This is, by far, the worst beach vacation my family has taken. Cut off pictures of pool in the listing do not truly reveal how tiny the pool is - a little larger than a hot tub. In hindsight, I feel pretty deceived. Also, when outside, there is no respite from the sun.
Even if the pergola had provided a modicum of shade, the construction going on next door was extremely loud all day. Early every morning (like 6:30 am), we would go outside to enjoy the morning view of the ocean and listen instead to a very loud saw cutting tile, which noise lasted all day. Pictures also do not reveal how close the next door house is. While the beach may be secluded, the house certainly is not.
One of the cleaning ladies (Tonya) was shockingly rude to us when we arrived. We had the audacity to arrive at the property apparently right after the previous guests checked out because our plane arrived when it did (admittedly four hours early). We brought our suitcases in and offered to tuck them into the closet to keep them out of her way. She was having none of it, and glared and glared, and finally locked us out of the house to sit in the cottage for two hours while she finished cleaning. When we finally were allowed back in, she warned us that the owner was very strict and that our kids should not jump on the furniture. Duh. She ruined our first day there and I hope she is spoken to about this. We felt extremely unwelcome from the very beginning. This said, Onike and the other cleaning lady were friendly.
Fortunately, the home stayed very cool and the stereo system and TV were great. The stereo, however, does not play outdoors.
I've stayed in places where they left a nice fruit basket and had gourmet coffee for you to enjoy. Not this place. Perhaps it was the initial impression created by the cleaning lady, but I felt as if everyone could not wait until we left. The locals are cordial, but impersonal and appeared to just tolerate us. That said, the staff at the Grand Isle Resort where we ate twice were very friendly.
The beach and water were truly beautiful, but you could not pay me to go back to this place. I am disgusted that I paid so much for such bad treatment, a postage stamp-sized pool and not being warned about the construction noise.