My family has vacationed on Topsail for over 30 years & have rented many ocean-front homes south of Surf City. This property, half a duplex with reverse floor plan, was disappointing. It has an odd layout: there are 4 bedrooms, 1 of which is on the upper floor, but is not the master. Only 1 of the bedrooms (the "master" with king bed) is ocean-facing, & is located on the lower level. In order to get outside from the other two bedrooms on that floor, one must either go through the master & out onto the deck, or go UP a flight of stairs, then back down the deck stairs to get to the beach. The upper & lower bedrooms that overlook the road were very noisy; we heard cars, not the ocean. The outdoor shower is inconveniently located in the garage under the house.
With the exception of the master bedroom & outdoor spaces, the place is furnished with beaten-up, mismatched furniture that is second-hand. in addition to being unattractive, both sofas are uncomfortable, & the main sectional sofa is covered in a filthy off-white slipcover. The carpet on the stairs is extremely dirty & stained as well. At least the weekly maid service did a pretty good job cleaning before we checked in.
The kitchen equipment included a drip coffee maker that is at least 20 years old, & which burns the coffee after 10 minutes. The kitchen had not been organized in quite some time, so that every meal prep was a scavenger hunt to locate appropriate pots & pans, utensils, etc. Eating utensils & measuring cups were inadequate, but there were 9 sets of kitchen tongs and 4 cheese graters. The property description & photo on the website showed a gas grill, which was missing. We had to rearrange our menu plans until a grill was finally provided.
When we arrived, the A/C which cools the three lower level bedrooms was not working; fortunately, the property manager was able to get a tech to repair it the next day, which we greatly appreciated. We also provided the property manager with a punch list of items requiring repair (not our job), including the kitchen faucet that fell off each time it was used, a kitchen cabinet that was missing a knob, the screen door to the slider that had a plastic bag for a makeshift handle, no hot water in the O/S shower, & a bi-fold closet door that was off the track. A handyman came, fixed the kitchen faucet & O/S shower, & removed the screen door & took it away; that was it.
Very disappointing, particularly for what we paid for it.