Island Real Estate of Anna Maria Island, Inc, Holmes Beach FL

We unfortunately had a bad experience trying to book a reservation with Island Real Estate. We booked the original reservation through VRBO, after confirmation, someone reached out from Island Real Estate to let us know the incorrect rate was showing on the website and they wanted to charge us more. The difference wasn't much, so we agreed to the change. Later in the day, they called us again and said that they now wanted to charge us an additional $2200 for the stay we had already booked. We declined to agree to the additional charge and asked for a full refund. They said they would cancel and refund, but they still went ahead and charged us again for the new rate.

This has caused me to spend a lot of time on the phone with VRBO and Island Real Estate to try and solve. Also frustrating to have two rate changes after booking and confirmation. Island Real Estate did not honor any of the reservations we made and had to file a formal complain with VRBO to get everything refunded.

We happened to be on vacation on Anna Maria Island right before Thanksgiving in 2020 and decided to rent bikes and check out the area. We ran across a couple of condominiums in the area that sparked our interest and reached out through realtor.com to a local agent. Unfortunately the agent was less than helpful. We then tried the listing agent who was the same.

Frustrated, we tried to follow up by going through Realtor.com and assumed we would get the same realtor and push for more responsiveness. Instead, we landed with a new realtor, Erin Joy Leathem and what a blessing it was.

Erin listened to our questions and quickly jumped into action to arrange a virtual visit to the condo we had zeroed in on after the guests had checked out. She provided invaluable insight into the market, the important pluses and minuses of the property and what it would take to get an offer accepted. She also provided excellent references for home inspection, insurance, etc.

The communication from the first call up until our closing was nothing short of outstanding. Erin is superb and cannot recommend her and Island Real Estate enough.

I’ve stayed with Island Real Estate several times. They’ve always been professional and great propertys. On my most recent stay on Anna Maria I booked last minute with Anna Maria Vacations because Island Real Estate didn’t have what I needed available at the last minute. Totally regretting my decision. We’ve had nothing but issues with the competition. I can promise I’ll never book with anyone other than Island Real Estate again.

Here’s the issues I’m having with the competition. Do yourself a favor and book with Island Real Estate.
Totally unacceptable customer service. We’re currently staying in Mango Bay. Checked in on Saturday afternoon. Today is Wednesday and we still have no internet and no television. We’ve been calling since Sunday morning in which we were told that Spectrum would be out Tuesday but they were trying to bump it up to be done Monday. AMV had one of their employees stop by at 4: 30 on Tuesday and said he wasn’t sure why nobody showed up but his office was on the phone with them and they’d call me as soon as they got off the phone. No call back until Wednesday morning. Now they tell me Spectrum will be there between 5 and 6 but AMV closes at 5 so I’d have to be there. I tried to tell the guy I had dinner reservations with family at 5 but he said his people leave at 5 so he’d reschedule Spectrum for Thursday. How is it my responsibility to cancel my vacation plans for your rental? We’ve had no television and no internet for 5 days. My son is doing online school because of Covid and has missed 2 days now because of it. Their answer is to come use the internet at their office. Not how I wanted to spend my vacation. The drywall ceiling int he garage is falling down. The tile on the stairs is broken and taped with yellow duct tape. The majority of the screens are torn on all of the enclosures. The pool was completely unusable from debris. Looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in weeks. We were told when we called Sunday it would be cleaned Monday. They finally showed up Tuesday and cleaned it. The unit is 4 bedrooms and sleeps 8. Unit was equipped with 4 towels and 1 wash cloth. They finally dropped more off on Tuesday after 3 calls back and forth of them telling us where they are when they really aren’t. Ive stayed with Island Real Estate several times and never had issues like this. They always took care if any issues promptly no matter when the issue occurred. This is ridiculous.