Scroll past all those negative reviews. This cottage was just the cutest. It’s an older house. I’m sure the people who only live in new manufactured homes can get prissy. But there is nothing like the charm and character of an old home. The solid wood doors, glass door knobs, claw foot tub, etc all just add to the unique charm of this cottage. Top it off with original artworks in every room (I’m an artist and really appreciated that), artsy paint jobs and matching furniture ALONG WITH the absolute best location, it really is a gem. Maybe add a cushion to the front porch swing. My only critique! We will definitely be staying here with the kids again. They loved it as much as I did!

Scroll past all those negative reviews. This cottage was just the cutest. It’s an older house. I’m sure the people who only live in new manufactured homes can get prissy. But there is nothing like the charm and character of an old home. The solid wood doors, glass door knobs, claw foot tub, etc all just add to the unique charm of this cottage. Top it off with original artworks in every room (I’m an artist and really appreciated that), artsy paint jobs and matching furniture ALONG WITH the absolute best location, it really is a gem. Maybe add a cushion to the front porch swing. My only critique! We will definitely be staying here with the kids again. They loved it as much as I did!

BEWARE: NOT A LUXURY RENTAL. We had a MAJOR problem with roaches. There was a roach in my bed. Multiple roaches in the kitchen. Roaches crawling on the walls. There were roach bait stations throughout the house that I noticed upon arrival, indicating there is or has been a problem with roaches. They had someone come professionally spray while we were here and they left a can of Bengal roach spray for us to use that they ended up taking back. Even after this, I saw roaches for the entirety of my stay. I was unable to relax on my vacation due to the constant worrying about if there were roaches crawling on or around me. I got in touch with the rental company RealJoy and they offered me a $100 gift card as compensation. I paid several thousand to stay at this location. I called the office multiple times and was put in touch with Jonathan. This man insulted me, argued with me about what sort of cockroach it was in the house I was renting from them, interrupted me the entire time I tried to speak, and pushed me to my breaking point of yelling. I sent them multiple pictures of the roaches and had several people from RealJoy come out to the property. I was told the would have another professional spraying on the last visit and that never happened. Besides the fact that this rental is costing over $200 a day and there should not be a roach problem, I have a three year old son who’s crawling on the ground and playing constantly. I’m now having to worry about him coming across dead or dying poisoned roaches. I was reassured by them that the pesticide was “all natural” but let’s get real, it’s designed to kill. It’s considered “less toxic” than regular pesticides, still not something I’m wanting my child playing around. RealJoy has the absolute worst customer service I have ever encountered. After googling some reviews, it appears this company has scammed many people out of thousands of dollars. Besides all of that, this rental is nothing like the pictures. There are white patches on the walls where things have been patched. There is dust in the corners and on furniture. There were spiders and spiderwebs throughout the house. The dining room floor is sinking in. The walk in shower leaks water all over the floor and there are brown stained caulk lines on the floor and edge of the shower stall. There was black mold on the curtain and I was told that I would receive another one but that was never given to me.

We loved our stay. House has everything we needed. Best location.

We stay in Grayton Beach every year and struggle to find a property of this size to rent that is close to the beach and to other family members staying nearby. This one fits the bill location-wise but feels like it is a slightly neglected rental rather than a well-loved vacation home. For the price, I would prefer some updates - for example, the living room furniture was very well used and in need of replacing, there were spots that seemed to be primed rather than painted on the walls, and the kitchen could have been a little bit better stocked. The beds were okay -but not great. Overall, it just needs an update. At a lower price point, all of these issues would be easier to overlook.

We loved the house! It’s in a great location, very close to the beach, well stocked kitchen and access to the heated pool was a plus.

This Beach house was fun, colorful and just a short easy walk to pristine white sand beach!

This Beach house was fun, colorful and just a short easy walk to pristine white sand beach!

This was hands down one of our best family vacations. The location is ideal for getting to and from the beach with beautiful views of the lake and the gulf. The porch was the best for coffee, in the morning, lunch at the picnic table, and wine at night. We cannot wait to go back!

We enjoyed the convenience of being so close to the beach. The little cabin is great for a small family. Upon arrival we were disappointed to find the house not fully cleaned. With COVID it was advertised they were doing extra cleaning. There were wet washcloths in the shower, dirty soaps around the tub, and nasty moldy coffee grounds in the coffee market. We notified the property manager and they did come the next day to clean the bathrooms. I also spent the afternoon at arrival cleaning because I didn't trust they had fully cleaned for the safety of our kids. The other notable disappointment was the old dishwasher... it doesn't really clean dishes and cant run while the washing machine is running. The street night life is a bit loud on some nights. Overall we did have a great stay and it was nice to be able to social distance while on vacation and cook at home and enjoy the beach.

This house is well-located, a short block’s watch to the beach. But it of dated construction and floor plan, and not extremely well maintained, and has no views worth mentioning. We had no real problems other than the floor not having been well cleaned prior to our check in and the lack of cutlery ( one table knife!) in the kitchen. We were glad to find a place to stay in Grayton with access to a pool, but this house is overpriced for the quality of the accommodations.

Frankly, all the negative reviews had us prepared for a pretty bare-bones experience. We were pleasantly surprised. Although it’s the smallest house on the street for sure, it fit our needs just fine. Very beachy and cozy and we had a really great time. This being said, we did bring a lot of our own stuff because of past reviews. I would recommend doing the same. We brought better pans, better knives. The silverware is super cheap and could be bent in half with one hand, so if that bothers you maybe bring that as well. We also brought a dish scrubber, laundry and dish pods, toilet paper, paper towels, garbage bags, shampoo and bar soap. You will also need your own beach towels and chairs. Also, if you are planning to bring a cart to take to the beach, you might want one with big sand wheels. The sand is pretty thick at the end of the walkway. It’s super easy to get to the lake from the house. If you have canoes or kayaks, bring them.

Some of the furniture is old and uncomfortable. The "oldness" of the cottage is a mix of charming and annoying. The old fashioned shower and tub was not great and the kitchen was lacking.

Needs uipdating , roaches in the front bathjroom did not see any where else in the cottage..

Adorable house. Awesome decor. Dirty doors, walls. Outdated bathroom with a claw foot tub that had ZERO space for toiletries. Had to shower with shampoo, soap, razor etc. in between my feet. Missing knobs on kitchen drawer. It was on the floor at the front door. First thing I noticed when I walked in. Another drawer pull was off of a dresser. Window blinds in one bedroom had a broken part that was hanging. Rips in curtain in den. Nasty, old door mat bunched up on the very dirty deck out back. Sides of house needed a major pressure wash. Grass was way overgrown. Plants and other shrubs etc. were super overgrown. Clearly has not been tended to in a long time. The house has so much potential if these very simple things would be taken care of and some money was put into updating appliances, bathrooms, furniture.

We loved our stay the house is just steps to the pool and beach. Grayton is so cool and fun. The house is older and needs some updating. A lot of knobs on cabinets are loose or stripped out but over all it was ok. Everything worked and it was clean. We will definitely stay here again.

Great location. House is nice, but small.

Had a small issue with the dryer when we arrived. They were very responsive and fixed within an hour of my call.

This is a great find in a beautiful locale! The house is quirky and delightful, holding onto old beach nostalgia. It truly is only steps from the beach and the community pool as well as some shopping and a great restaurant. I highly recommend a short or long visit!

Very spacious. Well taken care of. I would recommend maybe 4 beach chairs so that when you go to the beach you don’t have to go buy them or rent them. One other thing might be a couple of pods for the laundry. Everything else was nice. I would highly recommend and I will visit again.

Heron's Watch was overall a great cottage for my family. So charming, clean and a short walk to the beach. Of course, nothing is perfect...the back deck was not a good place to relax and enjoy BUT the front porch with swing was very nice - especially when it rained. The construction on the main road right next to 2 of our bedrooms was such a bummer. Machinery noise and beeping starting early in morning and muddy and sometimes blocked off road. Wish we knew that was going on before we rented. We'd rent again. Loved the charm.

The house was very cute - great location. We could walk to so many places. All the beds were very comfortable. Kitchen is not really well equipped but we ate out the whole time so it was not an issue for us. Easy walk to beach and the pool is almost across the street. Very quiet area at this time of the year. Would definitely go back to this house and this area.

The area is lovely. The walk to the beach is nice. The Red Bar was fantastic! The accommodations weren’t great. The beds were very uncomfortable. There is no garbage disposal. The washing machine was not user friendly. It was clean though, and we felt safe the entire time. I would probably look for something a little nicer next time. My kids did love all the colors in the bedrooms though.

We had a wonderful stay at herons watch, the location was perfect and the house fit the 4 of us perfectly! Will definitely look into coming back next year

Charming comfy cottage...fits laid back & artsy style of old Grayton...perfect for our family of 5.

My family just returned from vacationing at the "Heron's Watch". After looking at several properties on this street, we ultimately chose this one because it is a stand alone house that is not shared with other units. The location is stellar....but other than that, this unit is in need of updating and repair work. Although the decor in the house is funky and vibrant, there are decorations and knick knacks literally everywhere. Almost every shelf had surface had some sort of something on it, so if that sort of thing stresses you out this unit is not for you. Old magazines piled up on news stands in the living area...the couches and living room furniture were very outdated. Almost looked like the owner went thrifting to come up with the beachy, campy vibe that is going on. At the price point that we paid, updated furniture would have been appreciated. Neither bathrooms have bath mats...we had to keep washing the towels that they provided that served as math mats. It just did not feel clean. The shower is in need of re-caulking. It was all brown and appeared dingy. There are 2 brooms we found to sweep, but no dust pan. And the vacuum we found in the closet does not work. Sand everywhere all the time. Super annoying. The patio furniture-front and back- was ridiculous. All plastic and in need of replacing. Again, at the price point, nicer furniture would be appreciated. There is a front porch swing that was nice to watch the rain in the afternoons. The other reviewers had mentioned that the kitchen was not properly stocked - which I also found to be true. Everything is very old and worn. However, there were plenty of coffee mugs for us. We found the beds to be good enough, and plenty of space for our family of 5. No problems there. great size and lots of spare bedding. Lastly, we spent our last day at this beach house pulling a giant 2 inch wood splinter that impaled my sons foot on the front porch. My kids were enjoying a Popsicle after lunch and were walking inside when it happened. The property management company was wonderful in helping us deal with it. It was a freak accident that could have happened anywhere, but I am including this in the review so others are aware of the urgent need of updating throughout the property. The back and side of the house needed trimming and some landscaping. The house overall could be so charming, so much potential! I hope they consider updating.

The house is in serious need of basic maintenance. The front door molding that holds in the glass was falling off the door both inside and outside. The back door bar lock did not work at all. However, the color decor, a working A/C, proximity to the beach, community pool and generally decent accommodations outweighed the negatives enough that I would stay here again.

We stayed (2 peeps) at the Heron's Watch House for a week and had a good vaca. We loved the location, the Grayton vibe and front porch but will choose a different house to stay in for future visits. The house is colorfully decorated with art, has the basic needs and everything worked but this house is showing it's age inside and out. To be fair, we love older homes. We live in a similar small home built in the 1930's so we liked the character in the pictures of Heron's Watch house. In the hopes that Real Joy will update this cute beach house here are a few things to work on... The house looks super bright and clean in the website pic but looked rough when we pulled up. It had an unpleasant musty smell that did not go away, even with the air purifier. The furniture, appliances and dishes are pretty old, very basic and not very clean. I found ants and dried food on some of the dishes in the cabinet when we arrived. We bought 2 coffee mugs because the cups in the cabinet were quite small. The claw foot tub shower is a bit dangerous to get in and out of, the faucet is rickety and the curtain is way too long. We used the stand up shower in the other bathroom which worked perfectly. The wifi works but is weak when you have more than 2 devices online. This was a prob because 4G is also weak in that area. And the kitchen sink could use a scrubby for cleaning dishes. Bottom line - you are paying for the location, which is not beachfront but pretty cool. If I am on vaca I would like to stay in what feels like a step up from my own house and this one did not.