We had a really disappointing experience at a house we rented (June, 2025 - Dune Our Thing) from Carolina Designs Realty in Corolla. There were so many issues with the house and the CDR maintenance staff tried to be helpful, but most issues could not be fixed at all or fixed on our last day. We vacationed in OBX every year when our kids were little and decided to do oceanfront for our kids and grandkids to have a fabulous vacation. For a $28,000 oceanfront rental property, we expected more. 1. Nails sticking up from wood decking to beach (granddaughter cut her foot) 2. No hot water in both kitchen sinks. Seriously! Many maintenance visits resulted in it getting fixed the afternoon of our last day! 3. Pool lights and pool deck lights not working. 4. Outdoor shower was pretty disgusting. 5. Pool deck and hot tub area was lacking. One single (insufficient) hose, laying in pile of sand under the house was the ONLY way to clean sandy feet. 6. Gazebo - which should be a nice outdoor gathering spot - was completely overgrown, dark and dingy, and you could not sit in there for the spiderwebs, old broken chairs and mold. Ewww. 7. 2nd floor dryer never worked the entire week. 8. House was not adequately equipped (no broom, dustpan, mop, missing trashcans etc.), and the outside doors to the decks didn't close properly, basically a HUGE disappointment. I had the opportunity to view my sister's family rental 1 mile down the beach - SAME PRICE - and it was immaculate! Shower and foot sprayer coming off the beach. Hot tub on the oceanfront gazebo. Furniture in great condition, etc. I wrote to CDR and asked for a partial refund. Below is the answer I received. "To provide a bit of background, each home is individually owned, and our role is to serve as the Rental Manager ("Agent") on their behalf. The Vacation Rental Agreement notes that refunds are not typically issued for inoperable appliances, utility interruptions, equipment malfunctions, or maintenance-related concerns." I urge you to NOT rent a house from Carolina Design Realty. They should be more aware of what a $28,000/week rental should provide and be able to negotiate with owners. read more

Rented a home in Corolla this past August. Booking and payment were easy. Upon arrival, we had a few maintenance issues with the home. I can't say enough of how impressed I was with their response. Crews were sent out within 24 hours to rectify. The office staff were kind and respectful. Hoping to use Carolina Designs for all of our future stays. read more

Rented a large (8 master suites) oceanfront property for a week at the end of the summer 2024 season. We had many quality and maintenance issues at the property we rented but received good support from the CDR team as they tried their best to mitigate the various problems. Despite their effort, we decided to cancel our deposit-paid summer 2025 reservation for the same property and look for another. Upon return from the trip, I used the website to apply three-day holds on several other properties for the 2025 season on various weeks that my group was considering. Today, CDR left me a voicemail asking for a call back so that they could "explain our booking procedures ... to make sure that (I) understand what is acceptable to (CDR) as far as booking online." I returned the call and was essentially told that I was abusing their system by leveraging the company policy that allows for a three-day hold without payment. I told them that I was offended at the implication that I was doing something wrong or inappropriate. I was told that I would no longer be able to reserve properties online if I didn't change my behavior. I explained that I was using the three-day hold to coordinate with multiple families on dates and floorplans in various properties but was lectured again that "the owners of these properties get very upset when someone reserves without paying." I suggested that this sounded like a reason to change their policy of allowing a three-day hold without a deposit as opposed to calling a customer to reprimand them for using the reservation system as it was designed. The rep told me "we're not going to put on the site that people shouldn't reserve multiple properties without payment" and I said, well if you don't want folks to do that but the system allows it, you should let them know! I also pointed out that I used the same process for the 2024 reservation I made which yielded a five-figure lease from me just last week. The rep mocked me and said that they used to offer seven-day holds with no payment but they had to change it to three days because people were abusing the system. Before the rep decided to end the call, I said "you can't expect people to know how you want them to use your reservation system unless you tell them" and you're saying you won't be upfront and tell people what your expectations are. I could empathize with the position the company is put in, but I can't empathize with making it the customer's fault or even worse, implying that it was the customer's intent to somehow abuse the system. At that point, it was pretty easy to say we wouldn't be returning to a CDR property and we would be working with a competitor like Twiddy or Sun Realty. read more

We spent our first "family" vacation in the Outer Banks (Myrtle Pond Rd, Corolla, NC) after many enjoyable years in Maine. Our rental (416) was a well-worn house, from its mix of hangers in the closet, to the misaligned drawers, to the "blocked" air conditioner registers, to the noisy ceiling fans, to the eclectic mix of dishes and flatware, and the ant colonies sharing the house with us. We called for assistance and they were fairly responsive. They had maintenance staff at the house within 24 hours to replace one of the ceiling fans. We fixed the other by adjusting its speed. (When I called, I had the fan on for affect.) They installed two window air conditioners to address the faulty AC registers. They dropped off several ant traps, which we used to supplement the ones we purchased. UNFORTUNATELY, no one knew how to respond when we asked about the three CAMERAS we found IN the house. I was told they are SUPPOSED to be off, though there was no way for us to know. When I asked if there was audio, it was not known. When I asked about hidden cameras, it was not known. THERE WAS NOTHING IN ANY OF THE AGREEMENTS OR INSTRUCTIONS WARNING THAT THE HOUSES WERE EQUIPPED WITH CAMERAS. (If there was, it was in very fine and inconspicuous print.) While the cameras we found were not in "private" areas, such as bathrooms and bedrooms, an expectation of privacy that applies to the whole interior of the house is not unreasonable. read more

Rented a home from Carolina design realty last week. Very bad built house. paid over $1300 just to heat the pool for the week since it was going to be on the colder side. We called the first day we arrived due to the filter not working properly on pool no response. Then on second day every time heater would go on you could smell a gas leak, called with no response. after 5 days pool guy showed up in am to check pool stated it was turning green due to filter issues and we needed to get out of pool due to him having to put chemicals in it. We asked for him to come do it at night since it was the nicest day of week. Pool guy stated that's not how it worked and threw chemicals in. for a house that as over $25000 to rent piss poor managemen! read more

We rented #300 - Duck A L'Orange from August 1st through 8th of this year ('21). DO NOT RENT THIS PROPERTY! Here is our experience: Mold in one bathroom (looks dark brown - they came and cleaned), VERY cheap and broken towel bars (honestly, couldn't have been more than a Dollar Store item), broken and missing drapes and curtain rods (Carolina Design came and removed all curtain rods), pool lining ripped in multiple areas (very poor paste job), cheap fix PVC tubing around pool coming apart and a hazard, ant hills on pool deck, broken pool equipment and broken pool furniture, unkept yard (bushes growing out of control in back yard and sides of house, volleyball court and horseshoe pit are both unusable, basketball hoop was bent and unusable, bedspread had chocolate stain on it (either not washed OR stained during cleaning, vacuum STINKS and kitchen isn't very well stocked. This was BY FAR the worst house I've rented personally or stayed in when rented by another. Pitiful ownership pride and I truly feel cheated. For what we paid, this house should have been half the cost. It didn't totally ruin the vacation and Carolina Designs reacted as best they could (I'm being VERY gracious due to Covid) - but this house should be taken OFF their listing. It makes them look very poor. I have pictures of all (or most) of the items - hoping I can post somewhere ... this is my first review in this site. Carolina Designs did what they could, probably as quickly as they could (next day and following day) ... but, I never received a lounge chair that was promised, and we had to have multiple visits by staff to correct a couple of the issues. They cleaned the mold (not professionally tested for black mold) and removed the curtain rods and spackled the holes, and fixed the cheap towel bars. That's it. Ultimately, Carolina Designs name is on the lease and while the ownership pride is severely lacking, it is upon them to ensure the houses they rent are of the best quality. Carolina Designs failed with this house! They failed me, my family and their company by not ensuring a quality product. read more

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Just got home from spending a week in Dolphina (714). First time we'd ever done a whole family vacation and I wanted to 'pull out all the stops' and do something wonderful for my kids and grandchildren. First I will say this is a 2 million dollar home right on the ocean, not the kind of life I'm used to and just what I wanted in order to pamper my kids and grandkids. Not only was I disappointed but I heard that word from my kids too. Exactly what I DID NOT want. The property was tired. Rusting light fixtures in the great room ceiling; rusting, puddling main refrigerator. Downstairs refrigerator with broken hinge, theater room with blown speakers and missing remote; BUT THE LARGEST PROBLEM WAS SAFETY. I fell down the front steps when the rotted railing collapsed, and so many railing balusters were loose that we absolutely could not allow our three grandchildren to be on the decks. read more

Carolina Designs Realty & Vacation Rentals - This is the back of the house. I didn't take a picture of the front. - Vacation Rentals Near Me - Duck, North Carolina

If that.House was disgustingly dirty when we arrived. One of the dishwashers was broken, we know that because someone came to look at it the first 10 minutes we were there. He said he was called a couple of times the week prior "There were a bunch of little kids here". Also pool guy was called 3 times (week prior) to come out for the jacuzzis control panel not working, but when we mentioned it to Carolina Designs Realty they said they knew nothing about that which I find amusing because they are the ones who sends pool people out. Also Donna who works for Carolina Designs was so RUDE. She actually hung up on me, I had asked if she saw the pictures the new cleaning people sent she said yes.I then asked if the countertops were so dirty along with the rest of the house how do I know the beds are clean. She said they were. I went to ask her last name and that's when she hung up on me. Horrible way to start vacation, after a 15 hr car ride. read more

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Excellent service from Lisa S. We stayed in abracadabra in Corolla this year. Have already selected our vacation house for 2024. Lisa S went above and beyond to avert a possible disaster for next year. Very please with her and this realty co read more

We rented Picturesque #089 (213 Hicks Bay Lane, Corolla, NC), for two weeks in July, 2019. It cost a fortune but it's right on the beach so what the heck, right? Well the amount we paid in no way reflected the quality of the facilities. They were awful. Let's start with the ant infestation. The kitchen and at least one bed/bath suite were overrun with sugar ants. They were there when we arrived and i suspect they are still there today. Thousands of them. A singe lame attempt by a local exterminator did no good. We had to take matters into our own hands to control the situation and make the kitchen halfway sanitary enough to prepare food (Shout out to the local Ace Hardware store who helped us out big time. You guys rock). Without exaggeration half the lights in the house had burnt out bulbs. You'd think for what they charge a simple thing like making sure all the lights worked would be handled before we arrived. Speaking of electricity, only 3 of the 5 outlets in my room worked, Not sure if they were there only for show or if there is a serious underlying electrical problem. Speaking of working in the dark, the semi-functioning, filthy propane grill is stupidly located in on the ground floor in a spot that offers no lighting options other than our flashlights and iPhones. Cooking after dark is a nightmare. Compounding the problem is the the fact that the main kitchen is on the third floor and the grill is on the ground floor so that even the simplest meal preparation requires going up and down three flights of stairs multiple times. Several of the bedrooms don't have TVs. This is a first for us. My family has been going to the OBX for over 30 years and this is the only rental in this price range we've experienced that doesn't have a set in all of the non-bunkhouse bedrooms. The Wi-Fi worked best if you held your phone directly over the router which was conveniently located on the ground level. Reception on the third, main living floor was non-existent. AC on the third-floor was a joke due to an under-powered unit...a problem easily remedied if the owners invested some of their profits into the upkeep of the property. Misc. Issues: Filthy, cob-web-covered deck chairs; broken gate latch between the pool and the beach, exposed nails in the boardwalk to the beach, not enough hot water for a house that size. Now, I recognize these are all first-world problems -- even one-percenter problems -- but if you're going to have the nerve to charge for a first-class beach rental, you better back it up with a first-class experience. read more

Rented Sun Terra #291in August of 2023. We have been visiting OBX yearly since 1996 and this home was by far in the worst condition we've ever seen. Upon entering we noticed loose railings, a broken column, and stairs that are suffering from years of neglect. Once inside the smell of mold was over powering. I'm guessing due to the water leaks. Most sliders and doors were inoperable. Breakers tripped and were unable to be reset and outlets sparked when we plugged things in. If there had been an electrical fire we would have been trapped due to the inoperable doors. I would think having electrical panels behind a bed is a safety violation. The kitchen cabinets and flooring are in terrible shape and frankly disgusting. Furniture and bedding is blown out and stained. When it rained the sliders had a river going through them leaking into the bedrooms below them. The pool and hot tub tiles are crumbling and have sharp edges which isn't safe. The fix of putty came off in a matter of hours. The railing on the pool deck are also loose. I'm attaching some photos I took. read more

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DO NOT rent from Carolina Designs Vacation Rentals. This year would have been the 5th year renting from them in my 20 years going there for large family/friends vacations. Some unforeseen issues came up so we had to cancel the reservation for the week of 8/25/24. We paid our deposit on 11/1/23 and cancelled it on 11/17/24. They said I will not receive a refund until someone re-rents that week. I thought it was ridiculous because it was 9 MONTHS in advance of the rental week. They decided to lower the price last month by $3K but NEVER reached out to me to let me know this, in case money was the reason we cancelled, and with it being cheaper, we could have rented it. Because THEY chose to lower the rent, Carolina Designs Vacation Rentals is keeping our $3,150 deposit. The representative was too much of a coward to reply to my messages but rather sent me a letter notifying me. The funny thing is, the house EASY BREEZY #506 didn't even rent that same week in 2023 so it is not a special house. In fact, there were many vacant weeks. No positive feedback from prior renters. USE Twiddy & Co for all your rental needs. They are amazing and value their customers unlike Carolina Designs Vacation Rentals! read more

Rented "why not" property the kiddie pool is green they tell you it filters at night it does not, the hot tub was broken and they just telling you the parts were on order , which was Bull . when the hot tub repair came he said it wasn't worth fixing 20 years old. When we complained they basically told us no refunds it was too bad these things didn't work. One of the worse experiences renting a home in the outer banks! read more

Where do we even begin? First let me start by saying Carolina Designs Realty is: Hands Down the Best! They are extremely accommodating when it comes to searching, booking, and delivering the best vacation rentals in the OBX! We were fortunate to stay in the Seahawk | House #023 this past summer and it was a trip that will be forever remembered. The house is about a "beach block" away from the community access beach. Our main form of transportation for the week were...YASS! Beach Cruisers supplied by DVO (Duck Village Outfitters) and it was the best decision ever. The house was conveniently located not only near the beautiful beach, but just a brisk bike ride away from anything and everything one would need in town. This made it extremely easy for us to wake up early get some morning yoga sessions in at Village Yoga and then visit the local java/breakfast HOTSPOT (Tree House Coffee - the biscuits to die for!) The house was fully stocked with all the kitchen necessities one could ever ask for and then some. If you needed a break from the hot sun and sandy toes, you can cool off in the home's private pool and hot tub. Did I mention the outdoor shower!? If traveling with kiddos, there was a beach volleyball court where little ones could play while parents could catch up and VACAY away. There are a wide variety of rooms for everyone in the family--one of the best perks-- the rooms are very spacious. Plenty of closet space too. The multi levels helped with accommodating all parties and distributing sound from noisy to quiet and visa versa. There were also decks off of various rooms of the house--to steal away and have quiet conversations with friends-- as well as different areas to play epic card games and catch the salty breeze and sunset. If I could give this vacation rental company and beach house 10 stars-- I would. Excellent customer service. The house was extremely cleaned and organized upon our arrival. Our entire experience with CDRVR was above and beyond and we cannot wait to get back next summer! Thank you again and again! You guys ROCK! What we planned for was a vacation and what we left with was wishing we could have turned it into a STAY (forever)cation after staying in such a beautiful and spacious home. Only recommendation: get all your supplies, groceries, and hydration fluids before arriving at the house because you will want to spend as much time in and around this house/beach as you can! Using bikes as your only form of transportation the entire trip! :) read more

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We had originally had reservations for May 30-June 6 this year for the property "The Sun." As we were coming from 5 states, we were concerned about Covid 19. We didn't know what states would be closed, if we could even come to NC and we have two 84 year old family members and an infant, so we called and asked to bump the reservation a couple of weeks as we could see the house was not rented. We asked if the homeowners could be contacted to see if we could negotiate the price difference. We didn't hear if the homeowner was contacted, just that we could change the date, but would have to pay the additional charge, so changing to an open week, two weeks later, cost us over $3000. I understand Covid is new and this has been an unusual year, but there should be some consideration given. That being said, overall the house was just so so. Not impressive. There was a breaker that randomly tripped a few times in the kitchen, not the GFI but the actual breaker, with only a coffee pot and toaster plugged in. The icemaker in the fridge and the additional icemaker did not work, although it stated the icemaker would be fixed for 2020. The dryer on the right did not dry the clothes. We did call maintenance, and they promptly came, but was not fixed during our stay. The smoke detector on the 1st floor chirped for battery replacement, making me think the batteries had not been updated as often as needed. There was also a clicking noise over one of the bedrooms on the 1st floor, second on right. Unsure w hat this was related to. The dining furniture had a lot of wear and tear. I feel that such a high end house, at this cost, with no consideration to negotiate, should have been in perfect condition. We have already booked for 2021 with Carolina Design, but not this house. read more

I would recommend you DO NOT rent any properties managed by these people. This company seems to be under some extreme mis-management. They are overbooking and then completely disregarding paying customers whose vacations are ruined. They canceled my family's rental in the rudest way imaginable. When we attempted to explain the way they handled it was not good business, they essentially said "it doesn't matter how we treat you because you can't review us since you won't have rented with us" (because they canceled us?!?....). Despite being told our reservation was "being honored," when we tried to actually confirm that, Carolina Designs essentially told us to f*ck off. I've truly never encountered a company like this one seems like a mess and the last place you want to trust w your vacation plans. You deserve better! also, @carolinadesigns, you should probably check your practice of telling folks they can't review you when they can truly messy and not a good look read more

BEDBUG INFESTATION! 10/11/21 Beware of "Stay Anchored" 10433 S Old Oregon Inlet RD, Nags Head, NC 27959 as it is infested with Bedbugs! Sorry for the long review below...but I want to break this all down so you can avoid getting Bedbugs! Lest you think I'm a crazy person or fake reviewer...read my Google review history...I rarely write reviews and when I do, they are always positive. Due to Carolina Designs Realty's BS handling of this situation and their willingness to treat this as something they can sweep under the rug...I have to let it be known that if you stay at this unit, be prepared for Bedbugs and the likely possibility of bringing them home with you. Our extended family stayed in this Carolina Designs Realty property on 10/2 - 10/9 only to find out on the third to last day that it wasn't sandfleas or mosquitos which were biting our waists, stomachs and lower bodies but BEDBUGS! A family member found them crawling on her as she lay in bed reading late one evening! She hastily took pictures of the bugs not knowing what they were and the next morning we put two and two together. See pictures below of found bug and bites. Obviously this was very upsetting to the entire family as Bedbugs are a serious issue and can easily be spread and taken home. We contacted Carolina Designs Realty and left a message stating we needed immediate assistance. To their credit they did respond and sent a pest company out the same day to investigate. The pest company (Outer Banks Pest Control) confirmed the presence of Bedbugs in the house. The entire inspection process took less then 2 hours for an 8 bedroom house. It seemed odd that the one room the Bedbugs were "confirmed" to be in was not the bedroom my wife and I shared, where a majority of the bites were occurring. Despite us having bites all over our bodies and finding blood smears and bedbug fecal matter on the mattresses (which I have learned is a common occurrence when bedbugs are present) it was conveyed to me through the pest control company that Carolina Realty Designs would only be paying to have one room treated. In speaking with multiple pest control companies and a former department of public health bedbug remediation inspector I have learned that one treatment is RARELY ever successful and this is especially true when using the fumigation method (which was the method the pest company explained they would be doing). Furthermore, when Bedbugs are confirmed to be present (even if the live bug isn't found to be in every room...but evidence of the bug is) the right thing to do would be to treat the entire house as infested and have it treated! Carolina Designs Realty representatives and owners of the property: I ask you if you and your families would be willing stay in a house confirmed to have Bedbugs as long as it was only in "one room" and that "one room" were treated? If the nightmare of dealing with Bedbugs (Google the process of ridding yourself of Bedbugs and you will understand what me and my extended family are now dealing with) weren't enough: when trying to seek just reimbursement for being put through this ordeal, Carolina Designs Realty failed to step up to the plate. They first offered $250 off the $5000 rental cost and only the promise of litigation spurred them to then up the reimbursement to 20% off the total cost. Carolina Designs Realty is negligent in their duty of care to provide a safe and clean environment to their renters. Please do your due diligence when renting from them, research Bedbug infestations and check their houses for signs of Bedbugs as soon as you arrive so you don't have to go through what we currently are. Sorry for the grainy photos of the bugs...they were taken at 1am when the bug was first discovered and moved to the bathroom for better light for the photo. read more

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Never again will I use them to reserve our vacation home. If I could rate them with negative 5 star I would.

Never again! We've rented before from another company, but wanted to try Palmer's Island, where they didn't have anything, so went to Carolina Designs. Their website is great - easy to filter for things that were important to us, and the people we dealt with were great. But the property was a dump! Great views of the both ocean and the sound, it said. Well, yes, if they had washed the windows in recorded history. They were filthy. We ended up doing it ourselves. Nice decks on the ocean side, but don't try to hold on to the 30-year-old, unpainted, very weathered, hand rails as you go down the stairs unless you like splinters in your hands. Don't trip over the rotted away boards in the walkway to the beach with screws sticking up to catch your toes. And watch out for the loose old handrail you have to step over as you go down the ocean side. Two dishwashers are nice. But aren't they supposed to be mounted level so the racks don't roll out every time you open the door? Then there are the fleas, bedbugs, or whatever it was that left over a dozen angry bites on my wife. Really, for over $5k a week? read more

We have rented with Carolina Designs Realty for the last 3 years. Just leaving our rental now after a fabulous week in OBX. I have yet to find a company that has better employees... compassionate, caring and helpful. We'll be back in September and are already counting down the days. Thank you CDR for making our memories a little nicer with your amazing customer service. read more

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We rented Breakwater #266, in Corolla on the beach, the last week of July 2023 for a family reunion. Paid over $30,000 for a home that was below par. That hurts! This house is due for major updating. While the furniture was nice the house itself needs major attention. There are broken moldings, loose towel bars, poorly painted bathroom vanities that have peeling and scratched off paint, bathroom and kitchen cabinet doors and drawers that don't close, cabinet drawers that the wood front is pulling off, broken pieces inside the refrigerators, and it was difficult to get dishes to stand in dishwasher because so many prongs were missing and those that were there were rusted. The house had two dishwashers, both in the same shape, but one started giving off an electrical burn smell so we stopped using it. There was a leak in a bedroom that we made them aware of. Didn't know where the water was coming from but carpet is squishy wet going from bedroom into bathroom. They just said let them know if it gets worse. A lot of the bedroom closets contained heavier bedding and decor pillows that maybe they use in the fall/winter. It should be stored somewhere else as the closets aren't that big and it took up space where you would place your clothes. We had babies and toddlers with us who understandably drop crumbs while eating. Searched high and low for broom/vacuum but couldn't find. Notified Carolina Design and were told they put a broom in there two weeks ago but they would bring another. No broom was ever brought. We specifically rented a house with an elevator because my 90 year old mom has mobility issues. The elevator didn't work! Nothing they could do about it as the part is on order. What they could have done was at least told us before we got there. I realize you don't know something is going to break and there may be delays in getting it fixed but at least make people aware. The owner did offer us a shrimp boil for our inconvenience which was a nice offer and we did accept. The house had more then enough seating in the dining area and outside around the pool as well. There is a game room, pool table and ping pong table that would keep people entertained on a rainy day. The pool table and ping pong table are in an enclosed outside area which are separated from the pool. We didn't use them as lucky for us no rain. We did take advantage of the game room inside the house. There is also a theatre room but we didn't use so I can't speak to if it worked or not. The driveway is large and has plenty of parking. We had 5 large cars and there was room for more. There is a playground with swings, slides, and climbing equipment within a 3-5 minute walk. read more

Renters beware! Do not rent from this company until the pandemic is under control! They will not work with you! We have elderly and immuno-compromised family members in our wedding party. I have attempted to change the date as my wedding is postponed. #CarolinaDesigns will rent to us again next year for payment of both leases. Their insurance is also worthless and does not recognize COVID as it is an act of God. I'm sure the owners of this property are very nice people but do not trust this company, especially with such an important event as a wedding. COASTAL PALACE | House #888 Oceanfront in Kill Devil Hills read more

A group of extended family rented Belldune #610 for the week beginning October 9th. Sunday morning we decided that we would try out the hot tub and discovered that it was not working and tripping a breaker. We called immediately and the pool guy came out with an attitude and said he wasn't an electrician and had to return with a breaker. That was Sunday. We have called and followed up daily and have been given the excuse that people are working from home, that they had not heard back from the pool vendor, etc. At this point, Wednesday, October 13, we have yet to see a maintenance man back out, and have been deprived of one of the main reasons we have rented the house for half of our stay. When we asked if we could have the pool heat turned on as compensation we were told that was expensive and needed to be put through the home owner. We have been told that they would be prorating our rent but I'm sure that the money back would be peanuts vs what we paid. We are now resorting to calling them every hour to check on this issue... Our group has rented from Carolina Designs many times in the past and have never had an issue. Last year the AC froze up and was leaking in the theatre room, they were prompt and the maintenance man was amazing! That was in the middle of COVID. This year the excuses of working from home and not following up with their customers are wearing very thin. I work for the largest outsourced customer service company in the world and we do not offer excuses, we follow up and get it done. Unfortunately this does not seem to be in the business model of Carolina Designs. UPDATE: Thank you Evelyn! The hot tub was fixed this afternoon. We are very appreciative of her efforts to have this taken care of for us. The hot tub will hopefully be warm enough to use tonight. read more

I am very pleased with the services provided and the rental property we are in this week. I have chemical sensitivity and called house keeping ahead of time to have them remove all scented items and use scent friendly chemicals when cleaning. They did a good job in doing so. We are in unit CR#333, every amenity you can think of is at your fingertips here. The house is well built and well kept. I would stay here again if we decide to vacation this way again. I highly recommend Carolina Designs Realty for your OBX hiusineeds. read more

During the week of May 14th thru May 21st My husband and I brought 14 guest to the Sea Escape home. I tell you this place was awesome (an under statement). I am a caterer and brought some of my cooking utensils not knowing that the kitchen was well stocked with whatever I needed, from an apple slicer to a large crab pot. The entire home was immaculate. Our guest were between the ages of 40 to 72 and we needed the elevator for some of them were on walkers and canes. A week prior to our arrival, We noticed on the website that the elevator would not be available at the beginning of 2023. Calling the office they informed us they would call the owners to see when it would be running again. Well that didn't happen. Therefore we made the best decision to rough it. The kitchen was on the third level, so those of us who were able carry the food up did so. We assisted the seniors to the second floor where their bedrooms are. In all due respect we loved this home and will lease it again once the elevator is repaired. read more

Do not rent a house managed by Carolina designs. I paid $20k to rent a home for 2 weeks (117 cadwall road ). The air conditioner stopped working so I had eight guests sleeping in 85 degree heat while Carolina designs offered no help and no price discount. Also, they are unreachable after 5 pm. Walter (in service department) was the worst. He tried to act as if we didn't know how to operate a thermostat to blame us for the inoperable system. He was patronizing and wrong. read more

I'm being held hostage by this company. They refuse to let me out of my lease despite a global pandemic. I may be forced to risk my life or lose 10K. This is so wrong and not a good business model for the Carolina Design Realty to force people to endanger themselves. Aside: the insurance doesn't cover Covid. I will NEVER use Carolina design realty again and I suggest you think twice before signing anything with this company now or in the future. Horrible! I wish I could give zero stars. read more

We lost our 10 bedroom house for this year it was rented out from under us. We called the owner and Carolina Designs Realty, was Guarantee to have the house for our week in 2022. I called to confirm and pay and was told it is already booked. We have been with CDR for 16 Years that means nothing to them and the do not stand behind their word if you want honesty it's not Carolina Designs we are very disheartened and will not deal with them in the future. read more

Great company to rent a home from. Extremely responsive, house in great condition, left us a welcome package. I have rented from sever company over the years, but this one is hands down the best! read more

"Buyer Beware " Our OBX reservation was for the last week of May 2020. It was simply irresponsible to even consider coming from 3 different parts of the country, 6 different households, and an immuno-comprised family member, who has been on lockdown since March. We asked to have the money we'd paid them thus far, be refunded. We were refused. There reasoning-the the bridge had opened to visitors. No consideration given as to how we would pull off a visit with all the above factors, during a pandemic. We then asked to take the money we had already paid them and put toward a rental for the following year, same timeframe. That request was refused, stating the owner denied our request. With just 2 days left to try and re-rent the house,we had no chance,and lost all the money we had invested. So anyone considering renting from this company- be careful , and do your due diligence on how they handle unforeseen crisis. read more

Called August 26th about a vacation rental for Labor day week. The woman on the other end of the phone was so smarmy, arrogant and condescending I only lasted 30 seconds. Best of luck when the economy turns down again... geesh! read more

After renting for the first time ever in Duck my family was excited to be back in the outer banks. We planned a large trip and found 2 additional homes in Duck Landing to accommodate all of the families attending. We rented "Flying South" and upon arrival there was a noticeable difference between the pictures and the actual condition of the home. There had been very little, if any, exterior maintenance leaving the actual exterior looking run down, including countless nail-heads popping out of the deck. It was a miracle that none of the children were injured from this. Our check-in time arrived and maintenance was on site "un-clogging" the main sink in the kitchen, which remained unfixed for 3 days total. The plumber that was sent to fix the sink caused more damage, including breaking a drain pipe causing water to cascade into the bedrooms and down on to the tile on the ground floor. This led to a water remediation company being brought in who left industrial fans and dehumidifiers running 2 days longer than promised. We had to call Carolina Designs to ask them to have the machinery removed. Beyond the maintenance, or lack there of, issues the house is extremely dated and probably 5-10 years overdue for a remodel. This includes mold on the grout in All of the bathrooms, mold in the HVAC vents, unclean vents on the cook top and leaking pipes. The pool had a nice waterfall feature that worked less than 25% of the time and the bar area by the pool was in a serious state of disrepair. Needless to say, Carolina Designs does not live up to the standards of a "Quality, well maintained property". The slogan should read, "We over charge you for a poorly maintained outdated rental experience". read more

Do NOT rent with Carolina Designs Realty! Our large family has rented a beach house in the Outer Banks for our annual family reunion for over 25 years and has never had an issue with any other realty company. This year we arranged through Carolina Designs several months ago to rent Ocean Royale for June 6-13, 2020. It was to be for about 50 of us, to piggyback off a family wedding taking place on the first day of the vacation week. Then the whole coronavirus happened! The wedding had to be postponed and we could not go on vacation due to social distancing - we were to have a very large group, to include several immuno-compromised members, several 65+, and even three pregnant family members. We called Carolina Designs in April (Outer Banks was still closed at that time, with no opening date known) to request rescheduling our vacation to the same week in 2021. Elaine at Carolina Designs gave us the dates of the week for the next year and word was put out to the entire family that we were rescheduled and to mark our calendars. Unfortunately, this rescheduling was not followed up in writing by Elaine. We didn't think much of it since they seemed really busy and we thought the paperwork would follow. Imagine our surprise, when over a month later - May 20th (after the bridge to the Outer Banks opened), we got an email from Elaine saying that the homeowner will not reschedule to next year since the bridge closure had been lifted (even though we made the request prior to the opening). At this late date, we were told we had to cancel our reservation so that the house could be put back on the market and were told that if it didn't re-rent, we would get no money back. Elaine with Carolina Designs either sat on our request for over a month without speaking to the homeowner to reschedule, or spoke to him and never corresponded back to us his response (we're thinking the former because she said that he wouldn't reschedule because the Outer Banks had reopened and at the time we made the request to reschedule, it was still locked down). The house has still not re-rented and we are EXTREMELY DISSATISFIED with Carolina Designs! They could have kept to their word and gained a customer for many years to come, but instead, we will never do business with them again and will tell anyone we can not to use them as well. We will be filing a complaint with the North Carolina Attorney General and posting negative reviews however and wherever we can. They should provide full refunds, as the North Carolina State Commission stated should happen and owner of Carolina Designs, Monica Thibodeau, who is a member of Duck, NC town council, even stated would happen in an Associated Press interview of 3/21/20. DO THE RIGHT THING, Carolina Designs! read more

Rented #208 Sandy Bottoms. While there the larger second floor bedroom developed a leak in the ceiling. Service call placed and tech came out and noted it was leaking and advised us to call every time it leaked so that they could come out and document it in order to increase its priority of being fixed. A few of the doors leading out to small deck areas were hard to lock/unlock. Over a week after checking out we received an invoice for a pest treatment due to their cleaning crew reporting that there was evidence of us having a pet at the house. We had no pets there. Their invoice did not indicate what they considered as evidence of a pet being there and there was no photos or any other documentation. Sent email back indicating we had no pets there and would not ever be paying that invoice. They removed the charge. That completely soured our experience with them. Along with the leaking ceiling never being addressed while there. read more

Regarding Lease #277154 They don't even deserve one star right now. My family and friends have rented very large 3 story homes from Carolina Designs for at least the last 15-20 years therefore spending probably upwards of $200,000 or more. This year has proved to be difficult for several reasons; COVID, civil unrest, and now a family member has become disabled. Our insurance claim was denied and now Carolina Designs WILL NOT budge on our lease situation. Oh sure, they allowed us to cancel the lease in hopes of re-renting but if that doesn't happen we lose all of our thousands of dollars. They've also reduced the price in hopes of re-renting but we wouldn't benefit from that either if we decided to reinstate the lease. Apparently they are more concerned with their bank account, which I'm sure is just fine, than having any compassion for their returning vacationers. We switched to them years ago because we were always treated fairly. Now, not so much. read more

Ok experience overall. The house wasn't dirty but it wasn't clean either and that's not even my issue. Unfortunately I left something in the house and after reaching out the same day and the next business day their cleaner and their inspector couldn't find it even after I told them exactly where it was left. They claim they check every drawer in every bedroom and every everything in the house but I can tell you for a fact that is a lie. Our group found flip flops under couches...water bottles under tables...earrings left in bedrooms on the floor so I assure you, no they do not check everything and their cleaners are not great. They went on to tell me that they go above and beyond to get guests their forgotten items back but I guess that's only true if they don't want to keep it for themselves. Honestly the most annoying thing is just the lying. Either the cleaner took them and lied or the inspector took them and lied but to tell me you searched everywhere and they weren't there is infuriating. And of course they can say whatever they want because after you leave most people are traveling back home which isn't close and have no way to get back there. So basically their customer service is trash...their cleaners are trash...and I strongly recommend you read the negative reviews and see how they literally do nothing or the bare minimum when guests have issues before you spend the money staying in a property that they rent out. read more

We stayed at the Chel-sea #640 leading up to Memorial Day, 2021. Overall, we had a nice time. The reservation process was seamless. Text communications were very good. The pool was excellent as was the hot tub. The main living and dining areas were good, although it appears one of the recliners was broken, but we were comfy in the others. Overall, this house needs some TLC. We won't stay here again, but we will consider CD again. The kitchen is very cramped, has no pantry. They put a cart there to hold all the food so there isn't much space for prep and cooking. They need less plastic bowls and lids for pans and instead some serving platters, medium corning ware type bowls, wooden spoons, tongs, pasta scooper, etc. Some simple organization would help as well, the cabinets underneath were a mess. They have a cabinet full of spare appliances, but we don't need three coffee makers and mixers. It would really help to have some storage room for food. One bed had dog hair on it and dirty sheets when we arrived, but the cleaning people were very prompt and came over and remade the bed. It looks like the decking boards have been replaced on the top level, but the other levels at least need to have the nails hammered back down and there are vines growing across the steps that need some trimming. The drawer in one of the dressers is broken, but again, we worked around it. Paint is chipped on the cabinets. The shower fixtures in one of the tubs isn't caulked and basically shifts around behind the wall when you turn the water on and off, but the showers themselves felt good. The bathrooms are pretty small for the number of people in the house, but again, they were clean and we managed. We couldn't get the TVs in two of the rooms to work for the first couple days, but finally after messing with them, we got them connected. The WiFi was fine. I did appreciate that we had starter toilet paper in this house which we didn't have in a previous rental. Went out one day to ride the bikes and got a few streets over and the tire blew out on the lady's bike. Again, not CDs fault and we left a note as we departed to let them know about it, but it was just another in a long series of little things that were disappointing. Last thing and again, not CDs issue, but the beach access on this street is not good. There's a huge hill to climb down in the sand, it was very hot walking through the sand on the walkway to the steps to get over the dunes. And the beach is not deep at all. During high tide, you basically can't sit out there at all. Just not an ideal location. read more

Layered incompitence. After Hurricane Dorian, totally worthless. Took advantage of the OBX government idiots decisions on evacution and return to screw tenters. Full 16 hours to allow us into house after government safety nuts "allowed" us on the banks to let us into the house. Couldn't be bothered to come in a few hours early to help renters. Party time! We will never return to the OBX and tecommend that NO ONE use Carolina Designs Reality. read more

Do not use Carolina designs vacation rentals. They have no consideration for families who made reservations a year in advance and who now cannot make it out this summer due to the Covid-19 situation. Forcing families to keep their dates this summer even though it would put many of their high risk/elderly family members at risk. It's a shame that a company who rents to families doesn't have the decency to make exceptions due to these unprecedented times our world currently faces. read more

The house we rented (597) was neglected and poorly maintained either by the owner and/or Carolina Designs. I would think it would ultimately fall on Carolina Designs because they are on site. --AC not working on top floor for a day and a half --garbage on front deck when we arrived --windows filthy, so much so that you couldn't see out of some of them --both outdoor shower heads unusable --one bathroom sink leaking --sliding screen door on one bedroom off its hinges and lying on deck --chair in living room broken --two deck chairs outside unusable There are probably more things I can't remember. Carolina Designs ultimately fixed the AC, sink, and shower heads but why should we have to spend the first couple of days of our vacation calling and complaining? And these houses are expensive. We were extremely disappointed. read more