The Guest Experience: Outer Banks, North Carolina, USA

We love to rent houses in beautiful locations and explore new territory, and will be writing about our guest experience and perspectives.

For my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary we rented a very large house on the beach. There were 17 adults and one infant. Describing our week there as chaotic is probably an understatement! We have been going to the Outer Banks for over 25 years as a family and we have rented lots of different houses and cottages, on and off the beach. But this was the first time that all of the children, grandchildren and a great grandchild were together. The house was advertised as sleeping 20 with 10 bedrooms. Right on the beach. Fantastic views. There are a lot of women in our family and after a monster visit to the nearest Publix grocery store we started to unpack and get ready for the first dinner. What a surprise to find that there were only 15 plates, 10 knives and 14 forks. And this was just the beginning. We made a quick call to the rental agent’s office and were told that they would not be able to deliver anything that day (it was a Saturday) and we would have to wait until Monday! We knew the rental agent’s office was about ½ a mile away so one car went directly there to pick up some basic utensils and plates. We soon found out that there were only a few casserole dishes, four pots and pans, 15 drinking glasses, etc. How could this happen? It turns out that the previous occupants were a stag party. Not only did lots of things get broken during their week of occupancy but the agent suspected that many things were thrown away. So why were we the ones to find out that the house was not properly stocked? Apparently the rental agent knew that many of the things needed to be replaced but the total cost of replacement was more than what the owner had authorized and the agent could not get hold of the owner. Argghhh! While the rental agent was very nice this was clearly not an acceptable situation with 18 hungry mouths to feed. So through some quick negotiation we got the agent to provide what we needed and worry about contacting the owner later. In the end we had a great week but with a rocky start. Needless to say our reviews of the property were not very complimentary. Lesson learned from the guest perspective – If you are a very large party ask for a complete inventory of what is provided and photos if available. Lesson learned from the owner’s perspective – If you are going to rent to stag/hen/wedding parties/spring break students then be prepared for significant damage and ensure you ask for a larger damage deposit. You will probably need it!