Gulf Coast Getaways - Gulf Breeze, Florida

Kellie R.

We stayed at the shore house in Navarre ,
I honestly can't believe they are renting that home to people . That house has so much mold in it , it was unreal!
When we first arrived we were taken back because the pictures show it's the only house on that lot but it's not and there's a very small driveway especially for the size of that house. The pictures were very deceiving. When arriving we put in the code that was given to us but it did not work we tried it on another door it worked it only worked on one out if 3 doors so we told then they replied quickly and said maintenance will be out in the morning. We also discovered that the A/C wasn't working it was 85° in there through the night. We had all 3 units on but some time in the middle of the night it started working we woke up freezing and to find the ceiling in the kitchen was leaking there was huge puddle of water on the floor which was from the ac condensation. So I reached out told them and they said maintenance would check it out . He came that day in pretty much said just don't turn the a/c up to cold. They've had this issue previously which the ceiling showed that it was buckled and moldy.
The whole time we stayed there it worked when it wanted to which wasn't ideal when it was so hot out. We discovered the ceiling where the leak was had mold along with several other places in the home . There was also a musty mildew smell we started to smell . My son has very bad asthma and is usually triggered by mold he was so sick while staying there also another family member staying with us went to get a hotel because she said every time she was in there she kept coughing in her chest was heavy. We all were coughing and sick by the end of our stay . I am very disappointed. Also the house wasn't cleaned very well . Two bedrooms we found dirty underwear by the bed! And the counter tops were filthy !
I would not recommend staying there especially for the price we feel robbed after paying what we paid and getting what we got.

Nelson T.

Rented "No Shoes" beach house for my beach wedding. The house was amazing. Several of my guests were perfectly happy staying in/at the house versus going on the beach. GCG prefer to communicate via text. I see people complain of hidden fees, and I will admit, there are alot of extra fees associated, but these fees were quoted to me from the get go, so not hidden to me.

Natalie P.

These property owners are horrible. They build unpermitted bedrooms in bottom floor flood zones and expect the vacationers to know better. They also have rooms without fire escapes and basically don't care about safety. Have also tried to book with them only to find the staff rude and tries to move your reservation to a different site so that they can avoid the fees and the rules. And, the other reviews about being rude.... all true. Not only rude, but arrogant and lots to be desired in terms of customer service and truthful statements about safety. I have stayed in two of their homes and was shocked by one of the hot tubs which they didn't fix or seem to care of the danger of the electrical situation near the wet floor around the hot tub. Not a good company, plenty of others to rent from - you don't need the hassle. ZERO Stars

A G. U.

Truly an atrocious stay with this management company. From the very beginning there were hassles with hidden fees, hidden upcharges, the equipment (hot tub, golf cart, etc) that wasn’t disclosed as costing extra didn’t even work properly once we paid extra for it.
“Included” items such as bicycles were literally un-rideable due to completely loose seats and handlebars. Not a tool kit in sight.
Upon checkout there were fabricated “damages” that couldn’t be backed up by evidence and made no logical sense regarding our booking party. Shameful business ethics and shameful morals from this “management company”

Brandon L.

Vaca rental was canceled 23 hours prior to check-in on 6/30/23. We already left OH at 5:30 the morning of 6/30 and stayed in TN for a night when Debi from Gulf Coast Getaways called. Debi said the owner canceled due to "hot water issues/water tank replacement". Moved us from Beach Colony 17A to Belle Mer 1304 (managed by a sister company apparently), claiming it "was an upgrade". It was not an upgrade. We did not need extra bed/bath, nor would we have ever booked it based on not being updated/decorated to our liking. Was too far from the pier, we had planned on daily sunrise/sunset walks from Beach Colony, that wasn't feasible from Belle Mer. A 1.25 mile roundtrip walk to the end of the Navarre Beach pier was now 3 miles. We also brought 3 kids 7, 15, & 16 and the Beach Colony resort had 2 lifeguard towers nearby. Belle Mer beach area had none. Smaller pool (Beach Colony has the largest resort pool in Navarre, another pro when booked), broken furniture, nasty stained rug in the bedroom "upgrade", too far from pier, broken pile of ceramic balcony tiles just sitting outside, broken electrical outlets, broken entry door security hasp (that they knew about but didn't fix prior to our arrival).

I txted Debi later on 6/30 prior to settling down for the night, explaining the new unit did not look like an upgrade, and to call me back. I waited until the morning of 7/1 at 12pm CDT (after they opened at 10am) and finally called her again. Explained that this wasn't an upgrade and would need some compensation for last minute switch. Refused, stating "it was an upgrade".

I believe that the owners just wanted to be there during 4th of July week. On Friday 7/7 at 1:30pm CDT, I spoke with Alexis at the Santa Rosa County Development Services. They handle permits for Navarre, she stated it was public record, and hot water tank replacement requires a permit. She stated the only permit related to hot water tank work recently was for unit 4D (back in April 2023), not 17A, and there were no permits for anything at that address (8501 Gulf Blvd.) that week.

We were not offered our money back, but even if we were, that would've meant cancelling our family vaca that was planned since April 2022, as there would have been no quality beachfront condo rental availability less than 24 hours prior during the busiest beach time of the year.

As of 7/25, I still have not received a follow up call from the reservations manager. On a follow up call with Debi on 7/10, I asked about the hot water tank replacement, she stated she didn't have an update from the owner yet. When I mentioned that I contacted the Santa Rosa County permit office and that there was no permit pulled for the work, there was a period of awkward silence, she said she would give my contact info to the reservations manager, but he was "at the hospital with his wife and I don't know when he will get back to you". Over two weeks now, still waiting for a phone call.

As of 8/29 there's been no attempt to contact me after leaving several messages.

Greg Cook, the owner of Gulf Coast Getaways finally gave me a call on 9/27 after receiving my complaint from the Florida Dept of Agriculture and Consumer Services. He basically told me what Debi had, that the unit was an upgrade and there was some sort of water issue. What came out then was that the owners had blocked off that week long ago, it was "overlooked" in their office, and coincidentally there was a hot water issue that needed taken care of. When I asked about needing a permit, he said it's not required, they replace tanks all of the time without a permit. After explaining the conditions at Belle Mer, he asked if I had requested a refund from Beach Rentals at Navarre, and I said that I didn't rent from them, I rented from him. He offered no money back, but did offer a small discount for a future stay, something that I declined based on the above. Zero documentation offered to substantiate this water tank replacement and need to cancel our reservation.

Michelle R.

We rented a home through Gulf Coast Rentals this past week for our family who were coming to Pensacola for a wedding. The rental company was very responsive and kept us updated and informed as necessary. The home was located at 708 Panferio Drive and it was a very clean nice home. The only reason I didn’t give the experience a 5 star was because I was emailed a list of supplies that I would need to provide (which I brought) but when I arrived about 90% of what they asked me to bring was already in the house. While this is a plus we did feel that the added expense of buying the stuff on the list could have been avoided if the property had listed the items were already on site! Overall the experience was great and we will be using them again!

Ruchika J.

These people are extremely unprofessional and provide no flexibility. First I was inquiring a property for which they provided a discounted rate, then I picked an alternate and similar property and they never honored the discounted rate they offered on the first one. I would imagine, if they offered a discounted rate on one, they could've extended it to the other one (as any professional company would do).I still went ahead and booked the second property for Aug 2021.
I had to cancel it today, may 2021 due to valid family reasons. They are going to still charge me 500$ cancellation. I understand that it was on their policy, but I feel they could be more flexible considering they still have 3.5 months to rent this property out. Most people provide 100% refund before the full payment is made.
I instead booked another place who are lot more flexible. I did not want to be stuck with them in case something happens due to covid or Florida/hurricanes once my full payment was made.
I feel they are out there just to get your money, and not really provide the customer service that is needed. Do not get fooled. You can find very nice properties in Pensacola and lot friendlier company.

Robin S.

I was talking to some lady saying she was the property owner and manager she told me to look at her place and said if I like it then she would like to be paid through Venmo. Red flags everywhere and not only that when I searched the fees it was over 8,000 to stay at this place but I told her no thank you and then she tells me with all the fees through the site is why it cost so much but she could send me the link through email and it would then cost 2,850 be difference and the last red flag was she wouldn’t give me a phone number to call. Please be safe and I would call before dealing with this company