Gorgeous Gulf Front Townhouse with Elevator, Private Beach Access, and Pool!

We stayed in VILLA ROYALE in Destin. When we got there, the inspector had to go back in to the house to RECLEAN it after the cleaning people left. We had to call that evening to get them to come back because the linens weren't changed, they were dirty and full of HANDFULS of sand, before we even got in them to sleep. The seal around the refrigerator was was torn and would not stay closed, so it wouldn't cool below 51 degrees, the hot water knob on the sink leaked all over the counter when used, and the coffee maker leaked out the bottom when used. The hot tub jets switch was broke as well, and there was a dirty band aid next to the hot tub and dead cock roaches in the down stairs bedroom. I had to call multiple times to get these fixed. And not all were fixed by the time we left! The inspector came back and said I quote "I was afraid I would have to come back out here" meaning she knew the house was a wreck when they let us check in. At least the service tech that came by the SECOND time was really nice and even came by on the third day to check if everything was going okay. He fixed the sink, refrigerator and sprayed for bugs. By the time we left the coffee maker was still broke, the hot tub wasn't fixed, and the dish washer was in poor condition still. The house next to us were exactly the same as ours but with different owners and in much better up keep. THIS HOUSE IS NOT WORTH THE MONEY UNLESS THE OWNERS FIX IT UP! The view and beach were awesome though. The neighborhood was very nice as well.

Would I consider renting this property again? Yes. Would I refer someone to this property? No.

Positives:

- The location is great.

- The bedrooms and bathrooms are comfortably large.

The following observations are from my point of view that this property is advertised and priced as a luxury rental, and that the totality of the issues left me mildly disappointed. If I were the owner or a potential renter, I would want to know the following observations and suggested points of improvement:

- The home was in need of a deep cleaning.

- The shower drain in the beachside 3rd floor BR was visibly clogged with hair when we arrived. Two inches of water built up while showering.

- There is mold growing out of the vents on the top floors. If in the vents, it is likely in the whole system. Periodic attention to this may prevent a potentially serious health/liability issue.

- The bed sheets should be replaced. Our fitted sheet would not hold to the bed and the skirt had a large hole in it. The top blanket cover had clearly not been cleaned in a while.

- The screen doors do not function smoothly.

- The air conditioning in the bunk room needs to be greatly improved. Had it been hot in the evenings, I am certain that the room would have been unusable.

- The wifi password provided by five star was incorrect. The wifi password written on the router is incorrect because of the mismatch between capital and lower case letters. This only took me 5-10 minutes to figure out but created unwanted frustration.

- The wifi crashed often. A router upgrade seems appropriate.

- The toilet paper provided was of an extremely low quality. If needed, add a bit to the rental price to provide at least a moderate quality TP. I am certain it will be appreciated by many renters.

- All of the sink faucets in the home were installed backwards. Each time you use a sink, you have to remember a left turn is off, not on. Not a giant deal, but seems an easy fix to prevent daily frustrations for your renters.

At the end of the day, this is a quality property that could be managed much better, in my humble opinion. Pinching pennies can sometimes lose you dollars.

Nice Home, plenty of room, good view, convenient location. A little disappointed in the condition of some things, Jacuzzi needed repair after we got there and the ice maker dispenser didn't work. We had to borrow the neighbors hose everyday to fill the Jacuzzi. Internet connection went down three days in a row. Fortunately we had some one with us that could take care of that. However, maintenance staff was prompt to take care of things. Seems like home needs a little proactive TLC.

We were in town for a wedding and had a majority of the family stay at the house. It is a beautiful house, well appointed, and in an excellent location. The views of the beach are magnificent from all three levels and access to the beach is right off the house. We had 7 kids and 7 adults and there was plenty of room for everyone. The kids absolutely loved the little pool off the first floor! During the day, you could watch the dolphin swimming in the waves.

All in all, it is a wonderful place, conviently located to everything (shopping, resturants, highway), but far enough away that all you can hear is the waves coming in and the boats fishing the second sandbar. The five star realty folks were easy to work with and the app for the iphone was extremely helpful in providing information. We highly recommend staying here!

After several visits to Destin we were a bit disappointed with our stay at the Villa Royal. Specifically, we had issues with the front door entry key code lock. We were either lock out and locked in several occasions. On a good note, the maintance staff was prompt in complete the necessary repairs.