Last month, our family embarked on a week-long trip to Panama City Beach, Florida. Our normal beach vacation was cut short in 2020. Because of that, we decided to try a different time of year.
The drive down was wonderful. We had a large minivan that had plenty of room for all of our things. Even the dog had a perfect room. This was his second beach trip, and he did even better the second time around than he did the first.
This trip was supposed to be perfection -- with every one of us getting time to rest and relax. However, on our first night in Panama City Beach, our beach house had an attempted break-in -- while we were there!
I have been hesitant to share this story. For me, I did not want to say anything negative about the place we rented from. But then, I found out that they screen the reviews left on their properties.
It made me think that maybe someone else had been through this -- and that I want to stop this from happening to someone else.
Renting from BookPCB.com
From the get-go, the beach house we rented seemed perfect. The property is called Emerald Surf. It is located at 8208 Surf Drive, and it was exactly everything I was looking for in a beach house.
- On the beach
- Pet friendly
- Personal swimming pool
- Beach access from the house
- Fenced-in area for the dog
- Lots and lots of space
It had a full upstairs complete with a kitchen, two bedrooms, and a patio entrance. The patio entrance had stairs that led to the bottom of the patio.
I wish that this house had a doorbell camera. It would have made it even safer for me.
We were so excited to stay here. Both of our grown kids thought about staying upstairs. But then at the last minute, they changed their minds and decided to sleep downstairs where we were.
I was so thankful that they did this.
That night, Stephen pulled our van into the garage. We turned the front porch lights and the back porch lights on. Little did we know that there was a security light to turn on for the upstairs patio door. By not turning it on, it was dark up there.
Getting Woken Up at 1:30 am
Around 1:30 in the morning, on our first night of vacation, my husband and I were awakened. The dog was growling and looking at the ceiling. That is when we heard the noise. It sounded like something clanging and beating upstairs. I just assumed it was the gate leading from the top patio.
I brushed it off and lay there, but my husband was on high alert. The sound never stopped. It kept going. My husband looked at me and said those words that no one ever wants to hear. "I think someone is trying to break in."
You just never think something like that would happen to you. I sat there in disbelief for a few moments, but my husband was already in action. He ran and went to wake up our son. The WHOLE time the sound is still going on upstairs, and at this point, I am scared to death.
Milo let me put his harness on him immediately. He never does this, so he knew something was going on as well. We went into the bedroom where my daughter was sleeping. I woke her up and told her what was going on.
Stephen and Robert started up the steps to the upstairs. The sound kept getting louder and louder. Stephen called out a few times to let them know we were there. It wasn't until my son shone the flashlight on the door. Whoever it was, they took off running down the back stairs.
They got a good look at the door. Someone had tried to rip the patio door off the hinges and enter the house through the top patio door.
Calling the Cops
We called the cops, and they came out and took our report. The cops looked all around the beach house. They agreed that it was definitely an attempted break-in and that we were lucky.
They shrugged it off as a possible Spring Breaker who had had too much to drink. The cops suggested it was someone who was at the wrong house. We didn't feel the same way because of how fast they ran down the stairs.
The cops took all of our statements. They promised to give us extra patrols for the remainder of our vacation. That night, they parked out front of the beach house that night.
To be honest, after that, I could not sleep all night. My son and I stayed awake and watched Kitchen Nightmares, keeping each other company. When one got tired, the other slept. We were both scared by that. We had never been through anything like that before.
Dealing with the Rental Company
The next morning, I called the rental company we rented from and let them know exactly what happened. She was genuinely sorry that we had been through that.
She assured me that this had never happened before at this property. They brought out extra sticks to put in the patio doors for extra protection. We were glad that they did this.
Then, a couple of days later, she called back and offered us $200 in gift cards to the Firefly restaurant. That was thoughtful of her. We did enjoy the dinner and were grateful for the gift cards. We had already been planning to eat here anyway.
But it still did not take away the uncertainty we were feeling.
Leaving a Review with BookPCB.com
Now, here's where I have the problem. Once we got home from our trip, I started looking at the reviews listed on this property. I noticed that MY review was not listed. Once you complete a stay at their property, they send you a survey to fill out.
That survey is your review. If they like what you say, then they ONLY post those reviews. There is not one bad review listed here. It just makes me wonder -- has this happened before? Or have other people had issues staying at this home?
House Issues
Any properties I have stayed at in Gulf Shores, etc., have always allowed their renters to leave an honest review -- things that need to be fixed, ways to improve others' stays in their beach houses. I have never stayed somewhere that literally policed the comments that were allowed to be left on the property listings.
That was the reason I decided to share my personal review on MY blog and social media. I want the truth to be out there. What if it happens again, and someone might not be as lucky as we are? I want people to be informed.
So yes -- while this property screams "perfect beach house", it needs some attention. There were broken locks on multiple doors, a security system that doesn't even work. The dryer never worked so we could not do laundry. I had to call in multiple times when we arrived to get codes to unlock things. The people that stayed in the house before us had literally LOCKED every device in the house.
The kicker though is that the house is located right next to the public beach access. This is not noted on the property listing and I think it should be. Had I known it was right next to the beach access, I would not have rented this house.
I want others to be informed when renting this beach house. I want others to know that there was an attempted break-in here. The investigating officer told me that there had been another break-in on this street in the earlier weeks as well.
From now on, I will definitely be asking a lot more questions when renting a beach house. I will most definitely not ever be renting from BookPCB.com again.
Strangely enough, my family always stays at the Sunnset Inn which is just down the street. It is not uncommon for us to see a local criminal or two on the beach at night and the owners have warned against leaving personal belongings left unattended at night.
I wish we would have had warnings ahead of time. We would have been more prepared for that. Nothing was ever mentioned. Thanks for letting me know.
I can agree that this is something you would want people to know and that you should share I absolutely do not agree with the headline promising one thing and the entire article is you lambasting the rental company because you can't leave a review. Nothing in this article said anything about how your vacation was in Panama City Beach.
I am not sure what post you are reading. If you read the headline, it says Our Panama City Beach Vacation Break-In Story. I have not shared a post about our actual time in Panama City Beach. The whole purpose of the post was to alert others to the fact that some places are not always forthcoming and to do your homework even further than you normally would. Sorry you thought you were mislead but my article is stated as it is supposed to be.
My girlfriend cleaned condos last year on the beach. They had a problem with people staying in the unrented condos. They would either break in or find the code. PCB has a very large homeless population that the police keep hidden but they come out like roaches late.
We think it was a squatter and not a drunk person because they ran away too fast to be drunk! Since it looked like no one was there, I would almost bet it was someone who might have been homeless. Thanks for sharing that. It makes me feel better and not that I am losing my mind about it happening!
This town thrives on tourists. I can maybe understand downplaying a few minor details, but criminal activity purposely omitted is lying and we locals know how people here are shameless to fill their vacation rentals. I'm so sorry you went through that horrible experience!definitely not an honorable rental site! They've robbed your family of their sense of security and EVERY TIME you come back here, selfish greedy people don't realize, is that you will be forced to relive that living nightmare (if you ever come back) you and/or your children come here from now on! That's the tragedy here. God bless you for loving our community and the old saying "one bad apple ruins the bunch" comes to mind.... And saying that you "bet it's someone homeless",from the comments, just compounds the fact that these people had nothing to lose!! which is even more terrifying
Yes. We stayed the entire week in that house because we had paid SO much money for it. We could not rest and relax because of that. And that was the main reason we took a vacation was so we could relax. maybe down the road, we might give it a try again, but I will be doing a TON more research. That is for sure.
I live in Panama City Proper. The sister city across the bridge. Please stop coming here. I'm a local and have lived here all my life. All those condos? Not owned by local people. We can't afford ANY property on the beach because wealthy investors have come in and bought it all up. Yes we have a huge population of homeless, but it's because they've closed the Rescue Mission, so they are out on the streets. We also have a MAJOR problem with meth here. The person trying to break into your rental was most likely looking to steal stuff for drugs. I've stayed just a few doors down myself and wouldn't recommend it. It's not safe here, and it's because the City Council has billed the beach as a tourist/party town for decades, which brought people who either jacked up prices or brought drugs here to sell to Spring Breakers. Please, please, PLEASE stop coming here. The drugs and subsequent crime that follows tourism is destroying my home.
Just read this story , I’m so sorry your vacation was ruined ! I would be horrified myself …. I live in Alabama , but we bought a house in South Lagoon PCB in 2017 ! We’ve never had any problems , neither have our friends that stay down their a lot either @ our house or hotels ! Wonderful place to vacation ! As for the woman that said don’t come here bc it’s my home , that’s wrong !!!! Who are you to tell people not to come their on vacation your wrong on so many levels !!!!! Why don’t u move ?
I think the area where we stayed was the problem. I have had a couple people talk about that certain area and have the same issues so I think if I were to come back to the area, I would stay in a different area that's for sure.
@Jennifer Sikora, we just got back from PCB it was fantastic our condos was marvelous and owner was excellent make us feel like his family we stay PALLAZO nice and secure to stay
If we ever make it back to that area, we will look this place up. Thanks for the tip.
@Jennifer Sikora, we loved the Palazzo! We've also stayed at The Palmetto (hotel) and in more recent years,the Holiday Inn Express. I've been going to PCB for years and never had any problems, but this makes me a litle anxious about going now. I'm sure we will still go in the Fall,but I will definitely be more aware. Thank you for sharing. So sorry that happened to you all and made your vacation tense. I think anyone would have beem terrified.
We will definitely check it out if we go again. Thanks for the tip!
@Kimmy nix, I live on South Lagoon as well and it's quiet back here. Surf drive is not and those homes are almost staked out. People leave their doors unlocked and open and leave for dinner with never a care in the world.
If we go back, we will definitely not stay in that area again. We will be looking for a more secure area for sure.
We had a similar experience last week there. At the last minute we decided to take our grandkids to PC for a surprise visit. I booked a room through Travelocity. The hotel was beside a children's theme park where we thought we would have lots of fun. At check in we noticed lots of people just hanging around doing nothing. Put our stuff in the room and headed to the beach. When we returned there were more strange people looking at us and I could then tell we were at a meth hotel. I started calling around and could not find another place for us to stay. Then the prostates started coming from out of nowhere. My husband slept in a chair with the door jammed so no one could come in. I also done a review online but it is not posted on the website. I told the manager how we felt and she said not a word. Have always loved PCB and had the worst and scaryest experience and all with my grandkids with me.
I am so sorry you had to deal with that as well. It is very scary when we go through something like that.
The crime in Panama City Beach has risen enough that local law enforcement has received Homeland Security and other grants to try to get it under control. It often gets pinned on Spring Breakers and 100-milers (people from within 100 miles who allegedly come to prey on visitors), but the poverty rate is near 70%, and as another local commented, drugs are an epidemic on the county.
That said, the beaches are truly beautiful, and if enough people - both locals and visitors - speak up and demand local officials be held accountable for their self-sealing and corruption, perhaps we can all enjoy all the area has to offer.
I am sorry your visit was marred by this near-miss.
Thank you for sharing that with me.
I think that this is extremely rare!!! I currently own over 100 rental properties in PCB.FL and I can tell you this has never happened before!!! I agree with the police that it was a drunk spring breaker at the wrong house!!! Your very lucky you got the $200.00 gift card!!! More than I would of ever done!!!
I don't think it is as rare as you think it is. I have had numerous people who live down there and have shared with me about things. It was not someone who was drunk because they ran way too fast down the back steps which was not just a straight shot. A drunk spring breaker would not have been able to get away that fast. As for the property managers, the problem I have is that you are not allowed to leave an honest review on their site. They monitor what can be written through a survey. They copy and paste only the positive thoughts and leave them for you to look at. Like I said in the post, I don't know if this has happened here before. However, not allowing people to leave both positive and negative reviews seems sketchy to me. I didn't ask them to do anything. I told them appreciated the gift card. However, i would have much rather liked to leave an honest review of my stay than to be given a gift card to eat somewhere.
@Big-D, Does that stand for Big- Dumbass? What a butt hole and braggart.
I am from Panama City and I must say that the Beach Law Enforcement Officers on the beach do a great job with security on the beach. However, the beach get a lot of college students from all over who visit the beach who drink and do a lot of walking at night under the influence of alcohol. I do believe that this person may have come to the wrong place because if they were a true criminal they would have kicked the door down. I am sorry that this family experience this but Panama City Beach is paradise and filled with lots of fun and adventures. The rental company did what I thought was right by offering the gift card because they know that this was not the norm and they wanted the family to feel safe and to enjoy their vacation on the best. Accountability is messy work but in the end it keeps us all clean.
There is no way that the person that tried to break into our beach house was drunk or high. They navigated those back stairs so fast, they were gone in no time flat. Someone drunk or high would not have been able to do that. They would have surely fallen. And the ONLY thing that kept that person from not getting into the house, was the stick in the door. They were almost successful at ripping a hurricane-proof patio door off the hinges. They had every intent to come in.
Did you do a Google review?
They have it set where you cannot leave one. I checked today. Also, on the actual website where the property is as well as VRBO and others, they have it set where you cannot leave an honest review. They monitor reviews through a survey. They are only posting 4 or 5-star reviews and leaving out any complaints customers have.
@Jennifer Sikora,
Thanks for the article. Had friends staying in Florida,not PCB, that were robbed and fought back. They had to go to court also. Can't imagine if that was a group of young girls.
We also stayed at a place in TN where the lock was broken.. Makes you wonder sometimes. Glad you were safe.
I am so sorry about what happened with your friends. It does make you wonder sometimes. Thanks for sharing 🙂
My family recently visited PCB and we wondered why our beach house had 8 security cameras attached to the house. It gave us an uneasy feeling. There were several young people staying in one of the houses and they drank all day long. One guy climbed up on the retaining wall of the neighbor next door and was dancing for all of his friends. It was like that the entire week. There was non-stop traffic going up and down the main road all day and night. The loud exhausts woke us up several times every night. We loved the beach but did not like the city at all. We all agreed to cross PCB off our list of vacation spots. I’m thankful no one tried to break in our house. We would have turned around and gone home. I’m sorry this happened to you.
I totally understand where you are coming from on that. Trust me! Being by the public beach access was horrible. There was so much partying going on. We loved the beach too, just not all the extra that came with it. Thanks for stopping and reading our story.
The police need to shoot and kill the thugs now.
Thank you for sharing your story. I am a local in P.C. Fl and lived here my whole life. People tend to hide the "ugly" side of PC because they want tourist to still come stay. None the less, P.C. is a good place and I am so sorry your family endured that. I am glad y'all remained safe. Take Care!
Thank you! Yes -- I do believe it is a good place. I think where we stayed was not in a better-protected area. If we choose to come here and visit again, we are going to stay in a different area than this.
Well when I was a kid I always blamed everyone for my mistakes. Then I grew up. You traveled to an area you had never been to and did absolutely no research. How do you have the nerve to blame the rental company. They did their job, rent the house. You do yours and protect your family. That's nobody's job but yours. BTW , no one cares that you saw crime for the first time ever. No one can relate!
We have been to Panama City Beach before. It was 10 years ago and yes we did do our research, which is why we chose the place we did base on the information on their website. The problem I have with the rental company, which I stated in the post was the fact that they are screening the reviews after staying there. You do not know that from the beginning. Once your trip is over you are sent a survey to take based on your stay. They only share the positive things you say about the place and nothing negative. And, this was not the first time I saw crime. It was the first time I had almost been broken in on. Don't speak on something if you have never been through it. You can say you don't care. That is fine. But until you have been in that situation, there is no sense in sharing your opinion.
Why didnt you call the police before going upstairs? They might have been able to catch the perp! Instead you scared him off to repeat his actions elsewhere.
At the time, the only thought on our mind was protecting the family.
I believe without a doubt the police officer was being honest as quoted in your story. A spring breaker with to much to drink, trying to get in the wrong house. Being in law enforcement, I’ve seen this before and if it were an attempted break in, shaking the door would not have continued as your dog barked. A criminal would have moved on to a vacant house, or got in that one. However, a lost kid having to much to drink during spring break would not stop shaking the door and run when he realized it was the wrong place. Criminals do not break in beachside, they can’t haul what they are stealing out to the beach and run with it. By the way, I’ve had many people that have had to much to drink or on drugs run down steps, jump fences and many other maneuvers to evade arrest. The only other possibility would be a homeless person hoping to take shelter in a vacant house. Given the weather that time of year and the location of the house, that is not likely. I hope this give you some peace of mind.
Thanks for sharing that. My dog never barked. He only growled while we were in our bedroom sleeping. Whoever was trying to break in was determined. My husband yelled several times up the stairs and whoever it was continued doing it. He did not run until a flashlight was shined on him. I am pretty sure the house was insulated so well, he couldn't hear anything. I think we scared him as much as he scared us.
We stayed at this property last Thanksgiving
We had a wonderful time. We had 3 families and adult children. We had 4 cars. The house was full. I read the reviews on properties including this one and did not find any bad reviews and/or that recommended being cautious.
I appreciate you sharing your story. Unfortunately, we did not have the same experience as you did. We did not find any bad reviews either which is why we chose this place. Once we came home and our stay ended, we were sent the survey to fill out with our review, and they did not post our honest opinion on the site. That is what led me to re-look at the reviews and that is when I noticed that ALL the reviews are monitored and come straight from the rental company off of the surveys we fill out. They pick and choose what to share and that is shady to me. I wish we would have had the experience that you had. However, we did not and it caused our entire vacation to be off-putting. We could not relax and settle down and enjoy ourselves.
People make mistakes and it easily could’ve been a person returning to the wrong house. The article headline is very misleading because NO ONE broke in. Also to think you can let your guard down while traveling is absurd. Crime is every where including vacation destinations.
I live in the area and it happens all the time, people truly forget the places/rooms they are in while drinking. Most of houses and condos look a like, easy mistake, but to try to blast the rental company or home owner is just ridiculous. They have zero control of a persons drunkenness or ones character.
By all means share your story but leave the rental company and home owners out of it, 100% nothing to do with what happened.
We did not let our guard down. We were SLEEPING and thought we were secure in our beach house. I have adjusted the title to include the word "attempted" to please you. The reason the rental company is on blast, as I have explained before, is because they have the reviews for their property set to where they publish ONLY the positives. I left them a list of a few things that needed improvement for others to have a great beach vacation in the home. Things like locks that were broken that needed to be fixed, etc., and I also left them a positive comment letting them know our family enjoyed the home even though we had the issue of almost being broken into. HOWEVER, my review is not posted because there were negative issues. For me, if someone is covering up reviews and only posting positive things, then that is shady to me. That is why I called them out. Not because of the attempted break-in.
@Jennifer Sikora,
They can disagree with a review.& contest it with listing site (AIRBNB & VRBO)to not have it posted.
Disagreeing is not the issue here. They won't allow you to post your honest review on their site. You fill out a survey after your stay and that is your review. Then, they pick and choose what wording that they post on your behalf. I have rented many properties with both Airbnb and VRBO and have always been able to leave my honest review. However, with this one company, they do not allow that. All reviews are posted BY them using your positive wording only. Just seems sketchy to me.
I am a lifelong local here in Panama City Beach and I can tell you that people are robbed here all the time. And if he got down that little staircase fast he had done it before. People know what tourists pay for those rental houses and know every home is as full as it could be of people's expensive devices and cameras and clothing. We have such a huge transient population in the summer that it's hard for them to catch the people because they just take off to the next place. I'm sorry you had a bad experience. It sounds terrifying.
Thanks for sharing that. Yes. It was terrifying and I hope to never experience that again.
Exactly the reason to carry a firearm.That thug was out to do you harm.Times have changed.Protect your family.Simple solution.
Yes. From here on out when we travel, we will be bringing our gun for sure.
Thanks for sharing your story just last month we stay at the hotel across from those beach houses we wanted to rent one but thought about it was just too close to the beach if we wanted to go in and relax we will still hear the noise from the folks on the beach so we decided not to get it..But I’m glad you and your family are safe
Thank you! Yes. It was always noisy and there were always other people camped out in front of our beach house so we never could go out there and just hang out. It's a public beach on that end. I have learned my lesson for sure.
I lived in PCB,FL. for 7years June,July, and August are the worse months to go. September after school starts back is a great time to go. Crime is all over the beach and getting worse every year. Laguna is the best area. The East end is horrible
.
September is always a great month, however last year we had to cancel our whole beach trip because of the hurricane (we went to Gulf Shores) so we decided to try a different time. I am thinking that September is always a great time to go!