We found this place on Trip Advisor as the Best Rated B&B in Alabama for 2013 and were pretty…read moredisappointed in our experience. When we called to book, the owner said the cottages were all booked through May but the Master Bedroom was available and would be $50 less per night that the cottage. The pics online look nice and cozy so we booked it!
We booked the room thinking we would have a nice quiet room for our getaway. Not exactly.
The Master bedroom was on the main floor, next to the living room and kitchen, where the TV was on constantly and the two ladies who work there were hanging out. The closet and drawers in the dresser of this room had all the clothes of a person who normally resides in there, most likely the owner. Kind of awkward to have mens shoes and PJs and suits/hats/etc... in the room where you are supposedly the guest of honor.
Two things that were good: CLEAN beautiful place and good food!
Breakfast was very good both days, but another awkward part of our room location was that the doors opening to our room were where breakfast was served, and were just glass covered with slated blinds. The cook mentioned to us that breakfast was to be served outside our door at 9 "so be sure to close your blinds." Wanted to have a quiet morning in bed, interrupted with people outside your door/window...no exactly romantic.
The cook was good and we cannot complain about breakfast whatsoever. The food was great! The owner came in and interrupted the table conversation 3 times to talk about how hard it has been to "find good help" and went on about some women stealing money from him and taking items that guests had forgotten, etc.. REALLY? This is not something to go on and on about with your CURRENT GUESTS! Way to make us feel uncomfortable leaving anything of value around!
I don't meant to rant and rave, but there were two other major disappointments with this place. We were told when we first booked to bring our swimsuits, as they had a hottub out under the stars next to the bay. Sounded super romantic to sit out there. So we bought some white wine and planned to spend some time out there on our last night.
We got to the house around 9 and the owner got up, in his pajamas mind you, and offered us some ice cream. I know he was trying to be nice, but it felt more like our Grandpa was waiting up for us. We told him we were planning to use the hottub and instead of going out to make sure it was ready, he went out and found us a lantern and told us where to find the plug to turn on the lights out there. We got in our swimsuits and robes, toting our wine and glasses and lantern and hurried out in the cold to jump in.
When we pulled the cover off and got in, it took a second to realize it was COLD! The temp was 80 degrees, set on "economy mode" and no instructions posted anywhere how to heat it up. We tried and tried and within 30 minutes it was only ONE degree warmer. We were pissed, and COLD. Not a good impression.
The next morning he asked how the hot tub was and we told him our experience and instead of apologizing/etc, we was blaming people for "messing with it and not putting it back how they found it." Then he proceeded to tell us that it takes about 5 hours to heat up. The proper way to have handled this was to ask that morning if we wanted to use it, considering he told us to bring swim suits! Anyway, we were disappointed to say the least.
During our final breakfast, he asked T (my other half) to come with him to settle the bill before he left for a Doctors appointment. He came back saying he couldn't use his band debit/credit card so I gave him my VISA. Again, he came back and said it wasn't working. I've never had a card rejected, by the way. I gave him my backup Mastercard and, guess what, "it isn't working." Because he was in a hurry, he had T ride with him to the nearest bank to pay the bill, (where they charged a usage fee because it wasn't our bank).
We get home and T's online bank statement say's the fee was charged by Point Clear Cottages TWICE and cancelled TWICE. My mastercard says the exact same fee is still pending. If this charge doesn't disappear tomorrow, I'm contacting my bank! I seriously doubt this guy knows how to run the credit card machine. BEWARE!
I think staying in the Bayside cottage, which is detached from the main house, would definitely be the only way to go if you want to book here. But honestly, there are over 20 other B&Bs on the same road that I would be willing to try instead, as well as a nice Marriott's Grand Hotel about 1 mile down the road. We would have paid the same amount, and had a functioning pool/considerate staff/etc. Overall, I would not recommend this place.
