My girlfriend and I rented this house for four nights recently. Overall, we really enjoyed our stay on the island, but it was mostly in spite of the house. It’s on the water, so the views are outstanding, and with the big deck and the windows, it looks really impressive from the outside. There’s no furniture at all on the deck, so looking impressive is about all it’s got going for it. The comfort level doesn't really get much better on the inside. While the hammocks are cool, there is almost no comfortable furniture, leaving you feeling like you’re sitting around waiting for something rather than relaxing.
The house has lots of space and plenty of beds, but is definitely not a three bedroom. The open floor plan (no doors), the number of beds and lack of decoration, makes if feel a little like an orphanage or an old school hospital ward. It’d be a weird place to stay with anyone but family. As far as the bathroom, the stone work and showers are really cool.
One last weird and frustrating aspect: when we rented the place, the VRBO post said it had internet (wifi) and phone. It had neither. Unfortunately, I needed to do work when there, so access to wifi was a big component of choosing the place. When I raised the issue with the owner using the wifi at Bushman’s café (a great restaurant, btw), the owner told me it was my “misunderstanding” and gave me a list of businesses that had wifi on the island and, if I had an emergency and needed a phone, I could ask the caretaker to use his cell phone. Definitely not what the post on VRBO said...my girlfriend even looked again before I sent the message to make sure I wasn't mistaken. Then, after our initial exchange of frustrating messages, they sent me another message telling me “they looked at what the site states” and told me it was made clear that the house itself didn't have phone or internet, but that it was available on the island. I looked again and sure enough, they had subsequently changed their post to meet with reality. Come on, really? Who does that? It was just so pointlessly lame, I was left shaking my head. Ultimately, the owner agreed to refund our last night’s rent so we could move to someplace with internet.
If we had it to do over again, we’d save $130 a night and stay 50 yards down the beach at The Firefly. You'll get the exact same view, better amenities and the owners are really cool. If you really need a house, look around, and you're sure to find something better.
