Coastal Hideaways - Santa Barbara, California

Richard A.

I've been using Coastal Hideaways as my property management company for the past two years and have had an excellent experience. Our condo unit is kept immaculately clean by the staff. Melissa Pierson is a pleasure to work with. Our rental has a 90% booked rate, amazing! We have peace of mind knowing that our vacation rental is attentively managed. I would happily recommend Coastal Hideaways to a friend.

Chris A.

DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME. Terrible Customer Service. They just want your money and move on to the next sale. Then they charge you extra cleaning fees and provide zero support for any issues. Melissa claims to be a Property Manager, she is no more than a slimly used car salesman. We had a toilet leak in the bedroom from the unit above and they did nothing for over a week to repair this. They did not care and the homeowner didn't want to pay for repairs, ridiculous.

Robert A.

My wife and I have been renting our Santa Barbara house (Artist Inn) through Melissa Pierson at Coastal Hideaways for nearly 4 years. We have had an excellent experience with Melissa and her staff from day one. We now have repeat renters and we have to make sure we keep some dates for ourselves as the house is very popular. She screens renters carefully, is always responsive to our calls, makes timely payments to us, and provides us with prompt and detailed accounting monthly. There has rarely been a problem with renters, and when there has been Melissa has quickly resolved the issues. She takes very good care of our home and has a network of competent and reasonable people for repairs, plumbing, electrical and other issues. I have read the other reviews on here and conclude that they must be either competitors trying to hurt Melissa, or are disgruntled renters that no one could please.

Molly M.

We have used Coastal Hideaways to manage and rent our home in Santa Barbara for over 2 years. Melissa Pierson has handled all aspects of the rental personally and professionally. Highly recommend.

Vince S.

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. 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.

amanda D.

WARNING........ This is the second time I have posted this review. It is all true and documented. It had been removed. I am concerned others may fall victim to Coastal Hideaways ,and Melissa Pierson's many problems and legal issues. I was part owner of a rental property with my business associate. We used Coastal Hideaways and legally ended our contract almost immediately. We had questionable things happen with the owner Melissa Pierson, her suspicious bookkeeping, as well as damage to our home. She threatened us legally. She was found guilty by default by the courts for Property Damage, Fraud,and Breach of Contract, and was motioned by the court to pay thousands of dollars in legal fees by the judge and courts.. We were alarmed after reading of Melissa Pierson's many other legal issues as well, (all public record). We decided we did not want our property or our names associated with this company. Red flags were everywhere. She was slow and difficult to work with....never answering her phone, and not returning calls.. (This is a common complaint from guests trying to get their deposits returned.) The low quality rentals she did provide usually caused damage to our home. This was amateur, child-like management...anything but professional. Once again, more red flags. We saw many warnings as well from angry guests whose deposits were being held and not returned. As one of the homeowners, I began to wonder if these guests could have stayed in our home. Coastal Hideaways is unprofessional as a business. The owner is untruthful, disorganized, disorientated, and confused. In my 58 years, never have I come across such a sad excuse for human behavior or poor business practices. Look elsewhere for professional rentals or management.

John G.

We recently used the services of Coastal Hideaways for a one-week vacation rental in Santa Barbara, CA. Our whole experience was smooth and positive. I found the agency to be professional, responsive and helpful. They always returned my calls and communication with them was never a problem. I worked most often with Heather on the agency staff and she did an excellent job of answering my questions and handling the necessary details. One thing I appreciated is the fact that their property renting calendar is always up to date. I tried another service before I found Coastal Hideaways and was annoyed several times when properties which appeared to be available on certain dates were, in fact, already booked for those dates. Coastal Hideaways availability listings were accurate and up to date which avoided that issue and saved me time and annoyance.

We rented the Downtown Treasure property and the house was exactly as advertised. It was clean and comfortable and lived up to our expectations. The kitchen was modern and well-equipped and the bathrooms were outstanding. We enjoyed sitting on the covered front porch in the evening with a glass of wine and watching the world go by. The bedrooms were of good size, the beds were comfortable and the house was very charming and inviting.

The property location was perfect for us. We chose this property because it is very close to State Street in Santa Barbara (a 5 minute walk), and also close enough to walk to the beach. Because of its close proximity to State Street, the street on which the house sits is a bit busy and there is traffic noise. However, that was never a problem and was worth it in my mind to be so close to downtown Santa Barbara. The driveways (there are two) are very narrow but even so, we were able to fit up to 5 cars in the driveways for off street parking.

To sum up, the property was excellent and the agency was professional, thorough and very easy to work with. I will not hesitate to book my next Santa Barbara vacation property through them.

Jerry H.

Read ALL the reviews...where there is smoke there is fire! We were burned when we rented a property for the month of February, 2016. Viewed the property in person, signed a worthless contract, and paid half up front. If I had not been looking online I would never have known they double rented the property. They ignored our month of February on their calendar and rented it long term for a year. We were bumped and never told. The explanation was: contract fell thru the cracks and the email was written, but never sent. By the time I found out there was nothing comparable to rent. We ended up having to spend a few thousand more. Never again Coastal Hideaways. BEWARE this was not our first experience with them, but it is our last.