We had a great two weeks here, last week of August first week September. This place would get five stars easily with just a few small improvements. First, lets talk about the good things. The view which is stunning, the balcony which is huge and very usable. The bed in master, ( we only used one room ) this was so comfortable. I am a bit of a restless sleeper but I never moved after falling asleep in this huge bed. The master bath was perfect, even used the spa bath too. The living room also very comfortable with the two sofas. Found myself falling asleep on them too often. The kitchen was adequate with a fine stove, microwave, coffee maker, toaster etc.
Now to the small things that let it miss the fifth star. In the kitchen, when we went to use the oven, we were smoked out by a tray that had not been cleaned. It was thick with grease and this started to burn off when the oven heated up. Obviously the cleaning crew should have checked this out. The crockery had chips in several plates which didn't look so good. The drink ware was sparse, with glasses missing from sets. The plastic drink ware was also sparse, it was cloudy and old and needed replacing. There was a mention of pantry items in the VRBO ad, but there was only salt and pepper in a cupboard. The pantry itself was empty apart from some old coffee.
The patio/balcony umbrella was old and unusable. We substituted that with a beach brolly that was in beside the outdoor stuff. Most of the beach equipment was old and rusty, as what will happen beside the sea of course. There was two beach chairs which were just usable. All the beach equipment had just been thrown in to the big closet on the balcony with no thought to it being stored properly. Again, I would have thought the cleaning crew would have made this right.
All these small but not insignificant things did not stop us from having a great time here. We have rented at Ocean Sands twice before but places with the smaller balcony. And, on balance, if renting at Ocean Sands again, (which we may do again next Spring ) , I would give serious thought to this apartment due to the spacious balcony.
We were fortunate to just miss the problems with the Red Tide. We had friends staying in the North Tower who came out a week after us who told us of the problems with the dead fish/wildlife.
None of this to do with the property of course.
If some asked us if we would recommend this condo, yes, we certainly would. Definitely.