First the good: Its a great location in the same area as all the other gay guesthouses. Very close to walk to the beach and other attractions along A1A. No other hotel along the beach can touch the price of this place - you'll see why shortly...
Then the ugly: If you like vintage 70's decor and fixtures, you may like this - but time has not been kind to this place. Even the synthetic drapes are period - and they show it with the originally supple plastic foam now hard and crumbling so as to show the fibers underneath. Little bits even fall off when opening and closing them! Upon unpacking my toiletries I noticed two ants fighting in the bathroom - I smashed them, stopped my unpacking and immediately inspected the bed for bedbugs - none to be found.. phew, that was close!!! Back to the bathroom - as I was um... sitting there... I noticed a few more ants on the floor near a crack in the ceramic tile. I will digress and mention that I have never seen ceramic tiles so worn in my life. The original 60's pinkish color must have really been quite fashionable in its day, but most of the finish was so worn that you could see the underlying ceramic - even on the walls... Back to the ants - a few more appeared from the crack, then dozens and dozens more. I sat fascinated and watch them swarm around, ready to pounce with my shoe should they approach me. At least they weren't red or cockroaches!
Then there are the doors - ours didn't close quite correctly. As we left one night we couldn't seem to get the 35+ year old door hardware to catch properly to lock. After slamming it repeatedly (at 11PM) we finally got it to lock - we hung our heads and tiptoed out hoping we didn't disturb anyone.
The owners seem completely oblivious to what they have - while they're very nice, I've never seen such a disregard for the obvious. How much could a new set of Martha Stewart curtains from K-Mart really cost? But - that would be like putting lipstick on a pig - I'm not even sure that this place could be renovated. It should probably be torn down!
The last thing I'll mention is the pool - heated nicely, it had a somewhat cloudy appearance. I did venture a swim but only then noticed a peculiar smell to the water. I got out and showered off - at least the ants had retreated down their crack in the bathroom floor!
My friend choose this place based solely on price - all other places started about $50 to $60 more. I won't let him ever do that again!
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