Here is a "too long didn't read" for you: Been coming here for 26 years (renting the entire building for many of them), new owners made a bunch of changes (some good, some bad), rents increased DRAMATICALLY past three years, then they let someone book our week for NEXT year (2022) when they have always done a "re-up" at the end of our stay when we check out to give deposit for next year. Half of us are leaving due to this.
Long version:
My family and I have been coming here every year during the second full week of July for 26 years. I am not exaggerating. I grew up coming to this place. My family does a "reunion" in Carlsbad every year. There are 70+ of us now and we have rented out the entire building (all 11 units) many years in a row. We have been through multiple owners. It used to be own by Ocean Palms back in the day, then a woman named Sandra owned it for some years, and then these new owners bought it in 2018. They did some major renovations in the last two years including:
1. Turning all the units on the south side of the building into 2 bed/ 1 bath (good thing)
2. Adding a lot of "luxury" facade to the place that ONLY affected how things looked and didn't really address any of the underlying utility issues (bad thing)
3. Turned the bottom level into a single 3 bed / 2 bath open floor design which... is super cool but it now costs $16000 a week. (bad thing)
4. Raised the rent across the board by like 30-60% depending on the unit (acceptable because if other people are willing to pay it we should be too)
5. Turned the two units under the stairs into one unit and tripled the price. (bad thing)
6. Blew out the kitchen walls on the south side of the building making it a open floor design (good thing)
7. Put in new appliances (good thing)
8. Completely redesigned the entire building in terms of aesthetics (good thing)
9. Got rid of the shower on the deck (bad thing)
10. Got rid of all the bbq's on each deck (bad thing)
11. Made the bottom deck "exclusive" to whoever rents the bottom unit (honestly doesn't matter for us cause we rent the entire building.... however, pretty messed up for anyone else who doesn't)
12. Added GLASS doors that don't block out the light from the hallway so if you have someone staying on the couch it's still bright. (no bueno)
13. Upgraded patio furniture (good thing)
14. Stopped mid week cleaning and towel service. Yes, you read that correctly. You will pay somewhere between $6,000 and $16,000 depending on your unit and they will NOT clean your room or give you new towels during your stay. yup. (bad thing)
AND FINALLY:
15. THEY GAVE AWAY OUR WEEK. Historically (as in 25 years in a row) the owners have always had us check out and put a deposit down for next year. This year, half way through the week, we discovered while asking about doing some room swaps between families that two of our units had already been booked for the second week of July in 2022. (WTF BAD THING)
So, as much as I love this building because I have so many memories of being here each year and having such great times with my cousins growing up we are parting ways with Ocean Villas. It is a direct result of new ownership and that's fine. They own it and can run it however they want. But, for the absolutely insane amount of money we pay to stay there it would be nice to at least have the option to choose whether or not we come back next year... GG WP Ocean Villas. I will miss you dearly. read more