BlackBeard's Retreat

Pros: Property was in a perfect location, right across the road from a public beach entrance. Cons: The burrs are so bad you cannot walk in the yard. The burrs get on your pats and worst they get into their paws. The grass has a up to your knees so please keep your dogs off the yard. A few porch rails are missing and about 5 are loose. The what use to be a screen porch knee walks are siding on 2x4 framing with rusted nail pertruding into the porch area. The bathroom sink is falling through the floor. Back door will not open and has a gap at the bottom. Kitchen countertop by sink the tiles are all cracked with sharp edges, someone tried to fix them with caulk. Microwave doesn’t work. None of the windows open. No broom. Welcome sheets says safe cleaning supplies under sink, only Clorox with bleach. Bedroom fan makes ticking noises. The lock box is a realtor box which is a pain in the a** to open and had only one key. Toilet runs none stop. Asbestos siding is cracked in many areas and one piece is missing completely. I hope the owners will read this and fix the safety issues.

Right by the beach, easy to find

When we checked in it was 83 degrees in the house. There was a window a/c unit in one of the bedrooms that only blew warm air and, in another bedroom, the ceiling fan didn't work. We contacted the host, and she said try turning off the a/c for 15 minutes to see if it would reset. We did that and the temps went up to 84 degrees. We let the host know and they said the soonest someone could come out would be the next day. We live just over an hour away and it was too hot in the house to sleep so we drove back home to sleep in our own house. We came back the next day and it had cooled down to the 75 degrees in the house. An a/c tech came by and said the main a/c unit didn't have enough tonnage to cool such an old, drafty house and suggested that we don't go in and out of the front door as that would let more hot air in. We tried to be as understanding as possible, but it was not a pleasurable experience. We messaged the host, but they stopped responding to our messages as soon as we checked out. We probably should have complained to VRBO and got another place, but we were trying to be understanding.

The good: location to beach, clean, close to favorite restaurants. The bad: only 2 burners worked on stove, not crazy about smart TV. All in all we enjoyed our stay and had a good time. Liked walking dog on beach every day.

This was a great spot for the 2 of us and our dog. You truly cannot beat how close to the ocean you are. Enjoyed the proximity to the beach the best. A lot of sand gets tracked in because it is on ground level. We had a broom but no dish pan so we just used paper plates to try and clean everything up. Kitchen was fine, nice fridge and everything worked. The only downfall was that there was not an outdoor shower! If you decide to stay here, bring a 5 gallon bucket to fill up with to try and wash your feet off.

Small leak detected in front bedroom

Fun and relaxing! Great place to stay, especially with our dogs. Beach access once walk across street. (There's a crosswalk/street sign so most vehicles will stop for you). When we arrived, wifi wasn't working and George/Kathleen were very accommodating and quickly pursued to fix. Didn't get wifi until our 2nd night but we didn't mind as it gave us time to play games if we weren't at the beach. Not sure who loved our weekend more...us or the dogs! :-) Only one disappointment...we paid extra for early / late check-in / check-out and both times cleaning crew were there for our arrival time of 1pm (we got there at 1:15pm), and then 12:15pm upon leaving. I was just finishing getting dressed so we could be out before 1pm but thankfully my family came back inside to alert me. Just a little awkward and thought the cleaning crew would know not to be there upon our arrival / check-in.

The only issue we had was with the little burrs (I guess that’s what’s their called) that kept finding their way inside the property. Very painful to step on. Other than that, we were very pleased with our stay here in Kitty Hawk.

Location was great!

Perfect location and dog friendly for the win!

location location location. Cute beach cottage. We only stay 2 nights, but we will be back!

This was a unique situation that lead to our booking this property. Our kid's school was delayed and we decided to pop on down to OBX for a last-minute stay. Options were slim since this was a Monday evening we were looking for a booking for the next day! But as our family continues to enjoy the beach each year, we find ourselves closer and closer to the water. This rustic property fit the bill. The property was insanely clean, and the pictures were representative of the overall condition. We were happy with the amenities and loved the proximity to the beach. Public beach access is directly across the street with no other properties on the beach front so sitting on the porch at night we could hear the waves. With the community and time of year, there were very few people walking by using the public beach access and the beach for that matter. We could not have been happier to stay here for a mid-week stay and was thankful for everything this place offered.