Ganavan Sands

Wouldnt recommend to anyone with allergies

We just returned hone from another vacation on Emerald Isle. We have used Emerald Isle Realty for several years now in booking site-built homes for our stay with my sister and her family and have been very pleased with the homes we have stayed in. We were late in booking this year, but came across this property which was rated gold on their website. Emerald Isle Realty is wonderful and we have never had problems with them or their houses. So, heres the good: The house is laid out very nice. The updates and remodeling they have done is fantastic. There are ample bedrooms and baths for 2 families to stay comfortably. The beds were comfortable as was the furniture. It has an outdoor shower as well as a hose for spraying down after a day on the beach. Plenty of parking. They had several tvs, board games and puzzles, plenty of cookware, and the property sits right across the street from beach path. The cleaning crew was EXTREMELY nice and wanted to make sure that we were happy with the cleanliness of the home. The Not-So-Good: When we checked into the home we immediately smelled a strong musty/mildew smell in the finished basement portion of the home where 3 bedrooms were located. It was so strong that we immediately called the rental company. They sent out a commercial dehumidifier. In addition, we purchased about $20 in air fresheners. We had to call again on Monday morning because of the smell. They sent a rude lady who told us the smell was the beach and sprayed something in the downstairs portion of the house. We had 3 people staying with us with allergies and had to bring mattresses upstairs for them to sleep. The people who dont have allergies were still affected by the smell. On Thursday, we had to call maintenance again to come out and spray for ants in one of the basement bedrooms (no food was in there). By Friday evening we had bugs (some call them Palmetto Bugs, others call them cockroaches, either way they freaked everyone out. There were 3, one dead and 2 that we killed) appearing in the home.(figured it may have been for spraying for ants because that was the only time we saw them). The smell was down to a minimum by Friday. The internet was slow and we wound up using my husbands hot spot and our phones for personal hot spots for some devices. Although, the realty company sent someone out almost every time we called, there was no follow ups and they made us feel like our calling was a neusance. It is not our habit to post bad reviews. We are not picky people and we love posting great reviews when warranted. But when you spend this kind of money for a weeks stay somewhere that is ranked gold out of bronze, silver, gold, and platinum, we just expected better.

Manager Response:

Thank you for your feedback from your recent stay at Ganavan Sands. It pleases us to know that you found the recent updates to Ganavan Sands to be both appealing and accommodating. The owners of this home have worked hard to create a modern space for families to gather, and we hope that you and your family enjoyed your time together in Emerald Isle.

We are very sorry that you were made to feel like you were a nuisance when reporting concerns to us. We are here to serve the many families who vacation with us by doing all that we can to ensure a worry-free vacation so we welcome your feedback and prefer that you let us know when something could be better as you did. It is true that lower levels of homes on our island can occasionally have a bit of a musty odor because of the damp ocean breezes that bring humidity into the home. While this is not usually overwhelming, we do provide dehumidifiers to draw out some of the dampness and remedy the odor that can go with it. As for the bugs you described and the internet service, both of those things are an issue of our location. As unsightly as they are, palmetto bugs are prevalent in our area and tend to make their way indoors during heavy rains like we had last week. We are sorry that they were part of your stay, and we will investigate to ensure there is no persisting problem.

Thank you again for your review. We have been honored to host so many of your family’s vacations, and we hope to continue to enjoy greeting you in Emerald Isle each year.

-A TripAdvisor Member on 06-04-2018