"BE CAUTIOUS IF VISITING WITH MINORS

My family has been renting cottages from Indian River Lagoon Waterfront Cottages for approximately five years. Until our recent visit, we had enjoyed our stays, largely due to the dock and location, despite the cottages' obvious need for maintenance.

During this Labor Day visit, we stayed in the main cottage and encountered an incident involving another group staying in the other cottages. One adult from this group supposedly inappropriately fondled a minor who was visiting our group while on the dock. We immediately contacted the police, which resulted in the arrest of the individual involved. I also reached out to the owner, Robert Pruitt, to inform him of the situation, anticipating a prompt and serious response given the severity of the incident.

To my shock, Rob dismissed my concerns, stating, “So you’re calling to say what you don’t know, and you don’t know.” I had informed him that I was unaware of the identity of the guest or which cottage he occupied. I expected a zero-tolerance policy, but instead, I was met with rudeness and hostility.

When the police arrived, the situation escalated. The group connected to the arrested individual became aggressive, confronting us in the front yard of our rental. Despite the police presence, we felt unsafe. My dad and I attempted to contact Rob multiple times to alert him to our concerns. Unfortunately, he offered no assistance and characterized the situation as merely a “police matter.”

Once the police left, the group continued to harass us, with one member revving their truck engine aggressively in the shared parking lot. This behavior is documented in a police call. Rob eventually sent a "marshal" to the property, who he claimed on the phone to be a law enforcement officer. However, the “marshal” introduced himself as someone not affiliated with law enforcement. The marshal told us that Rob saw police on the cameras, so he was sent out to assess the situation. During the marshal’s brief time on the front porch, he escalated the situation further by asking “Well couldn’t the group behind you say the same thing about you? That you touched someone?” We immediately replied that we’re not the ones in handcuffs and being charged with sexual battery of a minor. The “marshal” also attempted to accuse of being over occupancy, as the main cottage has a 6-person occupancy. There were only 4 guests staying in the house, and the rest were local family visiting for the day. Again, just incredibly rude and unprofessional behavior from men who are supposed to be protecting their guests. And this is my opinion, but why is the PROPERTY OWNER sending a “marshal” who is not affiliated with law enforcement over to do his work?

Throughout this ordeal, Rob’s communication was unprofessional and dismissive. At one point, he threatened to send the sheriff and “marshal” to have us pack our bags. We suspect that his reluctance to remove the other tenants may be because some are long-term renters, but this is merely speculative.

Given our experience, I advise STRONG CAUTION to families considering this rental property. If you have minors on the premises, be aware that should an incident involving inappropriate behavior occur, you may feel unsupported and unsafe. Despite our history of enjoyable stays and cherished memories at Indian River Lagoon Waterfront Cottages, Robert Pruitt’s unprofessional handling of this serious situation, along with his apparent lack of concern for customer safety, has led us to not to return."

Maura Webb

"This place is such a hidden gem. Quiet, cozy, beautiful waterfront views. Boat accessible and dog friendly. The owners Kim and Richard are just good salt of the earth people. No better place to stay in Ft Pierce in my opinion."

John Farris

"DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!!! Very poor experience. Would not recommend. I brought a group of 12 guys for a fishing weekend so we had 6 rooms. Two had large ants crawling all over everything. One had plumbing issues to the point of backing up sewage into the shower and toilet, was told this was a issue with local construction nearby hitting a pipe so okay. However, another one had mouse droppings everywhere.

I would not recommend you play the roulette game of am I going to wake up with ants all over me or not have a shower and toilet to use. The management took my initial calls about this but did not fix anything and offered no compensation after repeated attempts to contact them. Our group lives about 1.5 hours away from the cottages and some of us including me had to leave a night early because of the plumbing and pest control issues. We were only given a refund for the room with plumbing issue."

N Forrest