We could tell from the pictures that it was an older house, but that didn't bother us, just that means it has stood the test of time. It says it sleeps 9, but too many more than our 5 and we would've felt crowded. There are no extra frills with this house-what you see is what you get. It was very nice having the linens (bed sheets and bath towels) included. The check-in and entire rental process was easy and efficient.
The location was wonderful-close to island access and a nice walk to the pier. There is a public beach access about 2 houses down, but even with that, there was plenty of room on the beach. The absolute BEST part of the house was the outdoor enclosed shower. All of the showers had amazing water pressure. The outdoor one was huge and some of us even preferred to take our full showers there because it was that amazing. The kitchen had what we needed, but again, no frills. The dinnerware is not the best for young children. There were very few plastic items if you're concerned about your kids breaking stuff. Most of it is heavy ceramic/glass. While we were there, the owner had a contractor come and replace the 2 storm doors. A slight inconvenience, but we appreciated it because it shows that they are aware of things that need upgraded and willing to get it done. While the workers were there, they also fixed a door that leads to the beach which was a bonus because it was VERY sticky.
The worst part about the house was the smell that was in one of the bedrooms. It was almost like a musty smell that laundry gets when it's left in the washer too long, but kind of mixed with another underlying and indescribable odor. We didn't complain to anyone about it, just dealt with it. There was also no fan in that bedroom, and it got warm at night, while the other rooms were cold. Another surprising (to me) thing is that neither bathroom has an outlet. So to use any kind of grooming appliance, you had to use another room/bedroom.
There are 3 Roku TV's, but no instructions on how to access the channels, and you are unable to add channels without the pin. If you don't have a subscription to a streaming service, you will be stuck with whatever is on the Roku channel. We could not access the major networks like ABC, NBC, and CBS.
We almost got our van stuck in the sand in the driveway. It was borderline dangerous when we were trying to back out. A small car would have a lot of trouble. Even with the cons, we loved our stay at Oak Island!