American Coastal Vacation Rentals — Attraction in Marathon

I would not recommend renting from this company. Had an awful experience with the owner of American Coastal in Marathon before even renting the condo. Reserved the condo thru VRBO they took their processing fee out Leslie (owner) sent an email stating that the rental agreement would be send shortly never received anything. After a day or 2 I called numerous times so I could get the remaining balance due paid before our travels in May kept getting voicemail then a few days later someone called me back (who wasn’t pleasant at all) we talked & gave her all the requested information told her to send the contract for me to sign & would send the check & agreement over the next business day. She said that was good & I thought everything was good to go. Monday am I send a copy of the signed contract & a copy of my check that I had mailed out that morning to get a call shortly after with Leslie leaving a voicemail saying I’m just calling as you’ve left messages & we are just getting back to you now. I called her back told her that I’ve already talked with someone on Saturday & I just mailed & emailed everything. “Oh” she says so I felt something was off & didn’t seem like they had my reservations. So I said to her “ Your office seems a little unorganized” well all the sudden she says to me I’m not renting to you!! I didn’t even understand what she was even saying. She’s like you seem very dissatisfied with our company so I’m canceling your rental reservations. Now keep in mind it took us 2 weeks to decide on this unit as this is the 1st time we rented a condo in the Keys as we normally rent a home but this year there was only 4 of us going. So just like that she canceled our reservations. Leslie was completely unprofessional, confrontational & disrespectful. I would NEVER do business with her. I hope she was able to tell the condo owner that they weren’t getting there weekly rental because a customer said her office seemed “unorganized”. I now had to pay an additional $500 for a different reservation & still haven’t received my refund from...

Summary: Nice homes, but make sure you buy travel insurance — absolutely no flexibility, even for a cancer diagnosis.

We had booked a home with American Coastal Vacation Properties in Marathon and were looking forward to our trip. Unfortunately, 14 days before our arrival, the primary guest was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and was medically advised not to travel while undergoing urgent testing. As you can imagine, this was an extremely difficult and unexpected situation for our family.

We immediately informed American Coastal Vacation Properties and requested to cancel. They advised they would attempt to re-rent the property and refund us if successful. In an effort to find a fair solution, I offered to forgo any refund and instead apply the full amount we had already paid toward a future stay, once health would hopefully allow us to travel again. This was promptly declined, as it was "not their policy."

We were reminded that their travel insurance would have covered such circumstances. While I fully acknowledge the role of travel insurance, I remain disappointed by the rigid response and lack of goodwill shown under such exceptional circumstances. Sometimes, a small gesture of flexibility can make a world...

Let me start by giving Leslie a big thank you!!! I booked with her through Airbnb and did not receive confirmation email. Then the house we were looking at said it was unavailable so we thought someone else had rented it! I scrambled and rented our least favorite option (from another site) this a last minute rental so there is a no refund policy for both. After booking the second property this morning I received confirmation from the first. I about had a heart attack. So I contacted the host of the property I booked only 30 minutes before and asked if there was anyway to cancel. He was no help and just wanted to assure me his property was amazing and to cancel the one we really wanted. Spent 3 hours on the phone and talked to two so called managers with the other company to come to the conclusion that there is nothing they can do. At this point I emailed Leslie and she said let me see if I can get this approved, an hour later it was approved and given a full refund. All I can say is Leslie’s customer service, understanding, and willingness to help shows her character. I would not hesitate to rent from her in the future. Thank you again Leslie you are the...