We travel quite frequently but rarely leave reviews...just never seem motivated to. That said, our…read morestay at Hurricane House compels us to leave one. Both good and bad.
We, as Hilton Grand Vacation (HGV) members, can travel freely and stay at numerous properties around the country and the world. Hurricane House works with HGV to allow HGV members to use some of its "condos" when the actual owners choose not to use them. That is how we ended up at Hurricane House during the first few days of September 2021.
There are 15 units at Hurricane House and we were given one of the two story units (#6). We were aware that this is an older property but Hilton is pretty good about only offering its members quality accommodations.
OK....the good first:
Check in was a breeze and the exterior of the property was well maintained. Parking was plentiful and close. Each unit has one spot reserved in the first floor covered garage. First impression upon entering was very good. The first floor was a hallway, great room and kitchen. Furniture was comfortable and "beach themed" and very adequate. First floor flooring is all tile. The kitchen is a bit cramped (two people at a time) but well stocked with all you would need to prepare meals. Appliances are modern and very clean.
Upstairs has two very large bedrooms with King beds. The "master" is larger with a totally adequate bathroom and lots of closet space. The smaller king bedroom has an extra sleeping space near the window. Upstairs carpeting is quality "waffle" material that is nice looking and easy on the feet. Both bathrooms have skylights that are a nice touch. Everything upstairs was easy on the eyes, clean and nicely decorated. A stacked compact washer and dryer is upstairs in a closet and works quite well.
The pool area was small but nicely kept. Pool water was clean but not crystal clean. There were lots of chairs, tables, lounges and two jacuzzies but we didn't use them. The wood walkway to the beach is well maintained and has a shower, sink with running water (not sure what for) and a knee-level water sprayer to de-sand your feet upon returning. The property has a number of "sand chairs" you can take out to the beach and return when you are done. We didn't use the gas grills but there were, I think, three of them that were clean and ready for use.
The beach behind the property is not very wide but the sand is clean. No seaweed events while we were there. Bring flip-flops as the sand can get very hot and the beach has many areas with sharp, crunchy areas of shells of all sizes.
Now the bad:
Both king mattresses were (for us) way too soft; and for me, at least, it affected my sleep. I cannot remember staying in a hotel or vacation property with mattresses this soft.
The A/C thermostat is at the bottom of the stairs and cools the downstairs fine. Upstairs was warm. We cranked it down to 70 to try to cool the upstairs at night but it was still too warm for me. As the outside air temperature cooled, by early morning the bedrooms were comfortable.
The refrigerator had no ice maker or even ice trays. An obvious inconvenience.
For the guys, the most serious problem was the TV. We had planned to watch a number of NCAA football games. Both bedrooms have TVs but we did not use them. All TVs have DVD players (but not Blu-Ray). The living room has an LG flat screen TV of about 40 inches. The TV was older but fine; the cable service is just awful. There was no High Definition (720 or 1080p) service at all. And many people do not realize that Standard Definition (480p) TV looks worse on an HDTV than on an old CRT TV. There were no instructions on what the channel lineup was or how to find it (we eventually did). The TV and the Infinity cable box remotes were odd, old and difficult to figure out. All in all a very old school, unsatisfying experience. The last time I had this problem was in 2007 in Hawaii. Never thought I'd see it again. If you do not plan on watching TV, disregard this part.
Overall I'd give our five day experience a C+ rating. Fix the TV, Ice and A/C issues and it would be close to an A.