Stay away from Unit 408, Cape Winds Resort! Owner has convinced Trip Advisor and VRBO to remove all negative reviews, so only positive ones on those sites. Hopefully YELP will keep this review to warn future unsuspecting vacationers of the true condition of this condo.
We rented 408 for two weeks in March 2016. We don't know where to start really, there were so many issues, but here goes. The condo was not secure (e.g. 3 cars stolen from the condo parking lot, others had windows smashed in, one night during the week of March 21st, no deadbolt on condo door), lack of supplies (e.g. 2 dinner knives for 4 people), lack of function (e.g. 3/4 of electrical outlets didn't work in the kitchen, no screen on one patio door, bedroom window didn't open- off its tracks), health hazards (e.g. dirt caked on the A/C unit, one lounge chair totally rusted, oven filthy), in disrepair (e.g. porcelain chips in bathtub, sliding/folding doors off their tracks, difficult to open/close, many items broken, such as the knife block, toilet roll holder, ceramics), entire condo needed paint (e.g. wall gouges, baseboards dirty), WIFI terrible (slow, kicked off all the time, not secure - open to the entire building), people pulling the fire alarm...we could go on, but you get the picture.
We cannot believe how much we paid for this "premium" condo. We rented it because of the wonderful reviews on VRBO and Trip Advisor. We sent an email to the owner twice about the condition of the condo, within 24 hours of moving in and shortly after we returned home. His first response was - the unit is exactly like the photos, and second was essentially - if it were that bad, why didn't you leave? We actually did look for another condo but could not find anything else as it was March break. So we ended up cleaning the condo ourselves, purchasing our own supplies (e.g. cutlery, chairs) and living with its lack of function and state of disrepair.
After we returned home, we sent some photos to the owner (Drew Groff) explained our position again, and asked for a partial refund as it was absolutely not worth $440 US/day. Surprisingly, he is now not returning our calls or emails. So do yourself a favour - spend your hard earned vacation dollars on another condo. N.B. the owner advised us that he owns 70 condos in this area (stayincocoabeach.com belongs to the Groff family), so buyer beware!
Also, just found previous health and safety violations online for this condo, too bad we didn't find this before we rented:
http://www.inbrevard.com/cape-canaveral/accommodations/lodging/resort-condominium-guide/1505785/cape-winds-resort-suites-408-and-508.html
Here's a review from someone else we found online regarding another condo this family owns "I filed complaint (inc pictures) with City of Satellite Beach. They referred me to Florida Dept of Business & Professional Regulation Div. of Hotels & Restaurants. Agent came, inspected & provided me with a copy of now public report citing Dean 14 violations of Florida Code 509, requiring corrective action. We had reserved for 2 mos. Same day after inspection, we left (sick)! 5 miserable weeks! I called Dean, left vmail explaining why we left early. NO RESPONSE. During my stay, I read guest reviews he posted from 1.5 yrs ago, and it felt to me like he was paving the way to negate my forthcoming review. I feel he treated me with a lack of business integrity. I feel cheated! I will never recommend 446 or any property owned by Dean, Drew, Stephen, or Jaclyn in Stay In Cocoa Beach family."
http://www.trip-pub.com/forum-77136839/stayincocoabeach-com.html read more