DO NOT DO NOT use this company. I don't care how nice the house looks, they are crooks. I'll spare you the details but like many many many others have said across any review site you look at, they will try and steal your deposit. I've rented many homes in my life - both long and short term - never have I ever not got my security deposit back (or at least the vast majority of it). Miraculously, at the end of my stay, they found a way to charge me almost exactly the amount of my security deposit through extra bogus charges. I'm opening up claims against them and hoping they can't pray on more people. read more

As others have said, they are crooks. You will have your deposit withheld and you will be blamed for problems these places already had that would require you to do a full home inspection before deciding to rent the place, which is impossible when visiting from out of town. There's some woman there named Dianna or something who is extremely nasty and a professional crook, along with Melissa. You will regret dealing with these shady people. The place was filthy, infested with rodents, garbage in the yard, beds weren't clean, kitchen and bathrooms disgusting, absolutely nothing like the photos. Hopefully you'll see these reviews before deciding to rent a property they manage, but usually we only go on Yelp to write reviews after a horrible experience. read more

This review is for renters working with Coastal Hideaways: We had significant problems with Coastal Hideaways when renting our home through them. The good: They regularly inspect the home and clean it well, and return it to original condition before renting it again. The bad: They do not always resolve problems for tenants in a timely manner, causing hardship on the renters. The very bad: They repeatedly delayed paying us the rental income they received, at times for many months. The final time this happened the period was so extended that we had to engage a lawyer and we finally cancelled our arrangement with Coastal Hideaways. read more

Stay well clear of this place. They have no COVID protocol and management does not seem likely to get one anytime soon. There are plenty of better places to stay for less. read more

SCAM ALERT! Horrible experience with this property management company! They processed a fraudulent charge of $150 to my debt without my consent. They VIOLATED my PERSONAL PRIVACY RIGHTS as a renter. They entered the unit rented in Santa Barbara through VRBO and took photographs without my knowledge. read more

We rented a beautiful home for Thanksgiving week. All went well except my security deposit was withheld for bogus reasons. They reported that we damaged a brand new table which we did not. I asked for a receipt showing that the table was brand new as claimed. That receipt or any follow up has yet to happen, despite my repeated calls and emails. Stay away from this scam company! read more

We stayed at the property called "Downtown Treasure" in Santa Barbara - 3 bedroom/3 bathroom Craftsman for a week in March. The house is lovely - just as elegant and charming as pictured. Every bedroom has a gorgeous bathroom of its own. It is one block from shopping and 3 blocks from a great grocery store and 10 blocks or so from the beach. (Easy, flat bike ride to everything) We rented bicycles from SB Bikes to go (they deliver same day!) and biked everywhere with our kids. The house was impeccably clean when we arrived and very well stocked with towels, sheets, beach towels, hangers, blankets, dishes, silverware, glasses, Tupperware, pots and pans. Coastal hideaways has been a pleasure to work with. Very responsive. (My husband sat on the toilet seat and it broke and within 24 hours, coastal Hideaways had it fixed). When we called with inquiries - they immediately responded. We will definitely be renting this property again soon. It really could not have been more perfect. read more

We stayed at their property in Mammoth which was okay. Nothing amazing. After the stay the company failed to return my security deposit. They would not return emails or phone calls. Was forced to dispute the charge and they claimed they mailed a refund check, but did not provide proof of the check (I.e.- canceled check). This company is not worth doing business with as there are plenty of other quality companies that actually are honest and responsive. I will continue to fight this scam, but they are wasting my time for no reason. read more

I have mixed feelings about this company. On one hand, I loved the downtown treasure location in Santa Barbara. The house was well stocked and beautiful and the location was great. However, I was very frustrated with the company after we left. When we arrived at the house both the garbage and recycling were 3/4 full. So we just put out our trash in tied up bags and placed it next to the cans. We still get charged from our security deposit for extra trash removal. I've called the company 4 times (twice with no answer at all & left two voicemails) and still haven't spoken to anyone. I guess they feel like since I've already paid, providing me with good customer service isn't important. Would hesitate to use them again which is sad because I loved the property! read more

Be Forewarned about this company, and Owner. We write this review in our own opinion, and according to court records, all public record. We returned to our home being rented by this company, and we were told it was ready and cleaned, only to find used condoms in the spa, extensive property and smoke damage. We hired a lawyer to clean up this mess, and Coastal Hideaways, Melissa Pierson, was found guilty by default by the Superior Court of California for Fraud, Breach of contract, Nearly $4000 in damages, and questionable bookkeeping. She was ordered by the courts to pay Thousands of dollars in Legal fees as well. After doing some research, all facts , we found out we were just another in a long line of unhappy owners and guests, not receiving their deposits back as agreed, or in court with this woman. Her legal record is shocking with 12 or more lawsuits, and an endless list of legal issues, all public record. She seems to say one thing, and do another...... In our opinion, this was really the saddest excuse for management we had ever seen. It took a month to repair the damage this company did to our home. I have never dealt with a more uncaring, unprofessional , and thoughtless person in my life. Be forewarned . There are many other good companies in Santa Barbara to work with. This is not one of them !!! read more

AVOID! Company has questionable practices and ethics. We submitted a request on VRBO for a late (2wks out) rental. Received a response 4 days later (Memorial day weekend) from Melissa to call her directly. We called to confirm the details and received an email of the same. Replied that we are in and inquired about the pet policy. A few email exchanges later, we indicated no change on our end, no pet coming. Few more days pass and we're 3 days way from day 1. Call to get details on the key pickup and am told there was a mistake, it's been double booked. WTH! Looking at other reviews, apparently this is a problem with CH, as well as many not getting deposits back. This is no way to run a business, no concern for their customer. We decided to go elsewhere, to avoid further issues with CH. read more

I won't let this one get filtered... People need to see this... DO NOT TRUST!!! unexpected last minute charges they will hold you liable for...before...or after, by taking your security deposit in the end.. you will not receive security deposit even if you know you took 110% care of their property...someway THEY WILL get you!! Don't believe any 5-10 minute walking distance to the beach.. I'm a car it was 15 minutes on foot 45 minutes... Would have been nice if the bikes were actually working and didnt have blown air tubes for the bike..... To which they said they would have someone out ASAP to fix..... That never happened , what a surprise!!!' this was by far the sketchiest vacation rental home provider i have delt with..... everything you have read on this yelp page is 100% honest.. i read what people had to say before i came, and was very cautious, but didn't beleive... well come to find out, every nightmare posted came to reality in some way.. houses are great (because they aren't their homes, its others who contract them through them for rent, they just manage them) management is so untruthful and scammy... you will not get your deposit back no matter what.....we did everything we were told to do, even was told over the phone we did... WHAT A NIGHTMARE!!! read more

We have been renting in Santa Barbara for the past 16 summers, and I have never had problems like we did with our rental in 2020 summer. First we rented with Coastal Hideaways and they rented us a house that was infested with rats, filthy dirty, messy, many broken items, dirty pool with untreated green water, and backyard with garbage. Coastal Hideaways NEVER did a walk through or inventory of the house before handing the keys to us, they had no idea what we received or in what shape from previous renters who left that morning, and although we requested they come and do it, they did not. We took pictures of all the dirt in the house, the dirty carpets, the broken items and broken furniture, stained furniture, etc; to have the proof; they tried to blame it on us, and refused to return our deposit and over $10K for unused days because I could not stay in a house infested with rats due to my health issues in the middle of COVID pandemic! Their gardener kicked my little 6 lbs dog and got her wet with the water hose every time she was near him in the yard! I did some serious research on Costal Hideaways and they have may legal actions against them from owners and renters for very similar experiences like mine! Owners because their houses got destroyed by renters ad Coastal Hideaways never took care of their properties and would not pay for the damages from deposits retained by them, and from renters for their refusal through lies to refund deposits as well as the shape of the houses rented from them. read more

My first experience and encounter w/ Coastal Hideaways was in June 2019 as they represented the vacation home we rented for a week in Oxnard Channel Islands Harbor. We had the usual minor bumps and questions and my experience with this team was exceptional. They responded quickly and followed up to make sure that everything was answered and taken care of. I've seen some of the prior reviews of this company and I have a hard time believing them. We've rented through many other vacation booking and management firms across the country with mixed experience. We have never encountered such a caring and tuned-in management firm. This team is incredibly professional and I have the utmost respect and confidence in Coastal Hideaways. They will be receiving our business again and every time we look to rent a vacation condo/house in the Ventura/Santa Barbara area. I really can't say enough positive about this company...fantastic!!! read more

We stayed all summer at two Coastal Hideaways properties and were completely satisfied with the excellent service by their management and staff. All questions were answered promptly and the units were clean and efficient. Melissa and Tracy took care of every need in a very professional manner. This is our second year working with them and we intend to use their services again in the future. read more

I have rented three homes from Coastal Hideaways in the last two years. My experiences with Melissa and her team have been fantastic. The service is personalized and the selection of homes is great. We will continue to use this company in the future and would recommend it to friends and family. Colan read more

Very unprofessional!! Their customer service was as bad as it gets. Rude, wouldn't return our calls, totally messed up our billing. Nice home but spending $3,000 and being treated like a second class citizen. Stay away!!! read more

My husband and I have used Coastal Hideaways on several occasions and each time the properties & experiences have been wonderful. The homes are ideally located, tastefully decorated, clean and comfortable with all the amenities you could ever think of needing. All questions and concerns are answered promptly with Tracy, a lovely, detailed professional that helped us with all the arrangements, even making suggestions where to go and what to see while staying in Santa Barbara. The cleaning staff were efficient and thorough, even putting a note under each bed stating "they thought you would check under the bed"! (Yes, that's right, I checked under the bed!) The owner, Melissa Pierson, prides her self on exceeding the expectations of her clients with a professional team that is dedicated to ensuring memorable stays. It's like a good friend has made all the arrangements for you so there is no need to worry about anything. My husband and I strongly recommend Coastal Hideaways and know that Melissa and her team will do everything to ensure that you become a repeat client like myself! read more

Have been a repeat customer with Coastal Hideaways over the past three years. The homes were well stocked and beautifully maintained. This company has been around for close to 18 years and was one of the first vacation rental companies in Santa Barbara. Melissa is knowledgeable and equally concerned for her guests and homeowners. I would recommend this company to anyone for a variety of types and sizes of homes and for personal care. Having dealt with property management over many years, I am very aware of the problems that inconsiderate guests will cause and outlandish lengths they will go to justify their supposed damages. read more

My husband and me have been travelling from Scotland for the last eight years to Santa Barbara and have used Costal Hideaways six times using five different rental homes from Melisa . The service we have recived on these visits has been first class . No problems with money . All house well equipped and if I required something with in 24 hours I receved what ever I might need . We have stayed sometimes 10 weeks and up to six months . Reading some of the reviews below .......maybe some one has it in for this company ? Simply the best for us . read more

I booked Hideaway Villa, a townhouse in Goleta, California, through Coastal Hideaways. I contacted Coastal Hideaways with a question about the main TV as I could not get it to work. The response was that no one had had a problem previously - that is all I got. I eventually figured out that there was a problem with the power switch on the TV itself. I had to call back about a problem with the extreme heat in the upstairs, left a message, and no one called back for the entire week we were there. There were other problems including sheer curtains in the master bedroom that do nothing to keep out the early morning sun, ants in the upstairs that sometimes found their way into the bed, and not one piece of cookware that could be put into the oven. Beautiful kitchen - that was a big part of why we rented the property - but it was not really useful. Based on the poor response to my two calls It did not seem worthwhile calling again, so we just made do. When we got home I e-mailed Coastal Hideaways with my feedback -including the good points such as the fact that the unit was very clean and nicely decorated - and was told they would get in touch with the owner, housekeeper, and management of Coastal Hideaways and would be in touch. I booked through VRBO and cannot write a review on that site because the "owner" has to send the link and they did not - wonder why. The deficiencies in the property are easily remedied but, based on the reviews here, dealing with Coastal Hideaways is a dicey proposition. Sometimes they do a good job and sometimes they do not. Unfortunately we experienced the latter. They handle some beautiful properties, but a poor management company can ruin an experience. read more

We rented three separate properties from Melissa at Coastal Hideaways this past summer as temp housing while we moved to SB and found something more permanent. Based on our experience I would recommend you not use this business for your vacation rental. We had issues with each stay and are currently trying to work through a significant overcharge by Coastal Hideaways through both the Better Business Bureau and American Express. Without going into all the detail, we ended up renting properties that were not yet listed on Melissa's website bc they were new rentals. We agreed to the rentals based on her verbal communication to us about the rental fees. She never sent through contracts for these rentals despite our requesting them six times over the course of our seven week stay. After we checked out, without contracts in place or any communication whatsoever to us about the final bill, she charged our credit card an amount that is more than $1,300 over what we were quoted. I don't know how legally a business can charge you without having a contract in place, but we are taking that up with American Express directly. It has now taken us many hours of capturing and providing documentation to dispute the overcharge. Every step of the way Melissa continues to show that she should not be running a business. I suggest you take your business elsewhere as there are numerous vacation rental agencies in Santa Barbara. 10/4/2015. I want to add that we are still going through the dispute resolution process and we just received copies of the documents submitted by Coastal Hideaways to Am Ex. The documents have been falsified so Melissa or a representative from her company have now broken the law. They have submitted first pages of contracts for two properties that we never signed with the second page of our original contract. The dates don't match and our email documentation proves we did not sign these documents so I have no doubt our case will be strongly made but I'm shocked that the business actually falsified docs and submitted them. I want to repeat my prior advice which is DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY. read more

My husband and I booked a vacation rental through Coastal Hideaways to treat his parents on their 40th Wedding Anniversary. We selected Sunset Serenity because of its incredible views and amenities. The accommodations were luxe; the over sized king size bed was so comfortable, we wished it was our own. We made sure to relax at sunset and a few sunrises in the hot tub which was an added perk. You really don't get the same quality at even some of the best five star hotels in town. Our entire experience with Coastal Hideaways was world class from start to finish. Melissa was kind enough to provide an alternate way to obtain our key for the unit since the Avon Race for the Cure was clogging the main arteries of transportation through Montecito. The welcome gift (a scrumptious bottle of Pinot Noir) was thoughtful and added to the overall pleasant experience we enjoyed! My family has rented from CH before and we were very happy then and are even more pleased to have another delightful experience. The properties are wonderful and the service is delightful. read more

Heaven! We booked a stay at "Simply Paradise" though Coastal Hideaways for Christmas 2013 and from start to finish the experience was exceptional. The staff at the Coastal Hideaways office were pleasant and helpful and the house... oh the house! it really was paradise - perched high in the hills, near the botanic gardens, it had breathtaking vistas of the coast line and twinkling city below. Two master suites, with balconies, two lovely bedrooms with shared bath, open kitchen, living room, dining room, den - all surrounded by outdoor decks, patios with grilling station and hot tub (so great after a long hike in the hills!). When we returned home, I phoned to ask how long it would be for the return of our deposit- it was mailed promptly in full and included a reduction in vacation rental tax amount that we had not expected. Fair, honest friendly. We will revisit with Coastal Hideaways often. read more

dont trust these people... unexpected last minute charges they will hold you liable for...before...or after, by taking your security deposit.... you will not receive security deposit even if you know you took 110% care of their property...someway they will get you read the full story if you want details ha this was by far the sketchiest vacation rental home provider i have delt with..... everything you have read on this yelp page is 100% honest.. i read what people had to say before i came, and was very cautious, but didn't beleive... well come to find out, every nightmare posted came to reality in some way.. houses are great (because they aren't their homes, its others who contract them through them for rent, they just manage them) management is so untruthful and scammy... you will not get your deposit back no matter what.....we did everything we were told to do, even was told over the phone we did... we booked three months before our arrival date ok? days before arrival we start receiving emails not phone calls...emails, stating that we owe $450.00...well i wasn't available to check and i guess they figured i was ignoring them...they sent another the next day with the balance of $400.00, same thing no response...the next day they have an updated balance of 352.00...the people were just trying to get me to sign an agreement so i would be legally tied to pay the balance..well i disagreed and called them ( to which i was never reached back..) so i went ahead onto my trip thinking they were just accepting failure to their attempt at scamming me out of last minute money.... we get there....bike tires are flat....computer they say is present....isnt....beach they say is 5 minutes walking...isnt (is 30 minutes walking) (5 minute drive if you run every red light....ha...) so that was a total bummer seeing as the free transportation they said they provided....indeed ended up not being free...(what a suprise)... we had a great vacation until time to check-out which was no problem everything went right.... now here comes the icing on the cake.... i call to ask about my deposit..... they state to me "you have a remaining balance from before you came of $352.00 were just going to take that from your security deposit..... which they only had legally signed documents of the original cost...which had already been paid...and paid in full....so they basically are robbing me out of my security deposit(((which i wasnt expecting back in the first place due to high volume of complaints about security deposits.....)))) with the excuse i had an outstanding balance-----that popped up two days before arrival(((((when they had months notice to check their reservations and get it clear))))) kinda sucks that its all a organized scam....------- the last thing you want to worry about after a great vacation... who likes to hear the run around, and bullshit lies about why they can't receive their security deposit back..... the micro managing issues this woman mellisa has.....with no only her clients in town...but clients out of town....is not something you want to deal with before/after your vacation.......the legend of mellisas bullshit goes on... read more

we rented the fairway villa for a week in november and first off i'd like to say that the villa itself was nice enough, however i can not say the same for the management. i can honestly say that i've never dealt with such inconsiderate people. this may be a bit long and detailed, but i think people should have the specific details. to begin with when i sent in my reservation form i was charged 1/2 the balance for the rental but never received any sort of confirmation or receipt from them until i called a month later. i then noticed that check in time is 4:30 pm. this was significantly later than our planned arrival time, so a few weeks prior to the trip i had called to request an earlier check in time if possible. i had explained that we we're going to be driving 6hrs with 2 small kids - 3year old and 11 month infant and it would be nice to get into the place a bit earlier. the woman i spoke to (can't remember who) said we could check into the home at 4pm. so as we were driving down i called to confirm this and Tracy very matter of factly stated that this was not ok and that check in time was 4:30. I explained that I had called and made this arrangement several weeks ago, but she repeatedly said no. after much heated discussion she finally agreed to allow us to come to the office which is an additional 20 minutes of driving time out of our way to "check in" - basically resign all documents and give you directions. There is a lockbox for the key at the home. who makes you do all this extra stuff while you are on vacation? i've rented dozens of homes via vrbo, and never had to do this. needless to say we didnt' get to the unit till after 4:30 and she made our journey much more difficult. as we were getting settled i notice there was no garbage can in the kitchen. this is a vacation home, i believe that the purpose of vacation homes is to be able to have a home like situation. that being said we cook a lot, especially with the small kids. I called about this and was told that the garbage can is in a closet across the hall. So basically while you are working and cooking in the kitchen you have to walk over to a closet every time you need to drop something in the trash. I couldn't just pull it out because of the little kids and it wouldn't fit under the sink. I asked if they could get a smaller one to put under the sink and Tracy said "no, that's just the way this unit is!" That night we discovered that the bathroom shower wasn't draining. I called the next day and she did send someone out to fix it (the only positive that i can say about them). In addition I asked about the path to the beach. The property is advertised as being a "7 minute walk through a nature preserve to the lovely beaches of Goleta" I had actually called to inquire about this detail prior to making the reservation as i specifically wanted to be able to walk with the kids to the beach. I was told that it was definitely 7 minutes or less to "walk." There are paths, however it takes at least 20 minutes to run to the beach, via any and all routes that i was able to find, and i'm a runner. when i called to ask about the details of the path through the nature preserve, Tracy's answer was you just have to go look around. I did look around, and asked several other residents of the condominium - there is no way to walk to the beaches in 7 minutes - it was a minimum of 30. So basically it was falsely advertised, then i was lied to about it, and after arriving there they play dumb. Finally TV reception was spotty - just lost the signal intermittently. Called about that, they sent a handyman out, he said it was a cable issue, and then it was never addressed. Overall we had a nice enough time, but that had nothing to do with the management. I would never rent from them again, and recommend that you do not either. Their job is to make your vacation as nice as possible, - bottom line - i don't think they give a damn. read more