Sealodge C5

Greetings all. I have debated how to go about putting up a review of our stay in Kauai from Aug 29 - Sept 6. I%26#39;ve decided to do it in two parts. This part is a review of the Condo we rented, Sealodge C5 through www.summitpacific.com . I%26#39;ll do a trip report after this review.

My wife and I rented Sealodge C5 last May. We rented it for a total of 8 days. Our cost was approx $1500 including the cleaning deposit.

We arrived at Sealodge C5 on Friday Aug 29th around 5pm. The condo was clean and the views were fantastic. We were very happy with our choice. The condo does get some very nice ocean breezes in the afternoon. It was comfortable when you opened all the windows. We enjoyed our time there on Saturday Aug 30th and Sunday Aug 31st.

On Monday Sept 1st is when the problems started. The condo unit above us was being remodeled. The workmen began Drilling, Sanding, Hammering, Sawing, Pounding, Scraping etc etc etc at 8am. It sounded as though the ceiling and walls were coming down.

I spoke to one of the workmen about it and he said the remodel had been planned for 9 months and there was nothing he could do. He said he was a friend of the owner (John Shaw) of unit C5. He seemed surprised we weren%26#39;t warned ahead of time that the work would be taking place.

The noise was rediculous. We could barely hear the TV at times. At one point I told my wife I was sure the workmen were going to drill right through the walls because it was so noisy and sure enough a few minutes later they did. Right above the TV cracks started appearing, sheetrock started falling and they drilled through the wall. I started screaming at the workmen to stop. One of them came down and looked at the damage and said ';Oops, my bad. I%26#39;ll fix it when you leave I know the owner and he%26#39;s O.K.';

I was LIVID. This was on Wednesday Sept 3. My wife and I began trying to find another place to stay but were unable to find a place on short notice that would fit our budget.

My wife barely slept a wink until we left on Saturday Sept 6th.

If you have ever seen the commercial on TV that has the lovely young couple arriving at their Hotel/Condo and while unpacking their bags every time they try to speak to each other a Jack-Hammer goes off you understand how we felt.

I will include My Letter to the Summit Pacific Inc Property Manager and her response to me below.

My letter to Patti Puckett, Summit Pacific Property Manager Sealodge C5 as follows:

';Hello,

We are VERY disappointed that we were not warned there would be

construction going on above our heads for the entire week! The first weekend was fine Saturday Aug 30 and Sunday Aug 31. Beginning Monday Sept 1 the Construction started at 8am and continued throughout the day till 4 or 5pm. They were Pounding, Sanding, Sawwing, Banging and Drilling

constantly! It sounded like the ceiling was going to drop at any time! The noise was so bad we couldn%26#39;t even hear the Ocean or the TV. This went on ALL WEEK LONG! At one point I told my wife I was sure they were going to drill straight through the walls. Sure enough they did! You can look at

the 6 inch cracks and hole in the wall above the TV in the Living Room to see where they drilled through the wall! I was LIVID! I spoke the one of

the Construction guys and he said, ';OOPS My Bad, i%26#39;ll fix it when you leave';. His name was Bob and he said he knew the Owners.

By Tuesday we were looking for another place to stay. We couldn%26#39;t find anywhere on such short notice that was within our budget so we were STUCK

in the Vacation from Hell. If you have ever seen the commercial on TV that shows the Happy Couple arriving in their Hotel/Condo and while they are

unpacking each time they try to speak to each other a Jack-Hammer goes off then you know how we felt.

Why were we NOT WARNED we were going to be going through this? It%26#39;s INEXCUSABLE! Never in our entire lives have we been through something like this. My wife was unable to sleep once they drilled through the walls. I am doing my best here to keep my cool but i%26#39;m sure you can understand why we are so upset. Any good Hotel/Condo would refund the guests who went through such a mess part of all of the rent. We expect no less.

The Condo is Beautiful don%26#39;t get me wrong. It truly is the most fantastic view we have ever seen and if it weren%26#39;t for the Constant Loud Construction and Drilling through the walls we probably would have had the best vacation ever.

Please Respond A.S.A.P.';

Below is the response I received:

Aloha,

I am sorry you did not enjoy your stay at Sealodge C5. The condo units at

Sealodge are individually owned and we were not aware of any construction going on around or near the unit by any of the other owners or we would have made you aware.

This is the first I have heard about this. We can not control what the other owners do with

their units. The construction workers may have told you they knew the owners, but

the owners were not aware of this going on. I do apologize but there is nothing we can do.

Patti';

Below is my 2nd letter:

';I am sorry to hear that you refuse to do anything about our ruined vacation at

Sealodge C5. I am sure if it were you that had the terrible experience on your

vacation you would also expect that something be done to smooth things over.

When a couple rents from you and they have to put up with all the Pounding,

Sanding, Sawing, Drilling, Hammering all the while wondering if the walls or

ceiling are going to come down and then low and behold the construction people

start drilling through the walls how can you possibly expect us to just forget

the experience?

Since you claim you cannot do anything for us after what we went through then we

certainly cannot be expected to recommend Sealodge and especially the Sealodge

unit we rented from Mr Shaw through you. Instead we will tell others about our

experience. In this day and age Millions of people read the experiences of

others on many Travel Advisor Forums and Web Boards before making their choice

on where to stay. We are members of many of these Travel Advisor Boards and Forums online and will share our Terrible Experience at Sealodge

Unit C5 online. We believe SummitPacific and the owner of Sealodge C5 John Shaw have a

responsibility to ensure their guests leave fully refreshed and happy with their

experience. IF not then we believe they have the responsibility to make things

right.

Never in our lives have we been through something like this. We expect to be

able to relax and enjoy our vacations. We save for years to be able to travel

and certainly have expectations that whomever we rent from would be more caring

if we had a bad experience at their particular vacation destination.

I hope you share these e-mails with Mr Shaw the owner. Perhaps he will feel

differently when he knows that vacationers are not getting what they expect when

renting his unit and will take the proper steps to make sure his guests feel

better about their experience.';

I have no way of knowing if the actual Owner of the unit has been forwarded our complaints.

Feel free to comment as you please. Yes I should have been more Pro-Active but had no contact with the actual owners of the unit. We would have gone elsewhere but we did not have the means to do so.

Be very careful when renting from Summit Pacific and Sealodge. We thought we were and ended up hating what should have been a beautiful condo.

Our trip report to Kauai will be separate from this because we managed to make the best of our stay and including a trip report with this Review of Sealodge C5 and Summit Pacific Inc just don%26#39;t go together.

Keenshoe and Wife

Sealodge C5

We are staying in C5 in a couple of weeks--the first week of October and now I am incredibly concerned!!!

I will call Patti today, but it sounds like it could be miserable for us as well.

I hope we can make other arrangments at this late notice.

Thanks for your post.

Sealodge C5

';Yes I should have been more Pro-Active but had no contact with the actual owners of the unit.';

What else could you have done? What a horrible experience!

I am glad you shared though, I will certainly check with the owner of the place we are renting before they get full payment to see if they know of any planned construction on our shared walls...

I%26#39;m glad you were able to make the most of your trip, but I too think that summit should have offered you something.

alieck they are doing a very intensive remodel on Unit C8 which is right above unit C5. It%26#39;s possible by the time you get there they will have finished the noisiest part of the work but if I were you i%26#39;d try to pin them down on something ahead of time as to what you should expect. From their response letter to me if you have something go wrong their standard response is ';Too bad, So sad, thanks for your hard earned cash, Bye bye';.

When we left the construction guys had blocked off the walkway up to the C bldg units and you had to hop down through the bushes to get to and from your unit if you were staying in C bldg. They were currently tearing out all the sheetrock in C8.

Also make sure they fix the cracks and hole in the wall above the TV (near the ceiling) if you stay there.

Below is first the response from Patti when I wrote her this afternoon, 2nd, what I actually wrote her. I know, it%26#39;s backwards, but I%26#39;m tired!

I don%26#39;t know what to think, it sounds like it will be fine, but now I am super worried about it. Looks like I just missed cancelling for a refund by a couple of days. Otherwise, I think I would definitely try to find another accomodation.

Aloha Alicia,

Let me assure you that I have thoroughly checked the situation out and

there

is no more construction work going on around Sealodge C5. They have

finished

the short project that took place during the visit of the unhappy guest and

are

finishing up with the painting this week. We were totally unaware that

another

owner was going to do some renovations during this time. I have checked out

with the resident manager at Sealodge about any future work to be done and

there

is none scheduled. Our cancellation policy is as follows:

Cancel 61 days or more before arrival - full refund

Cancel 60-31 days before arrival - forfeit deposit

Cancel 30 days or less - no refund unless we can rent the exact same days.

I do not feel you have anything to be concern about for your stay. I am

the

property manager of the unit so please reach out with any questions you may

have.

Thanks,

Patti Thompson

Sealodge C5 Property Manager

%26gt; Dear Patti,

%26gt;

%26gt; I have some deep concerns about staying at Sealodge C5 that have just come

%26gt; to my attention. A recent renter has informed me about the construction

%26gt; issues going on above that unit that caused his stay to be unacceptable.

%26gt; And, there is now damage to the unit.

%26gt;

%26gt; Can you confirm any construction that is going on and when it is expected

%26gt; to be finished? If you are able to put me in contact with the owner of

%26gt; the unit and/or the unit%26#39;s owner above, I would be greatly appreciated so

%26gt; we can decide if we need to cancel our reservation and search for another

%26gt; place at this late date.

%26gt;

%26gt; I will review the cancellation policy at this time and try to make an

%26gt; informed decision based on your reply. Thanks.

%26gt;

%26gt; Our stay is the first week in October.

Interesting. No mention of fixing the damage caused by the workers drilling through the wall. I%26#39;d make sure they have actually LOOKED at the Unit and FIXED the damage. I sure hope you have a MUCH better experience than my wife and I have had with Summit Pacific Inc. Their ';who cares if you are happy or not policy'; is VERY troublesome.

The wife and I are wishing you a FANTASTIC Vacation with much relaxation (and plenty of quiet)!

The first thing I want to say is how very sorry I am you went through this. I was on the island at the same time and would have been happy to help you find another place to stay had I known. #2. Summit Pacific is not at fault. SP is a website where owners can advertise their property. It is like VRBO. It is not fair to judge SP by this problem. #3. It very well could be true that the owner above did not tell the owner or managing agent of your condo that work was being done. I remember one time that happened to me. My neighbor did inform me work was about to begin, but it started earlier than expected. I got a call from the guests and I could understand their situation. I did compensate them for their aggravation . Your thread was so long I now can%26#39;t remember if you called the property manager or owner at the time. That would have helped. #4. I know you are upset but I really think this should have stayed between you and the manager/owner of the condo. It also should have been in a review. Having us read your letters and those of the managing agent was just venting and I don%26#39;t think it was neccesary. Warning people that work is being done is constructive, but threatening the manager and or owner with going on TA is just not fair. I really can see both sides so please don%26#39;t blow my response out of proportion. I am just trying to help others who do book on the SP site, do book through a managing agent or direct with an owner,to BE more proactive at the time of an incident.

Again blaming Summit Pacific is out of line and I am sure if the owner of C5 was made aware of this he would have responded. I do not know this gentleman but I know 90% of the owners who rent their units out would understand your situation and try to make it better.

I am sorry if you think I am not sympathetic because I am. We go on vacation and spend a lot of money to enjoy our surroundings, but if the agent said they didn%26#39;t know anything about it maybe it%26#39;s true. Why she didn%26#39;t offer you a rebate is beyond me. Maybe she felt you complained after the fact. Sounds like the guys fixing that other unit were unlicensed at best.

A suggestion I have is to find out who owns the unit having the work done. Perhaps they need to be told to let the other units surrounding them work is being done.

I hope my suggestions help others.

I have written a review. It takes a bit of time for it to show up.

Summit Pacific is my ONLY contact so no I don%26#39;t feel I did wrong by them by letting others know what their policies are if a guest has to put up with something that would have ruined pretty much anyone%26#39;s vacation.

They sent me a ';sorry not our fault'; letter then refused to respond any further. Not something a company that cares about its guests would or should be doing. If I don%26#39;t put up the true information then how can anyone know what their policies are? I should just take my lumps and leave it at that? Sorry, I paid far too much to just say ';Oh well better luck next time';.

These Travel Advisor boards are for exactly what I used it for. Letting others know what can and did happen with a particular company.

If they wanted a good review then they should have been open to discussing the situation and letting the actual owner of the Condo know the situation. That has not happened so I took the only road possible. Warn others that they too are subject to the same policies and should do everything in their power ahead of time to be sure they do not run into the same situation.

I didn%26#39;t say anything derogatory about Sealodge Unit C5. In fact I said it%26#39;s a wonderful condo.

Thanks for your feedback though :)

keenshoe: You said that C8 is going through an extensive renovation and it is directly above C5. We have C8 booked for March, 2009 and we were told way back in June or July that it has been completely remodeled and the new photos were posted on the SP website. Are you sure C8 is above C5?

I am looking at the website www.summitpacificinc.com/sealodge-c5.html and it says owned and managed by Mr Shaw. Are you telling me you did not deal with him but he uses someone else named Patty? Who booked your reservation? On your rental agreement who does it say to contact. I do not see anything on the Summit Pacific site that says they are responsible. It does say each condo or rental home is individually owned and managed and that is who you speak with.

I am glad you put a review up. That is where this should be and again it is too bad you had this experience and hopefully you have taught others what to do if this happens to them.

lovely2 I am trying to find a map of the Sealodge Units. Yes Unit C8 was directly above us. If the work was being done in Unit C9 or C10 (not sure there is a C9 or C10) then they had a VERY long drillbit to be able to drill at an angle like that into our unit.

jebett - ';I am looking at the website www.summitpacificinc.com/sealodge-c5.html and it says owned and managed by Mr Shaw. Are you telling me you did not deal with him but he uses someone else named Patty? Who booked your reservation? On your rental agreement who does it say to contact. I do not see anything on the Summit Pacific site that says they are responsible. It does say each condo or rental home is individually owned and managed and that is who you speak with.';

Our ONLY contact was Patty. We were given no owner contact information. Like you I found the owners name on the Summit Pacific website. I have had no contact with Mr Shaw nor have I found any way to contact him directly. We rented from Patty. She sent ALL response e-mails (including when we filled out the original form from the Summit Pacific Website). The letter we were sent giving us all the details doesn%26#39;t give us any contact information for Mr Shaw. I assure you I would have written him directly if I could have.

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