Review of South Beach Inn Beach Motel 3*

If you want puddles of brown water leaking from plumbing onto floors, & overpriced moldy rooms, this is the place for you. I stayed here many times thru the years til summer 2015, because it was reasonably priced, clean, had a kitchen, & less than a block from the beach. So even tho prices had VASTLY increased suddenly in 2 years (2015 high season: Queen w/ full kitchen @ $89; 2017 same room/time of year @ $139) I booked again. I was told that the prices had changed because the rooms had been completely remodeled & updated under new ownership. I didn't want to pay $139 so we settled on the King room (not full kitchen) for $119, & was told it was a "special deal. " We arrived with the plan to unload our things & get to beach asap. I immediately noticed the smell of mold when I walked in. I told mgmt & suggested that perhaps it was the filter on the wall AC unit. Although it wasn't dirty she washed it. We returned from the beach at 6pm & the odor was as strong as ever. The office was closed. I called the after hours emergency number but it forwarded to the answering machine. (Shouldn't emergency lines be answered at all times)? I ran into people on the property that had been painting the exterior that day, & to whom I'd told about the mold smell when we first checked in. They'd explained that the AC was dripping into the wall & was likely the cause. Upon looking closer, we could see that the vents themselves were black inside. I told them I was highly allergic & would not be able to sleep there, as my lungs would close up & I'd end up in the hospital. They were able to contact the owner, who called me from out of state. She had the mgr call. The mgr returned to the property, upon which she disclosed that she frequently gets sick from the mold at SBI because the king room was next to the ofc, that the rooms get flooded when it rains, & she is constantly having asthma attacks at work. ***If she knew this, why is that room still being booked, esp when I noticed it? She put us in another room & said that the floors might be partially wet from the exterior walls being power washed. I said that was fine, so we packed up all of our stuff, moved, & unpacked again. But after she'd left, I found a puddle of brown water on the bathroom floor. I called her back, & she simply told me where the mop was kept on the property if I wanted to address it. Really? I get to mop my own room? Not just the clear puddles from power washing near window & door, but the brown water puddle that kept accumulating in the bath. I looked under the sink to find wet wood below the pipes. The next day we checked out. I called the owner & kindly told her that it wasn't right for me to pay for a room that I couldn't even sleep in, & then one in which I couldn't use the plumbing, & she refused to give me a refund. She said that the people that told me about the mold weren't her employees, but were paint contractors, implying that their take on the mold was therefore invalid. I told her that her mgr had also told me about the mold, but only after we'd already requested another room. She said it was the previous owner's fault for installing the AC incorrectly, that water doesn't drain out, causing mold to grow. So she ADMITTED TO KNOW about the mold. She then blamed her staff, apologizing for their carelessness, but she wouldn't take responsibility for 'their actions' & said I still had to pay! I still have the texts she sent me if anyone wants proof. Then she tried to turn it around on me like I was just being negative by saying, "Isn't there ANYTHING you enjoyed about your stay? " Our STAY? Our 'stay' was: unpack, be exposed to health hazard, pack, move, unpack again, AND mop up 2nd health hazard to get to sink, sleep. Luckily we found a modern, clean, beautiful suite ON the beach at the Palms Hotel for only $80! With free coffee & a kitchen (except stove)! They let us check in 4 hours early! One of their staff had worked at SBI & had quit because of the exact issues we'd experienced!