Carolina Retreats

Great experience and awesome rental house. The house was just as pictured and documented on the rental company website. Definitely recommend them and would use again.

My family enjoyed relaxing at the Green Dolphin this August! All appliances and electronics functioned well, and the rooms were comfortable and very clean. The premises are well maintained, and the location is close, easy walking distance, to nice restaurants and gift stores. We would have rated Green Dolphin retreat five stars, however, there was only one dish towel and the linens were sub-standard. When we return to Topsail Beach next summer, Green Dolphin will be our first choice.

Loved our stay at Sound-n-Sea, absolutely gorgeous spot! The grounds were spectacular! Loved the huge decks overlooking the sound. Only real issue (& it was an issue) was the main fl AC unit wasn鈥檛 working for 4days, in Aug, that鈥檚 a big problem. We have rented numerous houses (from VT, NC, WA, OR, SC & ME) and anytime we encountered a BIG issue like this it is usually remedied with 24hrs or their would be a price adjustment made. Disappointing neither happened, especially given this is such a grand property.

Great location and easy access to the beach with everything you need for home away from home.

Communication was very slow, taking multiple days or not at all to respond to any questions. During the first night of our stay we noticed hundreds of ants in my kids' bedroom, which took over their beds and suitcases. We had to vacate that room and wash and empty all of their items from their bags. Not fun on vacation. I let Carolina Retreats know about this early in the week – someone showed up Friday afternoon 10 hours before our departure to take care of it. Not great service.

I鈥檓 giving an average review because of the frustration we encountered when trying to call the office and trying to get someone on the phone. We would leave multiple voicemails and never would get a call back. Also on the listing for the house under amenities it gave a very vague list on what was actually there causing us to overpack. It also stated there was a hot tub but there wasn鈥檛. House also could have been cleaned better, lots of dust and sand in the rooms and on furniture.

The company itself was absolutely amazing. There were a few issues with the house upon arrival and they company came right out immediately and fixed the issues. The staff was wonderful and very very accommodating and prompt to address issues.
The house we rented definitely had a lot of wear and tear. The bottom part of the house which was separate quarters from the rest of the house definitely had a musty mildew smell. Because of that we didn't allow the kids to sleep down there. Even with the dehumidifier on it didn't take care of that. So other than the extra shower down there that we used that area went unused and when we booked it we did need that extra space.

Lovely house! perfect location.

We enjoyed our stay for he most part. The house (Sand Sational) was a little dirty and a little beat up. (Broken outlet covers, dinged up paint in the hallways, shower curtain liners were molded, bedspread in master downstairs had some kind of bodily fluid on it) Also our sheets and towels were not present when we got there. On the plus side Topsail Reality was very responsive to our concerns and took care of them immediately. Kudos to you for that! While we would expect the house to be spotless in these times we understand some things do fall through the cracks. Great vacation and you provided great customer service, just a little more attention to detail and a little TLC to the house and you would be a 5 star review.

We understand COVID precautions, but when we stopped by the office early to ask a couple questions, the staff member was less than inviting and helpful. In addition, when we arrived at the house, the back door was left open/unlocked and there was some other minor property damage. I emailed the office as directed and never received a response. The upkeep on the home also seemed to be less than in previous years.

When we arrived on Sunday, the AC was "running," but not functioning, so the temperature inside was 82 degrees. Turns out that sand had clogged up the outdoor exchange unit, so the unit could not cool the house. Why this problem had not been reported by the previous tenant, I do not know, I called the emergency number provided by Topsail Realty, and was told that the problem did not constitute an "emergency" and would be dealt with the next day. So, we spent a VERY WARM first night and much of the second day QUITE WARM at this beach house, We endured 80+ degrees in the house until about 4 PM the next day, when the repairman arrived and fixed the problem.

My advice to the realtor: check the AC unit during the 6 hour cleanup period between tenants, so that at least we can be given a heads-up on what to expect upon arrival and an assurance that any problems will be fixed ASAP. We're paying top dollar and deserve better than what we were greeted with on the first day.

Following the first day, every aspect of this place was splendid and surpassed expectations.

The house was good but dirty when we checked in.
We sent emails to Carolina Retreats but they never replied to us.

This is a very comfortable house, good location – across street but very close beach access. It has 2 wrap around decks, elevator and a nice kitchen. The mattresses were good quality. The outdoor shower was great, as were hoses by door to wash off sand before entering. We were there for Hurricane Isiasas – it was a little crazy but I was very glad that the house hasn鈥檛 hurricane shutters. We pulled them all down and felt more secure, especially because the hurricane passed by during the night. We had a bit of trouble with the AC but it was fixed after a few days. A few things would make the house a bit more comfortable- one is to have towel rods in the bathrooms: two of the bathrooms had broken/missing towel rods. Renters need to hang a wet bath towel. The other suggestion is a few more floor mats or runners in the house, especially inside entry doors. Minor issues but would improve the experience.

My family and I were very disappointed. The rental was not ready upon our arrival, and they used COVID as the excuse. After arriving back 1.5 hours later, we still had to wait to get in. After we finally got in, it was filthy. The dishwasher still had dirty dishes in it, the kitchen still had pasta sauce on the oven handle, my 5 year old found an acrylic nail on the floor, there were beer bottles on the balcony, there was a water bottle that was used as an ashtray still on the balcony, the master bed still had the fitted sheet from the last tenant on the bed. Furthermore, all of the light fixtures leaked when it stormed. After many attempts to contact the management, we were offered a $120 cleaning credit. I still have not received that credit, and still have not heard back from management about my concerns with the light fixtures. If anyone would like pictures and video of this, I will provide. My family will never rent from this company again, and I implore no one else too as well.

I had no problem with check-in or checkout, since the unit we rented had keyless entry and there was no need to visit the office. I received communications (text and email) with the information and keycode we needed, so no problem there.

However, the communications I received also supplied a contact number to communicate problems via text message (910-408-7956). On the first full day of our stay I sent three texts to that number and received absolutely ZERO response or action. I suggest that your firm either (1) respond to and act on problem communications from renters, or (2) be honest and change your instructions to something like "If you have any problems in the unit you've rented, YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN!"

Even though the things I texted about were minor, and I resolved the first one myself, I still expected some sort of response from you. I was disappointed that no response was forthcoming and will take that apparent lack of support into account in my future vacation rental choices. We visit NC beaches multiple times each year.

Carolina Retreats was so wonderful! We had several minor issues with our rental property and they were on top of taking care of everything right away! On top of that, a hurricane rolled through the area the week we stayed and they took care of all storm prep and issues afterward. All of the people we dealt with were so friendly!! We will definitely rent from Carolina Retreats again!!!

We went for our planned vacation (pre covid, February) when Isaiais was downgraded to a tropical storm. Staff from Blue Water Carolina Retreats came to tie down and secure the property before the storm. Then the storm was upgraded to hurricane. House held up, power went out for about 20 hours. Again, staff came out to check on us & the house. Very professional.

Renting from you guys was a seamless process. Very good.

We stayed at Think I WOOD. House needs a lot of updated and repairs. A/C upstairs broken and this was obviously not a new issues as there were 2 box fans upstairs. Air filters were extremely dirty, causing further AC issues. A lot of lightbulbs were out on the day we check in, door knob broke off the door, multiple holes in the wall and large mold spot in downstairs bathroom. I spent much of my week having to my issues to the office. We had stayed here 5 years ago and decided to stay again, bad mistake!!

Carolina Retreats was super responsive and so helpful! We would definitely recommend them and hope to use them again!

Overall a good experience. The negatives were the room wasn't ready until almost 5, and the beds in our condo were very uncomfortable. The bathtub in the master suite also had a few weak spots

This is not unique to this business and is not a reflection on the rental home, but the level of cleaning between rentals is almost unbelievable. The amount of dust under things, on walls, windows, blinds is significant. We were charged a $100 cleaning fee for a $25 cleaning. I understand that turnover day is a busy day but more attention has to be paid to getting these homes clean.

This townhouse is in a great neighborhood with direct beach access. The beach is spectacular- near an ocean inlet where there is emerald colored water in these lagoon like areas- feels like the Caribbean. The beach is also very private and secluded. The unit is very spacious with a beautiful patio where we enjoyed viewing sunsets. One constructive feedback issue is to update the furniture or give it a deep clean – the sofa seemed a bit worn and in need of a good clean. Overall, great destination.

We rented our home beginning July 26, 2020, from Topsail Realty again, having gone their for over six years with other family members. When we realized it would not be safe for us to travel from Colorado due to our ages and comorbidities, we notified Topsail Realty multiple times through email, portal, and phone calls starting May 12 about our need to cancel. It took about six weeks for contact to be made to cancel our reservation. We got nothing back from our email or portal, and the always being told to leave a message when we called. However, that's not possible when the voicemail box was always full. We never received notification that it had been re-rented. What has happened to your previously stellar customer service?? Even under these circumstances, we should have received some feedback from our request. This is not what we expect from Topsail Realty. Unfortunately, we may look at other rental companies on the island in the future. It's sad how your customer service has declined and has been so unresponsive.

Everything was good enough to make for a very good week. However, 'Treasure' is loosing some of its luster. especially for the price I pay. Mostly little things. Some fans dirty, some with wearing blades. Blinds that don't work or are in disrepair. Kitchen cabinet doors missing or off their hinge. Dirty parking area with some junk lying around. Poor cold water pressure to outside shower and hoses. Third floor dryer not working. Stair rails grungy. Broken beach chairs and boogy boards on second deck. I know, it's a beach house, but for the price I pay I expect better. Hoping to see improvement for next year.