My husband and I read all of the reviews before booking a house with Homeaway so I try to make my reviews as accurate as possible for anyone else wanting to book. The house is beautiful and the layout was perfect for our family. My parents are older so the elevator was fantastic. There are a couple of reasons that I rated it a 4 instead of a 5. In the pictures of the property, there is a walkway to the beach seen from the balcony. This is a public access but is not accessible from the house due to private property. The beach access for South of Charleston is only a block and a half away but we were disappointed that the pictures were a little misleading. There were plenty of utensils and pots and pans, we also enjoyed the convenience of a coffee pot as well as a Kuerig, however, all of the knives were extremely dull and the can opener was useless. I know this seems like minor issues, but just want future renters to know. Last item about the house is that the doors to the balconies are difficult to open due to corrosion from salt air.
As far as the area, be prepared to cook most meals at home because there is only 1 seafood restaurant in the area that we could find. Also, aside from the pools (which are extremely nice) there are no activities for children. We wanted to ride bikes or play putt putt but the only bike rentals are up on A1A which is not convenient to go rent and ride back to the resort.
All in all it was a great vacation and the house was amazing. The wildlife in the back yard was entertaining. There are plenty of birds and there were otters in the lake which we enjoyed watching so it was a peaceful vacation. We probably will not return to Cinnamon Beach simply because we enjoy going out to eat and shopping the local area.
I hope this review helps!