After reading all of the previous reviews, speaking to Chris, and reviewing the pictures, my family decided this is definitely the place to bring my mother for a quick visit. She has been battling cancer for the past 7 years and has had to stop treatment. Growing up on the beach, I knew I had to get her there one last time. Chris was great, we sent our payment immediately and once he received it, sent us all of the details via text for our stay on Sept 16-18th. To my horror, I receive a TEXT this morning stating "We have some unexpected maintenance issues come up that can only be scheduled for this weekend. Unfortunately I will not be able to lease it to you this weekend. Please send me your address so I can mail back your payment. Or would you like to book another weekend? Chris." It is Monday Sept 12 @ 10:30am and I receive this. What makes it worse is just this past weekend on the 9th Chris texts out of the blue and states he has the 10-12 available and would I be interested in that weekend as well. We then exchanged further text explaining that the 16th-18th is what we paid for and the only weekend we can get my mother there, reconfirming our stay for this upcoming weekend. So last weekend, no one was there and everything was fine, the weekend we paid for well in advance now Urgent Maintenance needs to be done. My heart is broken, my trust is shattered, and I just cannot allow the reviews of how nice Chris is, to stand alone. This may be a 5 star condo, however the business is run by something far less classy. A TEXT to cancel my paid for reservations to bring my mother to the beach while she is still with us, it's shameful. Worse, once I received the text I immediately called, and my call was sent to voicemail. Only to be followed immediately by I will TRY to call you later. Please take this into consideration before renting from Chris.

There is a bit more to the story, however I will stop here and ask buyer please beware. Sending money and trusting that you have a solid booked condo for a trip, could change days before you are expected to leave.

Went on a family vacation to Pensacola Beach, loved the area! Beautiful beaches, enjoyable restaurants, fun night-life. Emerald Isle was nice, the condos were clean, with plenty of room and the staff was helpful. The pool and hot tub were nothing special but was kept clean and it wasn't over-crowded. The beaches were lovely; overall we had a very nice vacation. I would stay again.

We have stayed at Emerald Isle at least 5 times over the past 7 or so years. We lived on Pensacola Beach for many years, too. Always booked a 2 bedroom unit at Emerald Isle when visiting. Location right on Gulf of Mexico beach with nice balconies. Restaurants available near building and ample parking. This time was different. The 2-bedroom condo on the 15th floor seemed smaller than those we had rented previously. There was a tiny TV in the master bedroom but it was mounted at ceiling level. TV in living room was in a cabinet that had doors which did not fold back and the lack of a swivel shelf made the very old and heavy TV difficult to see from anywhere other than the uncomfortable living room sofa. There was a flat screen TV in the second bedroom (twin beds were the only furniture in that room). Upholstered furniture was old and uncomfortable and needs replacement. Dining table and breakfast bar provided ample seating. Beds were ALL old and uncomfortable. My husband had problems sleeping in the king bed and discovered that the twin beds in the second bedroom were also uncomfortable. Housekeeping was terrible-particularly bathrooms, which looked like the floor had been mopped but there was dirt and grime where the walls met the floors and hair floating around, too. I stay in condos frequently and have owned several in the past. I have never found one with so few basic necessities available upon arrival. Very limited amount of toilet tissue, no dishwasher tablets (not even ONE for the first day),no laundry detergent sampler sizes for even one wash, low quality bar soap in bathrooms. No paper towels. Linens and towels were in need of replacement and blanket on king bed was shabby and looked like it needed washing. It also smelled of cigarette smoke even though this was a non-smoking unit. Very disappointed with the condo unit, which was listed on VRBO and also managed by a professional management company that we had used before without problems. I booked through the management company and was not warned about the condition of this condo. The weekly rate was reasonable but not for the unit we stayed in. A bargain is not always a bargain here. In the future, I would probably not use a "vacation resort by owner" listing without questioning the owner about the condition of the unit but felt that the management company would not represent a unit that was in the condition this one was in. The photos on the web site looked very attractive, too! One other concern -and this one applies to the building-was security. Key cards are not used here. Previous units we rented had a chain lock on the door. This one did not. Since it was January, only 40 condo units were occupied. Anyone with a key could enter easily since the door key and deadbolt used the same key. There are outside corriders on all floors of this building. The windows to the second bedroom (children's room) opened on to these corriders and we were not comfortable leaving the windows open at night. We stayed 6 nights and left for the 7th night in a hotel, which was clean and comfortable with nightly rates that were similar to what we ended up paying after cleaning fees and check-in and miscellaneous other costs were added. We will not return to Emerald Isle for our next stay.

Stayed with family as we got our daughter settled into UWF and Emerald Isle was an excellent choice. Condo was huge and had everthing we needed. Pools are gorgeous with a nice hot tub that all looks onto the beach! Loved having a full kitchen and washer/dryer. Being able to make coffee in the morning and pina coladas at night and look off the balcony was priceless. Felt very safe and meet nice people at pool that are return guests. For the price of the condo that contains several bedrooms you can save enough money to go on another trip!!!

Good restaurants - Italian across the street - Leela's (SP?), Fish House, Carabbas, McGuires.

Bring a cord for free internet, it is not wireless.

We rented VRBO 215685 and the owner Scott gave us a great price and was very accomodating. Many of the rental units charge so much in extras such as tax and cleaning fees, be sure to ask for an all inclusive price when getting quotes. We love VRBO and this unit.