Stone Harbor, New Jersey
This 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath well maintained front unit to a duplex is conveniently located a half block to the 82nd street recreation field and a quick walk to the beach. Park your car and walk to everything. Bud's market, the Windrift, the Concord and many other restaurants are located within an easy walk. Nice garden area to grill and relax after a day at the beach.
The property is in need of updating and maintenance. Most of the blind on the windows where broken. The glass of one of the windows in the main room was broken. It was very difficult to find outlets to plug anything in (phone chargers, hair dryers, etc). The internet did not work. There were no beach tags for the beach. The AC units did not work well and were old. The mattresses were so hard you would wake up stiff and sore the next morning. The location is great though. Near the park and close enough to town to walk in.
This property is exactly as it is listed and what you would expect for the price paid. It is nicely decorated and the location cannot be beat. As listed, it is a duplex and it would be awkward if you did not know the family on the other side as the walls are thin and you could hear every conversation, sneeze, cough etc through the wall. The outdoor space was cramped due to overgrown landscaping. It also flooded heavily during rain so you could not get out either door without stepping into a puddle that was several inches high. The renters in the back unit could use the back side to access their unit, however they need to walk down a narrow path and squeeze around the window a/c units. During a rain storm this pathway was also under two inches of water. The property was not very clean upon check in, the AC filters were black, someone else’s dirty laundry was left on the side of the washing machine, lint trap was full and black etc And when I moved a bathroom garbage can it was black underneath and there were several dead bugs. Very few of the light switches worked, the ceiling fan did not work, the one outdoor shower shared with both units had lukewarm water at best. The owners have a great spot, with enough space for a family to spread out, however I would encourage them to invest in some maintenance of the property or use a different cleaning company who might alert them to issues as the season goes along. Maybe it was because we were there at the end of a long hot season and damage had been done by other renters. I don’t know if there was water damage from one of the earlier storms that had grown into an issue but at minimum the air conditioning units need to be replaced and the property regraded and overgrown vegetation trimmed back to help with the moisture issue and ability to move around the property. We did have a good week, the appliances all worked well and the kitchen was well stocked with the exception of pots and pans. A previous guest must have lit some of the pans on fire as they were warped and charred. We had brought all of our own cookware so it wasn’t an issue for us, however it could be for another guest. I can see how early in the season this would be a perfect rental based on size and location. In fairness we didn’t try to reach out to the rental agency or owners during our stay so some Of these issues could have been dealt with, but the positives outweighed any of these issues.