Vacation Rentals of Santa Barbara — Local services in Santa Barbara

The house was as close to perfect as we could hope for. It isn’t a huge place but it is well laid out and even though there were 10 of us, including an incredibly active 3 year old, we were not tripping over one another. The backyard is private because of the hedges and raised deck, and the pool and hot tub were excellent and easy to use. The garage was full of games toys and equipment and there are two sets of washers and dryers. We travel as a group all over the US and Canada and we rent houses all the time. One thing that annoys me is when a 5 bedroom house that sleeps 10 only has 4 towels 3 cups and 1 roll of toilet paper! This house was the best provisioned place I've ever seen! A full dozen bath towels and as many for the beach, plenty of dishes and top line pots and pans, a fully stocked spice rack and everything we needed to make the house seem like home. The outdoor fridge and BBQ made it even easier to stay outside around the pool and all the chairs and umbrellas were new and in great condition. The house is located a block from the 101 highway so access to anywhere was easy too. When we did have problems with the faucet in the kitchen the property managers sent a guy and whe he determined they needed a real plumber they showed up with parts the next day and were in and out in a hour. The communication was always polite, professional and timely and we felt like we could call anytime and get an immediate answer. We loved this house and plan to come...

Property was beautiful, clean, stocked, and in a great location.

I was notified that the refrigerator was broken an hour before check-in on Tuesday. The rentor would not purchase a temporary refrigerator (local options at less cost than I was spending for a day) and relocated a small mini fridge without a working freezer upstairs. I informed the rentor that I needed a working refrigerator and freezer for the expected group of six adults for the holiday and was told they were working on it.

On Thursday I was told that a repairman could come to fix it on Saturday (5 days after check in) and was asked if I wanted a rep for the rentor to be present during the repair which I affirmed.

The repair/rebuild took nearly 10 hours on 2 Saturday visits spanning from 9:30am to 7:30pm; and a Sunday visit at 11am. A representative from the rentor was only available for half of this effort - so I oversaw. They were only able to fix the refrigerator, not the freezer.

On Monday a person arrived with little notice to install a temporary freezer. Next an electrician showed up with no notice to fix an outlet.

That was our first week - meals eaten out and significant disruption from repeated maintenance calls. On Saturday we were not able enjoy the area (or even have a decent meal) as the entire day was spent watching over repairmen.

They should have brought a temp refrigerator and saved us seven...

I reserved through VRSB when I saw their fee would be less than the price on VRBO for the same property. This is what I didn't know at that time: because the booking was within a certain time frame they charge a whopping 5% credit card fee with no option to pay another way plus it would be 4 whole weeks before I'd get back our security deposit via a check in the mail. If you would like a late check out they will charge you extra which is something I've never come across. There were several signatures and paperwork to manage in the rental agreement which is a pain in the neck. On the upside, my interactions with the property manager and concierge were great - they were helpful, communicative and professional.

The property itself: "Coastal Cabana at West Beach" in SB backs up to a bar with live music which might as well be in the side yard of the unit - the music was loud (and bad) despite all the windows and doors being closed, the walls of the unit are so poorly insulated that one can hear the exact happenings of the adjacent unit's bathroom happenings. For a $1500 security deposit, I would have expected furnishings that weren't damaged, rugs that weren't frayed and electrical cords that were only partially attached to the walls - I was concerned enough about these things that I felt the need to send pics to the management co. so that we wouldn't be...