Swede’s Beach Properties

Never again!!! Huge disappointment… Rented the Coronado’s, cable TV didn’t work, floors were sandy and full of dust bunnies, but we were instructed to sweep up at the end of our rental! Ants in the kitchen, broken coffee maker, lights in closets didn’t work, animal feces on the back deck been there for days. Cooked food left in BBQ pit, insulation falls on carport because birds are making nests in the floors of the house and knock the insulation on top of your vehicles. Worst part is Swedes customer service just doesn’t seem to care if you are a repeat customer or not. Felt like more of an inconvenience to complain. They made notes of the problems and that was all! Bye, bye… yeah, bye bye is right! Never again!

I’ve rented from Swedes over the past fifteen years. Sadly, over time customer service has become non-​existent.
Three years ago I rented Four Palms and the owner was there with the intent to stay. She was unaware the cabin had been rented, so it was not ready for us. Swedes blamed her and did not apologize or give us a discount for the inconvenience.
Two years ago I rented Sunkissed with the expectation that it was one king size bed with three queen sized beds. The other three beds are full sized, not queens! Again Swedes did not apologize nor did they offer us a discount for the discrepancy.
Today I called and I asked for some assistance in finding a cabinet that would accommodate a disabled person IE a cabin with an elevator or a cargo lift. The person that answered the call seemed reluctant to help me and explained that a search would be time consuming and she wasn’t sure when she would be able to give me that information.
That was four hours ago. I called back and was put on hold for seven minutes before I hung up. Really?!

Most rude office staff I have ever interacted with. Here is an idea, if you hate customers so much, sell your properties and fire your staff. This alone, along with the frustration of even renting the place, gets this a 1 star review. I would rather hang myself or talk to time Warner support for 3 days straight than ever deal with these jerks again.

I have mixed reviews.
1^st. I’ve been renting at Crystal Beach for only 5 years, so I’m not seasoned YET, but I’ve done it enough to know that Swedes truly has the lock on rentals at CB. With that being said, I think that they know it.
Before the hurricane, I swear customer response and attitude was much friendlier. I get that they answer the same questions 100 times a day, and probably do their jobs in their sleep. I get it. But dont treat my $ 1000 (minimum) as such. When you know that they dont care about your hard earned $ 1000+, it sucks.
I called to inquire about having a wedding on the beach there, since we loved our 2011 trip to CB, and it was somewhat shot down. I have family coming in from all over the US, so we NEED to make reservations for things like flights and sleeping arrangements, but it was very much «oh well we cant rent until this date», no matter what. I understand that they are bound by the properties they manage, and those owners calendars, but who wants to book a flight and just HOPE that they’ll have a place to stay. or fight any other caller on the «approved» day to call about properties available to rent. Its nerve wracking.
BUT, we LOVE CB so we go back.
They, along with many of the other beach property management companies, CATER TO WEEK LONG RENTALS. DO NOT expect to rent a weekend until the Monday before you’d like to rent it. Do you know how much that sucks… We watched the calendar for weeks. and dont you know the house we wanted was rented out a few days before the «approved Monday» so we missed out on the 4 bedroom that slept 14, and had to settle for 3 bedroom that slept 8. BIG difference. Moral of the story, call around. There are other companies thatll rent a weekend to you. They DO have a higher deposit, but they will do a weekend in advance time for you to PLAN a trip. OR, plan accordingly with time and money, and do a week. Which, all in all, if you are driving 3+ hours to get TO the beach, we’ve come to find that a weekend just aint enuff– so next year WILL be a week. Yay!
My advice is to get further away from the Ferry. We’ve stayed on a few spots of CB, and this past weekend we were TOO damn close to the Ferry IMO. I was hella disappointed that the stankin ass port-​a-​potty and HUUUUGE dumpster was something that was left on the residence side of the beach, and therefor something that you were forced to look at while sitting on the porch enjoying the ocean. Total turn off! It was full to the max– the dumpster. Literally, the walk from the beach to the house, 2^nd/​3^rd row, was littered with trash and stunk. As soon as the smell went away, in came the zombie/​piranha mosquitos that we were told NOTHING about in preparation for our weekend there. Im in Austin. As my credit card states. I know NOTHING about the mosquitos that coastal Texas gets after a rain, but the folks that took my $ did. IJS. We got out of the car and were attacked. I was pissed. I would have loved to have known in advance so I could score some citronella at a decent price, rather the beach price. BUT, you live and you learn.
Another NEW thing we were hit with this last trip was the parking permit required for the beach!!! This is our 4^th time staying in CB and this was the 1^st time being told we had to have a parking pass. It was only $ 10, and its good for a year, but the fools selling and ordering you to have one are A TRIP… I asked when that started, and was told 2007. Again, another something Ive NEVER heard from the folks @ Swedes. I went back and read thru my rental agreement just to make sure I didn’t pull a «moment», and nothing.
Will I be back. ABSOLUTELY! We LOVE CB. We love the privateness that CB offers. Its NOT Galveston, so its nice and perfect for families. Could Swedes tighten up on their communication and customer service, I totally believe so. I DID talk to the owners son, I think it was Leo… I was luck to have talked to him one day when I called about some properties and he was SO FRIENDLY!!! He took his time, he didnt rush me off the phone and he was just perfect. When I tried to call later, I was told «oh, you can talk to me, anyone here can help you»… Well, I asked for Leo…
Like I said. Ill go back because I love the beach. They have some AWESOME properties to rent, and their website is awfully comprehensive! I like the comments below the pix on their website, and the calendar seems to be updated immediately. I like a lot about my experiences with Swedes, but there are a few changes Id make on the customer service side of them.

Good customer service and reliable listings! My family and I have used this company for over 15 years. Every year we go back to crystal beach for a little holiday and we haven’t had any big complaints. 2008 was the best, when we rented a house that was in the shape of a geodesic dome! Unfortunately that house, and most every other one we had stayed at, was destroyed in hurricane Ike.
The house we stayed at this year was the same one we stayed at the year before, although it was much cleaner last year. I like this company but I wish they’d give even more details about what exactly is in the house (i.e. a large pot if you’re planning on cooking spaghetti). The only complaints I really had this year was the cleanliness (there was trash and people’s forgotten belongings in the closet, under the bed and under furniture… peeping out for my dog to find…). I also don’t think the comforters have been washed in quite a while, so if I were you, I’d bring blankets/​bedspreads.
We’ll be using these guys again next year, but will def stay in a different house (as now this house is on the second row since the first one got rebuilt)!