.Thank you Valerie petersen

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

  Manager's Response:

  Hi Valerie, we want all of our guests to rest easy when they stay with us, and we are sorry that you weren't happy with this property. We do accurately portray the home in photos, including its proximity to other houses, but we're sorry if this caught you off guard. Mattress taste is subjective, and we have never received any complaints about this in the past; however, we apologize that you were not completely comfortable. We followed up with the homeowner, who let us know that he was in contact with you throughout your stay and did explain how to use the TV as well. He's known for being responsive and going above and beyond for his guests. We're confident future guests will enjoy five-star stays here!

• Disappointment

  2/5

  To start the story, we rented during covid but are in state residents. We wanted somewhere close to home on a private beach for social distancing purposes. Our group was made up of 3 adults and 2 children (10&13). We rented the first floor unit.

  Two weeks before check in I got the email saying my rental was cancelled due to covid restrictions. It took me days to get a response from either Evolve or the property owner, who is the local contact for renters. Long story short, Evolve blamed the owner and the owner blamed evolve. In the end I booked again but directly through the owner.

  A few things to be aware of:

  The owners (husband, wife, 2 young kids and a dog) live on property and you have to cross through their “yard” to get to the beach. One night neighbors were setting off fireworks on the beach and we were out there watching. The owner came outside and started screaming at the people doing them because her kids were asleep. It was only 9pm. Through the week we saw multiple firework shows so she shouldn’t be living there during prime rental season if she’s going to get so upset.

  The owners had a party of at least 25 people while we were there. Remember this is during covid and we have to walk through where the party was to access the beach. The usable beach space is small and once their group came out we were surrounded. If we were told in advance of this then we would not have booked or at least would have made offsite plans that day.

  The owner will tell you that the beach is fully accessible to you and you can use any stretch of it. The neighbor will then come out and tell you to move away from his beach. So in actuality there is very little space to use but we made it work.

  The beach is FULL of shells and seaweed. We ended up going to get a rake and raked it every morning in order to make it useable. The water isn’t too rough in this area which we loved. We rented a SUP and it was perfect.

  Parking is awful. You have two spots for the upper apartment and two for the lower. However in order to fit 4 cars you have to park so close that you can’t get in or out of your car. We had to crawl through back doors for cars not parked on the edge. Then during the owners party, we were blocked in by one of his guests.

  The beach equipment that is available is in good shape but keep in mind that both apartments are told that they can use it. So we had an issue there since we expected it to be available just to use and planned that way.

  The house was FILTHY!!!!! The owner told me he was unavailable during our check in (family funeral) and provided no other contact for assistance. Come check in time, the cleaners weren’t there. I spent 4 hours cleaning the house. The level of filth was absurd.

  The master bed mattress was WET. I had a box fan blowing on it from 3pm-9pm and it was still too wet for use. The owner said he would come figure something out but never did. I ended up asking him to get us waterproof mattress covers which he brought at 9pm.

  I was given a credit for $100 for the cleaning fee.

  The property is not prepared with items like cleaning supplies and plungers, all of which were needed.

  There is an interesting plumbing system which drains all shower water under the house. So that pretty outdoor seating area smells awful.

  The bathroom smells of old urine, no matter how hard I tried to clean it. Spiders were everywhere and mold was rampant in the dish racks, fridge and shower.

  There is nowhere to hang wet towels so we ended up putting them over the owners fence which felt awkward.

  Basic kitchen supplies are very basic and dirty. I was able to find a pitcher but it was covered in gunk and dead beetles. No wine opener.

  The owner won’t allow beach fires even though everyone else on the beach is doing them.

  No outdoor shower or hose so be prepared to have sand everywhere.

  The AC is two units- one in the kitchen and one in the master. The two smaller bedrooms get HOT and muggy. There is one box fan.

  The ocean side screen door doesn’t close all the way so beetles get in constantly.

  I would assume that if the owner is there for check in, which he said he usually is, then instructions would be given. We had to ask about things like trash disposal, etc.

  The area is great for crabbing and we even saw some eels!

  The property is an easy walk to Garvins store which is adorable.

  Ice cream trucks frequent the street.

  Overall the house would have been fine if it was clean and the Owner provided more info in advance. After our experience I would never return to this property. There are so many other options on that stretch of beach.

  I have photos but didn’t see a way to attach them to this review.