This was our sixth trip to Sterling Shores. We love the property. The condo was beautiful, comfortable and apart from one broken ceiling fan and that one room being warmer, we enjoyed our stay. We were, however, a bit disappointed in the property management. We arrived late Saturday. On Wednesday, the lagoon pool, one of the features of the property, had to be evacuated at 4:00 p.m. The pool was completely drained due to a child having an “accident” in the pool. We were told the pool would be back in use by 10:00 the following morning. The pool was closed for two complete days. We left Friday morning which didn't give much time for lagoon pool use. There was also “scheduled” water maintenance to be done during the week on one of those mornings. We were told the water would be shut off from 8 a.m. to 5p.m.
Fortunately, that didn’t occur but by that time we had already rearranged dinner plans to the following night to accommodate preparation, showers etc..for 6 people that would have to take place in order to go out for a nice meal.
When we went down to discuss this with the Vacasa rep, she acted a bit irritated, repeated she knew nothing and had nothing to do with the pool or water situation. She informed us this was a HOA issue. When I asked where the HOA office might or someone I could speak with, she said she didn’t know and basically offered very little help or assistance. As previously stated, we have stayed at Sterling Shores multiple times. We do not want one trip with water and pool issues to spoil our desire to return to this property. However, we do consider the convenience of the pool and property as part of the amenities when renting the condo for the week. We vacation once a year and spent a great deal to make this time as wonderful as possible. In addtion, we were not made aware of a change, as of this year, to reserve beach chairs and umbrellas online prior. This was new. Last year it was first come first serve. All first and second row chairs and umbrellas were reserved before we ever arrived. We rented chairs at the adjacent property for $85/set up rather than $50.00.
We hope to return to Sterling Shores but I sincerely hope the property management is a bit more organized next time. Schedule maintenance prior to the opening of summer when everyone has arrived. We booked last August for this June trip and would like to book in advance again.