My husband and I have rented houses with BBE for a few years now and we have never been…read moredisappointed. Yes, one house we rented was a bit run down, but Bodega is old and not all of the properties have been updated. Not their fault, but the fault of the owners. So we didn't rent that house again. All the other houses we have rented have been great with extraordinary views! All have been very comfortable. I have recommended them and I will continue to.

This was our first time renting from Bodega Escapes and we could not have had a better experience,…read more(except a few more days). The service was outstanding and personal. Best vacation in a long time. We will be back

We rented Casa Bella. And Bella it was. The view was gorgeous, the house warm and inviting and Mia,…read morethe owner was accommodating, laid back and friendly! Also, bonus, the office staff, namely Kelsey, is very communicative! I highly recommend Casa Bella and BBBVR.com!

I would probably rate this as more of a three and a half stars. We originally found Bodega Bay Best…read moreVaction Rentals by looking at houses on VRBO.com and chose a house that according to their description was minutes from the beach. Once my mother had already confirmed the house by sending in the money and we got the address we saw that it would be quite a walk to the beach and we would have to cross Highway 1 with two small children. She called BBBVR directly and asked just how many minutes the walk would be and was told about 15-20 minutes. My mother asked if they had any houses in our price and size range that were closer. She sent over three options and the first one we chose she wrote back and said that the owners were choosing to stay there and we would have to pick another. Strike two. Finally we settled on Ocean Song, which was only three houses away from Highway 1 with the beach just on the other side. None of the options we were offered were without crossing that very busy road. The house, Ocean Song, was listed as kid and dog friendly. While the house was lovely, with a gorgeous view and the right size for what we needed, I would say that it was more dog than kid friendly. The kitchen was quite small, so they had all of the dishware on a rack on the floor next to the dining bar. This was very tempting for my 22 month old to want to play with. Also they had the supplies for starting a fire in the fireplace, including matches and a metal poker in a basket on the floor. They have two showers and no bathtub, although one shower had a handheld shower head, so we made do to get our kids clean. The house itself is an updated 1970's house with lots of picture windows for viewing the crashing waves below. The bathrooms and kitchen have newer countertops and appliances. The house is eclectically decorated and has all the modern conviences (cable TV, cordless phones and wireless internet). The porch is very pretty, has lots of seating and even has a small firepit. The garage, which is strangely accessed through the master bedroom closet, has a gas grill and a full sized washer and dryer. This would be the perfect house for a family with older or no children who wish to travel with their dog. One thing that slightly grossed us out was that it smelled of dog immediately upon entering and there were obvious spots on the carpet near the front door. We aren't really dog people, so we would probably prefer someplace a little less pet friendly. One note about accessing Portuguese Beach from the house. There is a path directly across from the street the house is on, but it is very steep. If you walk a little down Highway 1 to your left you will come to a path with wooden stairs set into the hillside, which is much easier and safer. However, be careful when you are walking back to the house. Walk to the actual street and don't take any side trails. As we found out one of the trails leads directly into the backyard of the house just across from Ocean Song, but when you try to cross the field you will find a steep gully filled with poison ivy and unless you go back through the neighbor's yard it is a one mile plus walk around the gully back to the house. What should have taken us five minutes ended up taking an hour simply because we were eager to get off the side of Highway 1 and the cars that speed along that expanse. None of the options were fun with small impulsive children. On our second day we just decided to drive to Doran Beach since the waves are smaller and safer for young children anyway.

Absolutely terrible and corrupt business. Not sure who runs this company but they need to really…read morelook in the mirror. See photos of what was advertised (stunning unobstructed water views) and what we were welcomed with...complete obstruction of the water and a nice view of a bunch of wood! When asked if we could leave and be refunded, customer service said no and told us there was "a bunch of information" on the listing about the construction nearby, but all this info conveniently left out the location of the new house and its impact on the views of this property. They also said they wouldn't be posting new photos of this property until construction finished, so they can keep gauging people like myself! What a special anniversary trip... People and companies like this are truly despicable. Cannot discourage people enough from staying in any of their properties and supporting this fraud.

Surprise, surprise. Imagine my *lack* of surprise to log onto Yelp and to read about the…read moreillustrious Chris and his antics. I rented a place last weekend and had to call Chris while all the smoke detectors were going off because the fireplace flue was closed and the whole place full of smoke. No instructions about how to open flue or that it even needed to be opened before using. He was rude and childish. The fire dept. came and the whole house smelled like smoke all weekend which I guess was better than the overriding mold smell of the place before the smoke incident. He responded to no messages all weekend even when we notified him that the fire dept. had not put out the log properly and the deck had apparently had a small fire under it. The property will get bad reviews on Air B and B now because of him. He didn't do his job and is childish to boot.

Thera, the owner of Sonoma Coast Living Real Estate, was a dream to work with when we decided to…read moresell our home on the Sonoma Coast. She really knows the market and executed on her well-thought-out strategy to close the deal. Rural and coastal properties are tricky to sell. So we needed someone with experience. Thera and her team are knowledgeable of the entire process - from marketing our home, bringing in potential buyers, proactively managing any possible pitfalls, and guiding us through the escrow process. All of our calls and emails were answered promptly, which doesn't happen with all realtors. She made us feel we were her only priority, which I know isn't true:) She has so many beautiful listings on her website. After all her years in real estate, Thera is at the top of her game and we were truly lucky to find her. She covers the entire Sonoma Coast besides Bodega Bay: Jenner to Timber Cove to Sea Ranch. It was such a positive experience that I wanted to write this review. We highly recommend her if you are selling or buying on the Sonoma Coast.

My wife and I met Thera Buttaro at an open house in Bodega Bay last summer. Although we were not…read moreready to buy a home at that time, Thera was very helpful and willingly answered all of our questions about the area, home prices, etc. We remembered Thera this spring when we decided to move forward with buying a Bodega Bay house. She helped us find the home of our dreams, walked us through the process of making an offer and completing all the inspections. With Thera's help we were able to complete our purchase in less than a month! We have nothing but good words for Thera. She made purchasing our home, which is now a somewhat complicated process, very easy and stress free. We highly recommend Thera if you are in the market to buy or sell a home in the Bodega Bay Area. Her professionalism, knowledge of the area, and connections with various tradespeople really impressed us.

Ken is great! He helped us purchase our vacation home on the Russian River in 2021. He was easy to…read morework with and patiently helped us until we found the right place. We would definitely recommend Ken and would work with him again in the future.

Boy, my partner and I really lucked out getting referred to Ken Brennan. Coming from SF, we didn't…read morehave a lot of connections like we have in the city. Ken and his team took care of us from start to finish including a top notch loan agent referral and even contractors and landscape designers to remodel our home. They all worked together to get this difficult transaction through. We are ecstatic with him as our agent. His professionalism, clear communication, prompt response, negotiations, and take charge attitude made the entire home buying process smooth. Thank you Ken!

My husband and I frequently stay in VRBO homes along the Russian River, and have had to contact…read moreRussian River Vacations Homes during several of our stays (for one reason or another). We have consistently been provided with immediate and excellent service; the agents are not only thoughtful, but have always resolved our issues quickly -- and engaged in creative "problem solving" when needed. Our recent stay was initially problematic. But thanks to the Russian River Vacation Homes staff -- our vacation went from being "challenging" to "fabulous" and we now can't wait to return to this vacation home. A special thanks (and kudos!) to Kim and Alyssa -- you guys are the best!

Recently I rented a cabin for the weekend through Russian River Vacation…read moreHomes. It was a beautiful cabin on the river called Casa Luna. The only problem is there is a Russian Orthodox Church next door at least 50 people in wall to wall tents camped in the driveway on the Saturday night. They were incredibly loud and singing church songs in Russian all night. The kids were literally running around screaming and throwing rocks next door at Casa Luna. It was very upsetting and all Russian River Vacation Homes said was sorry. They knew that this happens several times a year. I should have gotten my $ back.

David Millar's professionalism and commitment to detail goes above and beyond all expectations…read more His knowledge of the house search and purchasing process is so refined that working with him was effortless on our part. When we wanted to go look at a new house or back to one we had already looked at, he was there and available with knowledge and advice with a keen eye for details that as a new buyer I didn't know to look for. When we decided on a house to make an offer on, David wrote up the contract and we had an accepted offer within 48 hours! From start to keys in our hands was 20 days and David was by our side every step of the way. I would highly recommend David Millar and Russian River Land and Home for any of your real estate needs.

David was very helpful, responsive, competent, and thorough; he found a buyer for a nearly…read more"unsellable" property which had zero road access to 95% of the property and a protected watershed that made it illegal to build a bridge and a road for access. He submitted documents in a timely fashion whenever necessary and the sale went through without a hitch :-)

I checked in to one of their rentals 4 days ago and walked into a myriad of things that had just…read morenot been cleaned. I reported it right away and someone came out. We walked through the house and grounds. The couch smelled like mildew and dipped down in the middle, they'd left a dirty/orangey dish rack half cleaned just laying outside on a table next to a dirty paper towel and the cleaner, dust everywhere, pile of old bags under a kitchen island/chopping block. I started cleaning up bags and underneath was dusty and dirty and floor under that hadn't been cleaned at all...crumbs and stickiness on chopping block table, dog poo and trash in yard. Old bag and receipt on desk... it was like it had been half cleaned which was ridiculous because it was like 700 sq feet and no one had even done a sweep of the yard at all. The inspector and myself discussed lots of options. One he presented was a " febreze" of the mildewed couch and a vacuum of the unclean kitchen tile, which i found unacceptable. He did offer a clean the next day, which I had needed some time to think about, due to trusting his promise of that, the inconvenience, having to stay the night in a dirty house, and what that actually meant to this company. We discussed alternative lodging which I decided against asking about at all the next morning after going over the reviews here on Yelp and realizing there was no guarantee that any of their properties would be well maintained. I had used my entire summer savings (I'm a teacher), had my dogs and all supplies packed in the car, my family was planning a visit. Honestly, the location was great, the cabin was cute, and the yard would've been lovely. The listing promised an "enhanced clean" due to covid-19 and I had been counting on that to feel safe during this time. Even a thorough clean would've sufficed. I left about an hour after I checked in, which I would have NEVER done if I had felt at all comfortable with the situation at all, having no guarantee of a refund or a satisfactory resolution. I had emailed and called the night before and emailed again in the morning, deciding that the state of the place upon my arrival was unacceptable and I requested a refund. I had also taken some time to look at the Yelp reviews here which I should've done before I booked. I had relied on the listing reviews and my trust in Airbnb. The only response I got was from Star L., who is the one who has also responded dismissively to several of the bad reviews on this site, was that I should cancel the reservation and we'd proceed from there. There was no apology, no attempt to salvage my stay or reassurances from her about a future enhanced clean, or any kind of refund for my inconvenience or the failed check in. I canceled as she requested, hoping that would expedite my refund. She then responded that the inspector told her that the place was perfectly clean and he thought I just didn't like the place. She offered me a partial refund if they could re-book it. She told me that since I had asked about other accommodations when the inspector and I were trying to salvage the situation that meant I didn't like the place. I had never once expressed that I didn't like the place, to him, to her, on a voice mail or in writing. I was floored by Star L.'s response. The inspector saw the unclean parts of the house and garbage in the yard. He acknowledged them when speaking with me. He told my brother in law over the phone the next day that he had spent an hour an a half cleaning the place the day after I had left. It became a case of he said/she said. Ignoring that, I had pictures of the spots I had immediately reported to her and to Airbnb. She acknowledged none of that. I was told that no one believed that the place was unclean, and in so many words called a liar. You don't know me, she doesn't know me, but I'm not a liar. I had no ulterior motives. I would've given anything to have avoided this stress. I had even started cleaning up the place on my own before I discovered more and more areas that had been skipped by their cleaning crew. Airbnb is busy right now but I did get a hold of them. and they made things right by finally giving me a full refund, not Russian River Rentals. I think it's quite clear that this company has terrible customer service. Star L. dismissed me, her customer, as I've now seen her do in response to quite a few unhappy reviews on this site. No one should have to go through this with this company, especially during a time like this. It looks like some people have had quite nice experiences with their stays. But if you have an issue, I would strongly advise you to document everything as thoroughly as possible. Based on my recent experience, this company is untrustworthy, does not support or validate their renters (in my case, it was implied I was a liar several times) and takes no responsibility when it comes to dealing with any issues that may arise with your stay.

This review relates to a stay at Seaton Hill House 10/29/11 for 5 harrowing nights…read more First of all, we requested the address for this home in advance so that we could map it. Russian River Rentals refused to give us the address until they had received payment for the entire stay. Secondly, and most importantly, the roads leading up to the "Seaton Hill House" vacation home are dangerous, unlighted, treacherous drop-offs which are barely passable. When we arrived the first evening, due to the traffic build-up on IH101, it was already dark. Even with the best directions, the road to this house is confusing, to say the least and it would not be an exaggeration to state that the road conditions threatened our lives. One of the passengers was forced to evacuate the vehicle and vomit. Every passenger in the car was in terror. We circled around and around the mountain, adding to the growing stress in the car, because there was no lighting to show us the number on the vacation home, and it was impossible to see (five people with great motivation to find it were unable to spot it). We passed it up several times, each time in more despair that we were going to be victims of the tiny dirt road with its twists and turns and its sheer cliffs. When we finally figured out by process of elimination regarding the neighboring addresses, finding it only after backtracking several times, in exhaustion and shot nerves, we realized that the only way to park was to back up a slanting gravel driveway. The driveway was pointed in each direction toward sheer drop-offs, as well, and was paved with dirt and gravel, which caused our vehicle to slip and slide. A mistake of only a few inches would have ended in a vehicle crash and injury to the driver. Once we exited our vehicle to bring in our luggage, we realized that the house was not fitted with any ramps and so we had to bring our luggage up many stairs which were built into the high sides of the hill. We had someone with emphysema with us, as well as the person who vomited out of fear and was so anxiety ridden that she was quite ill. My boyfriend tried to bring up everyone's luggage himself, as the only other male with us was the guest with emphysema. I took pity on my boyfriend and helped him carry the luggage part of the way, although afterward my back and neck were in pain. Once we entered the home, it became evident that the photos of the home on the Russian River website were deceptive, as was the description of the home and that not everything about the home had been disclosed. The photos caused the rooms to appear larger than they actually were and the kitchen was described as "gourmet" although there was nothing "gourmet" about the smallish kitchen. In addition, the sunroom has a floor that slants to one side. The bedrooms downstairs underneath the sunroom area had floors which also slanted, so that when you are in bed, you feel the bed slanting downward. The following day after our arrival, part of our vacation was spent in the emergency room in Santa Rosa at Kaiser. The person who had been made sick by the ascent up the mountain was still sick. She and her husband were forced to spend the greater part of the whole day in the emergency room treating the condition which was brought on by the road we had to travel each day. She was forced to take medication to alleviate the condition. There was no warning about the road conditions in the information posted on the Russian River Rentals website. I believe it was foreseeable that these roads could cause people to become ill when trying to travel them and potential guests at Seaton Hill House should be warned in the description of the home on the Russian River Rentals website. On Sunday evening, October 30, we attempted to grill dinner on the patio grill. The grill does not work. All 5 of us returned from our vacation much more stressed than when we left for vacation, due to the misleading and undisclosed conditions which we encountered

GREAT PLACE to work with and rent from. If you are going and want an outstanding rental this is the…read moreplace!

We have booked rental houses about 6 or 7 plus times. The rentals have all been beautiful. Either…read moreon the golf course or a view of the beach. Every time we have rented the entire process has gone smoothly and there haven't been any issues. You drop by and pick up the keys and they give you directions to the place you are staying. Everything is provided that you need. Most of the rentals come with a spa, BBQ, and many other accommodations. Rentals are reasonably priced and there are so many to chose from, so there is one usually available!

Fantastic room with a view. Great staff good restaurant on the property. We will go back againread more

We stayed here 3 nights for a retreat... Id say it was okay... it was expensive though. The lodge…read moreis nice but secluded you have to drive to get to anything. and the ocean is a ways out. There was wildlife seen thorughout stay. logs for fire were complementary but even service for room was a $5 charge... weird and crazy with over $400 per night. The rooms are spread throughout multuple buildings... kindsa motel style. Lobby was invitiing but small. had drinks at the restaurant and dinner at the back room area with my group. We avoided the pool as there were groups of kids screaming at top of lungs most of our stay... so we also avoided the spa. No cell service at this location but they have wifi -- overall -- it was okay - I cant say I would go back on my own as for that price id stay somewhere with more amenities.