I have always stayed at a Phoenix property when going to Orange beach and I am talking about at least for the past 15-20 years. The Phoenix 1 was obviously a bit older, but never had an issue. Mostly stayed at the Phoenix 10 though. However, this past weekend, I tell my new fiancee that we need to stay at a Phoenix property. She was able to find a two bedroom with a "reasonable" price for this time of year. This was her first time staying in Orange Beach, as she and her daughter are usually Destin people. But, with a new 6 month old, I talked them into saving a couple of hours driving and staying at orange beach. Her teen daughter invited three friends. We found a condo at the Phoenix East 2. I have never stayed there, but with the pics online, it looked like a great option. We arrive and had a very smooth check in. We were told not to park in "owner" spots. Weird, considering if we were renting a condo from an "owner," then the owner wouldn't be there to use their spots. It was upsetting to see all those empty parking spaces as we drove up and seeing how far we would have to eventually park. But, fine, whatever.
We unload and go to the third floor unit. Upon arrival to the door, I noticed this unit had the most disgusting door in need of a paint job. By now, it was getting dark as we had a late start. I park the cars and return. I get off of the elevator on the third floor and turn towards the direction of the condo. There is a window by the door that has some wooden "blinds" down giving the apparent illusion that no one can see through them when you are inside with the lights on. However, there I am, stepping off the elevator, I see one of the girls, clear as day, using the bathroom in their room. Yes, the window has a straight shot to the first bedroom and all the way directly to the bathroom. I sped up my pace, opened the door and told the girls to close their bedroom door right away. After they came out, I had to rig a blanket to hang over the window as there was nothing else to provide ANY privacy through that window.
I then get to walk into the unit and look around. The pictures were nothing like what we stayed in. Words used such as "updated kitchen and bathroom counters" and what not, were cleverly used to not describe the actual condo. The pictures of the master bathroom were of the counters with the door to the shower room closed. Of course it was obvious they did not want to show the very out of date shower that was in there. I went to take a shower in there and the shower head fell to the tub when I went to touch it. The grip of the shower head was broken on one side and the shower head was strategically placed to where it would stay up there just as long as no one touched it. Not to mention the base of the showerhead was not even flush to the wall. It was sticking out a few inches and the piping was loose. We called for maintenance to fix it and they tell us they haven't been able to reach him all day and they only have one guy there for all the units. So, we would just have to wait. Needless to say, it was amazing that he was the best part of the whole experience. He came the next day and replace the shower head. I am just amazed that the cleaning people or the last people to stay there didn't let the property know that it would need to be fixed.
Besides the new fridge, countertops and stove, everything about the condo made me feel like I was living in the 60's. The couch and chairs were a weird fake plastic material that stuck to any bare skin that touched it, and I can only imagine what bare skin touched it and I highly doubt the cleaning crews disinfect them after each guest.
The walls were painted a weird greenish color that was fading and obviously not having a new coat of paint in many years. The TVs in there were outdated. Flatscreen yes, but the thick kind like the original flatscreens. I can buy a new one that size for maybe $200 and I can only assume that these are old TVs from the owners home or something. The beds were not comfortable, the pillow I was sleeping on is sealed tight or something because during the night I laid on it in a way that it actually felt like a balloon full of air. The lights in there...I despise the "daylight" color light bulbs as they give off that fluorescent light feeling at my office. The lamps in the unit had the soft white lights whereas the ceiling lights almost blinded me when we turned them on at night. It was WAY smaller than the pictures led us to believe, good job to the photographer for that one.
I do not see how 4 adults would be comfortable. Let alone the 6 it is advertised as being able to sleep.
I was embarrassed because I recommended Phoenix properties, but this one was as if they bought a building and put "Phoenix" on it. The owner of this unit obviously doesn't care about it, heck, I would bet the owners never even stay there. If I owned it, I wouldn't stay there.