Had a wonderful vacation in an old Bay Head House. Very clean. kitchen small but all you need. Bed on first floor could use replacing. Other beds were great. All in all a 5* stay.

This is our third stay here and we love this home. Summer at the beach in this comfortable, homey, laid back house has always been a highlight for our family and the kids always ask if we can stay in the same place. The owner and his son are super responsive and on top of things. The property is located only a short two blocks from the beach, and around the corner from a great bakery (Mueller's), restaurant and ice cream (Dune Grass Restaurant), coffee place (Coffee at Noon), and shops. Bike riding in this neighborhood is safe, and there are two parks for kids nearby (Bay Head Playground is around the corner, Heritage playground is a short bike ride away). There is tennis and pickleball at the Bay Head Playground, and basketball at Heritage. There is a community pool nearby although we did not go (there are day passes, but call as you may need to be accompanied by a member?). Close drive to Seaside Heights boardwalk. The house is large and has several bed configurations that worked great for our family of 5. There is cookware and dishes/silverware and we cooked several meals here. There is a large dining room table that seats 8 (we sat 13 for a family dinner by adding another available table). We loved the screened porch for morning coffee and watching the joggers and bike riders go by, and watching the lovely, short summer rain. Plenty of linens, towels, blankets and pillows make it comfy. It feels like we are visiting the home of a family friend as it feels like a well-loved home, not a sterile, staged "rental." If you are looking for an all updated, all new property than this might not be for you, but we love the vibe in this house. Beach badges are included and the Bay Head beach is gorgeous. There is a grassy area in back, an outdoor shower, and access to the canal in the back yard where you could put in your paddleboard (you go past the rental cottage on the property to get to the canal). We are looking forward to many more summers here in this lovely home.

Despite needing some serious updating (which we knew when booking) The house is spacious and a great location! The host was helpful and responsive with questions. We had a great time!

Older classic jersey shore beach house, 1 block off the ocean. Lots of space, great AC, and plenty of hot water. We had a great time.

Great House with lots of charm and character in a great location. The house is clean, everything worked (all appliances/wifi/Air Conditioning) and the host is very responsive to questions or concerns. While the house could use a little updating, the interior was just fine for what we needed. I consider this house a good value in a good location and the host does a good job.

We were greeted by Joe when our cab arrived in the driveway and I advised him I may be earlier as we were unsure if we would hit traffic or not, we arrived and he argued with us for a good 5 minutes as it was only 1pm and he told me 130pm. Finally he let us put our stuff outside in the backyard and go get lunch since we were early, you would have thought it would have been awhile but he calls us 10 mins after the whole arriving early show and says we can now come back lol.......suffice today it was not a good start. We tried to look past that and checked in the house, you are greeted upon the smell of what can only be described as a mix of a stench of old people and basement when you enter. So bad that my husband went to CVS and got glade plug ins and candles. The floors are uneven and falling through we were truly afraid of where we were walking bc that's how poor the floors were in the house. The furniture must have been here for 40+ years because just as the floors it is old and filthy as well. The neighbors homes on both sides were beautiful and we felt a bit upset at the house specially for paying top dollar for one week. The storm hit that weekend and the wind and rain was pretty bad and it tore off the porch screens and we let Joe know and he said he would be over to fix it the next morning but never came. We decided to leave TWO days early with no refund bc the stay was just not comfortable. I would highly NOT recommend staying here.

We rented the property for the week leading up to Christmas. While I would agree with the reviews that the property could use some small cosmetic upgrades (some new bedding in the master, fresh paint, some new cookware), we had a great stay. The house is really cool and interesting (full of character!) and a truly unbeatable location. I found the property owner Joe to be kind and responsive. It was a lovely place to spend Christmas with our immediate family. Would recommend and would go again!

House and porch provide lots of space for social distancing but inside could use an overall facelift. The electoral outlets, microwave and bedroom TV are grossly out of date.. There are no special amenities provided as we have experienced. with prior rentals in Ocean Grove. It's an old style beach house whose best feature is its convenient location to beach and local restaurants.

Great location. Clean house. Short walk to a nice quiet beach for us and short ride to boardwalk for the kids. The house accommodated our large family very.

Great house in a great area. Blocks from the beautiful beach. House was very clean and plenty of space for the family. TV did not work as other reviews reported but owner was very responsive and bought a new TV that we happily picked up nearby and installed. With young children, and a few rainy days it was necessary. Grill was out of gas so we also had to buy a replacement tank if we wanted to grill. There should always be an extra tank ready if having a grill is in the listing. Otherwise, our stay was great, plenty of space for everyone to chill and a beautiful beach town.

The place was everything we needed: 2.5 blocks to the beach, ample space, nice backyard and cool screened porch. Owner was quick with communication and amenable to requests. Dog park nearby, couple good swimming spots for dogs nearby

Walking distance to beautiful beach. Air conditioned nicely. Lots of room. However, tiny ants on kitchen counter and floor in spite of ant traps. Mouse droppings in bathroom cabinet. Torn screens. Chaotic cabinets, crumbs in silverware drawer, microwave dried splatters, grill needed scrubbing and cleaning to use. TV didn't work. Vacuum not usable. Manager was responsive but I didn't want to spend my vacation dealing with all the problems.

Great value! My family stayed at this property of the July 4th holiday weekend and was very happy with the location, size and comfort of this house near the beach.

Incredible location...quick walk to the beach ,great coffee, lunch, bakery , wine and food market near by. Ample beach badges. Used our own chairs as those available were rusted. Sunsets over the lake are lovely. No bikes or kayak as listed in amenities. Outdoor table seats four . Not great for a house that sleeps 10. However there were more chairs to place around yard. Table on screened in porch seats 6. No outdoor lighting on porch, or lanterns so we booth a solar light. Had our grandchildren come as planned, the front porch would not have been safe due to splinters and overall cleanliness, and no railing on lower screens. Yard was finally mowed at 7:30 am two days before we left . Beds were comfortable. The inside and outside of the house are in need of many repairs and deep cleaning . Appliances are old , which would be fine if in better shape. Owner quickly replaced broken coffee pot, worked with us to get TV working. Toaster only toasted on one side. The best solution due to a problem in the power cord was to leave the TV on (on mute) for the whole vacation or stay on the phone for hours with Comcast. No remote for bedroom TV. Refrigerator missing crisper drawer and vegetable bins. Several pans had flaking non stick coating and were too sticky to cook with. Grill was rusted, smelly and had goose poop on the outside. I could have been on the phone with the owner multiple times, but just wanted to relax and enjoy our vacation without constant complaints. We ordered in way more than we would have. However, we were surrounded by quick and easy outdoor eating choices and a good market. The house has so much potential. Just so many details are overlooked to make for a relaxing vacation.

Be aware of other reviews describing this owner as “callous” and “unwelcoming,” and a neighbor stating this home has “never had the same renters twice.” These reviews are consistent with our experience. You should know two things about this property: 1) The only upside is the location. 2) You can plan to shell out several hundred dollars more than is listed because the owner is an unscrupulous person who will squeeze every last dime out of the people renting his sub-par property. In every other situation where I have requested an early arrival or to bring our dog, I have made these payments through VRBO. Joe requested (and double-confirmed) that I should write these checks to him. My daughter’s husband spent the first 20 minutes of his stay cleaning out the fridge and freezer because it was disgusting. The listing says there are multiple working TVs in the home. Despite me making it clear that cable TV was a priority, there was no cable and Joe did not return my calls about it. All of us needed to wear socks inside because the floors were so dirty. My grandchildren’s feet were black at the end of the day – amusing given the fact that we had to pay a cleaning fee. Joe withheld our security deposit for the following reasons: 1) A twin mattress that my granddaughter moved to the 2nd floor, so she could sleep next to her parents. This mattress was not on a bed – it was an extra mattress on the floor – and it was light enough to be carried one floor down by a 6-year-old. Joe deemed this enough of an inconvenience to withhold hundreds of dollars of our security deposit. 2) A stain on the bedroom carpet, which my wife documented. We provided a photo to Joe and he disregarded it entirely. We also asked if he could kindly see if the stain could be removed before charging us – a request he also disregarded. My daughter tried to resolve this issue with Joe – even stating she would write a positive review. Joe’s response, which I documented for VRBO, was that he would consider it “after you write a review.” In other words, “write a good review and maybe I’ll give your money back.” Because my daughter offered to write a review, VRBO could not help us get our money back. I rent out my own property and have rented many wonderful homes on VRBO/HomeAway. I have never written a review like this and won’t likely need to again. I don’t know Joe personally, but in his capacity as a property owner, you can expect the minimum level of courtesy and decency.

Stayed with a group of friends for a weekend wedding. The location could not have been more perfect. We never got in cars. One block to beach. 5 min walk to wedding venue. The house’s best feature for us was the big screen porch! One block from great cafe and coffee/bakery we did a lot of carry out.

We needed a place for a bunch of us to crash for a wedding and this house worked perfectly. The layout is a little weird. Lots of random closets, pullout couch on the porch, bedroom in the middle of the first floor, etc. but overall it was a nice place and it worked for us!

Overall house/porch & yard are worn and not well maintained. Non-functioning front door knob; torn porch screen; overgrown grass in BBQ area with 2 of 3 grilles inoperable.; dirty windows; odd collection of dish ware-tons of plates and glasses and 5 cereal bowls. However, is super location, quiet residential neighborhood, walk to the beach easily as well as ice cream and restaurants. Owner when called to request towels & some clean-up response was immediate & satisfactory. Cleaning person arrived quickly with supplies including towels, new chair covers & cushions for dining room chairs (Ethan Allen). Major mechanicals in excellent shape, I.e. AC, showers, etc. Beds all comfortable.

The location is perfect for our family Walk to everything Did not use my car all week!

Very positive overall. Two things would have improved our experience: 1) We had a very serious health emergency in the family which jeopardized our ability to rent the home. The medical emergency happened very shortly after we signed the contract and about 16 weeks in advance of the week we had rented. Joe refused to release us from the contract without the steep penalty. We thought this was callous. He had the right to do that but it was not the right thing to do. 2) When we arrived at the home a family was already there by mistake. This cost us a day at the house. It was not VRBO’s fault but they were gracious in trying to contact Joe the owner to rectify the situation. The error was on the part of the family who rented the back cottage but occupied the main house instead. In short, a nice house, a great area, and besides an insensitive handling of a tragic situation, the owner Joe, though not willing to assist in a compromise, was otherwise responsive.

We stayed for a week and had friends and family join us. Everyone said they loved their time at this house. The owner made everything easy, especially in regards to responses & response times with my questions. The location is fantastic. Easy walk to the beach. Quick drive to Jenkinson’s. About a block from great small shops like Mueller’s Bakery and Bay Head Cheese Shop & Bottles Too.

Loved our stay. This was our second year here and we'll definitely be back. Lots of space to relax and gather as a family. Short stroll to the beach, restaurant, bakery, and a couple of shops.

Very nice house with large bedrooms, huge kitchen, short walk to the beach and downtown Bay Head. Very accurate description by Joe, the owner. We brought our dog and found an easy walking path to exercise him. Short drive to great pizza ( Mon Alyssa on Bay Ave. ), great seafood in PPBeach, and all the stores on Bridge. Highly recommend this vacation.

My friends and I rented the house for Memorial Day Weekend. It was huge!! The backyard was great to hang out during the day. We all really enjoyed our stay.

We were a family of 5 (2 adults, 3 kids aged 9, 11, 13) and we came to visit family who live in the area. We had a great stay and really enjoyed the house. The house is well loved and a great beach house. We walked to the beach 2 blocks almost every day, and we could walk 1/2 block to the Dune Grass cafe, ice cream, or Mueller's Bakery. Screen porch was nice to sit on and play cards, the kitchen/dining room was big enough to hold our extended family of 10 for dinner, and we loved the many rooms to hide away for a quiet moment in the afternoon. The outdoor shower was helpful after getting sandy at the beach. We would have loved more seating in the living room to watch the World Cup, but we just moved in chairs from other parts of the home. It would have been nice to have laundry soap, seasonings, cooking oil, large garbage bags, and more pots/pans, but we made it work. Joe was easy to work with and accommodating. Thank you for working with us on the beach badges and linens! Bay Head is a great little town with a quiet, beautiful beach that has lifeguards until about sunset. Close enough to Seaside Heights to visit the boardwalk, but far enough away that we did not have an issue with traffic, partying, or noise in Bay Head. Great family vacation. We really enjoyed the house and would definitely stay again!

Our extended family including a new grandchild, a pet dog, and an elderly great grandmother enjoyed our stay in Bayhead. The house is spacious and comfortable allowing everyone to have their own privacy under one roof. It is also conveniently located to small downtown shops + bakery; plus the beach is blocks away. We will be keeping this property on our list to return and rent again.

This house was great for having a dog and 4 kids with us. It is worn, with mismatched furniture and dishes, but that meant we could relax with the kids and dog. Air conditioning works well, even up in the 3rd floor attic bedroom. Screened in front porch was so nice to have, we spent lots of time there. The provided blankets and pillows are pretty measly, you might want to supplement with your own. If you want to swim with a lifeguard go to the beach via Bridge. If you want to be able to roll your stroller or cart, go the beach via Howe which has a ramp. Coffee, ice cream, deli, etc are all a block away. There is a playground across the canal pedestrian bridge at Howe. Outdoor shower was nice to have. That shower, along with the backyard and driveway, are shared with the cottage at rear of the property.