I rented the "Serendipity House" in Surfside Beach, SC, Oceanside Village, through VRBO (although his property is listed on other sites), Mr. Ed Kydd, in mid-July, 2009. Mr. Kydd actually resides in New Hampshire and has people in the Myrtle Beach area clean the unit between renters. I had signed a contract with the owner and later he sent me an email stating that he didn't know that the tax in SC had risen to 12% and he required an additional $16.00 from me. I referred him back to his contract and heard nothing until it was time to send the remainder of what I owed for the week. I was afraid he would take my vacation away from my family so after a few back and forth emails, I sent the $16.00.

When I arrived at the unit, thinking that Mr. Kydd was not honest, I did a walk through of both upstairs and downstairs units and saw that it was run down, but no substantial damage. Mr. Kydd is withholding my security deposit stating that a door was damaged "beyond repair" during my stay at the unit, which is untrue. Finally, nearly a month later, after my continued requests, I received a few photos of a broken door. He did not photograph any of the markers that would allow anyone to be sure where the door in the photo is actually located. In fact, I have photos of the door he "claims" was damaged and there is not a mark on it. Unfortunately, I did not take photos of the unit upon my departure. In my opinion, I would have noticed the severe damage I am being blamed for when I did the final walk through. He says that once the door is replaced (this also includes the frame), he would return the remainder of my deposit. I wonder how many other people have paid for a door "broken beyond repair". He then told me that nobody has stayed there since I rented on July 18th. However, when I booked my dates, the week I chose was the only available week in July and most of August was booked up.

Mr. Kydd's ad states that the units, both upstairs and downstairs together, sleep 10. The only way it sleeps 10 is if you bring air mattresses. The sofa beds are horrible, springs through old mattresses and very worn mattress covers. The mentioned futon is also awful. It is in the "Carolina Room" with a small window unit air conditioner, which does not adequately cool the space by any stretch of the imagination. There were bugs coming up through the downstairs shower and several cockroaches were killed by my sister. I will not be renting from this individual again.