I booked a condo through VRBO that had free cancellation up to 2 months before our stay. Distinctive Beach Rentals then sent me emails directing me to sign a contract outside of VRBO where I could only get a refund if I cancelled within 48 hours of booking. I e-mailed to ask about the discrepancy, and they said that the VRBO policy ruled, but I still had to sign the contract. If there was ever a dispute, the signed contract would prevail. They refused to alter the contract, so I had to cancel the stay. They should either update VRBO to match their current policy, or write a new private contract and change the language. Poor business management! I will avoid this company in the future. read more

Read the fine print with this company!!!! They have the right to cancel your rental at any moment AND THEY DO!! They cancelled my beach house stay within 2 weeks of my arrival. I had paid for the place in full, I had bought 6 airplane tickets, I had paid for a rent a car in full in anticipation of my arrival at one of their rentals and they just cancelled. They did NOT care about cancelling my stay. All Jamie said was I should have read the contract. Do you believe that???? They cancel and it is my fault. Beware!! read more

161 Gulf Island Drive I rented this property from Distinctive Beach Rentals (DBR) in January 2019. The experience was terrible. The house was infested with dead rats, urine and feces throughout the entire HVAC system. Horrible smell not to mention being exposed to rat toxins for 14 days before we figured out the source was the HVAC system. DBR refused to move us to another property and refused to give us any refund on the $4800+ we paid for the month. I am in the process of filing a lawsuit vs DBR to recover my money. It ruined our vacation. Stay away from DBR and stay away from this property. I am also making VRBO aware as that is where we found the property. read more

My family and myself are currently staying at a property on Connecticut drive in fort Myers beach. We decided to stay at a location farther away from downtown so that we can stay at a place with a heated pool. I'm an above knee amputee so they wanted to have the pool for me while they do walks on the beach that might be difficult for me. We get here and the pool is freezing cold. I go around back and the power isn't even on to the filtration system. I turn it on and it tells me the temp of the water which is 70 degrees. Typically a heated pool should be around 85 degrees. My father called distinctive rentals yesterday morning. We were told at first there was not a heater in the pool. Then spoke with someone again and was told there is a heater and someone will be out to fix it. No one showed up. Called again later that day and no one calls back. My father called this morning. Again we get the run around and we get told someone would call us back. We hear nothing. So around 330 I call and speak with someone. He says again someone will call us right back. Didn't hear a thing. Called at 4:30. At this point I'm pissed. Now a different lady picks up the phone and tells me she doesn't know anything about my situation till I start complaining and then tells me an email was sent to the owner of the company. So I asked why was an email just sent now and not yesterday and why has this situation been ignored. She tells me that it's the owners day off and she can't do anything about it and we have to wait for the owner to look at her email but she doesn't know how often she checks her email on her day off. I said that's unacceptable. That someone needs to call the owner and let her know there is an issue. She kept saying "well it's the owners day off". Being from a family that runs their own business.. we could never blow people off being that it's our day off. Especially if it's a business that is responsible for vacation rentals EVERY day of the week. Not just Monday-Friday when it's convenient. So now my family paid a higher rental cost for a property that we would of never chosen if we were given the correct information to begin with. It clearly says on their site that this property has a heated pool. I am very disappointed with the way that the company is ran and the lack of communication between the staff Update: Now it is Sunday evening. Heading home tomorrow so my entire stay I have not had a working pool and no call back. My parents will stay the remaining part of the week but I doubt they will hear anything back. I'm kinda surprised being that this is false advertising and if it's not corrected, we will be disputing the charges with our credit card company. read more

Distinctive Beach Rentals - Vacation Rentals Near Me - Ponte Vedra, Florida

We rented 4230 ESTERO BLVD. it was supposed to have two bathrooms and a ground level hang out spot. When we checked in, the upstairs bathroom was not functional. The handles to turn the shower on and off we're completely missing. There was a standing tub with a big sign in it that it would tip over if you sat in the edge. When you sat in the tub it wobbles back and forth, the water only got luke warm, and water leaked from the base every time we used it. We ended up with one shower for 6 people. The property has a 30 gallon electric water heater and frequently ran out of hot water. The downstairs hang out room was filled with old mattresses and construction debris. Not at all like in the pictures advertising the property, the garbage and recycling was overflowing upon our arrival and it stunk of trash until it was picked up near the end of our stay. The fire alarms malfunctioned every night waking up the entire house and no one was around to address the issue until our last night. I couldn't wait to get home to a hot shower and my own bed for a solid night sleep. Zero response from management so far, they took the money and rented us a property that really had one bathroom when we were expecting two. I did not get the impression they care to maintain high standards for their rentals. We rent on the island every year, and will avoid all properties managed by this company. read more

Distinctive Beach Rentals - No plumbing handles to turn on shower - Vacation Rentals Near Me - Ponte Vedra, Florida

we rented from Distinctive & unfortunately our beach rental has horrible noise construction our entire week (except Sunday - but even on Thanksgiving day!) Woke up every morning at 7 AM to construction noise!! Saw dust blowing on us and having to navigate our beach access with huge equipment! We paid $2K for the week and felt taken advantage of. Although their lengthy contract apparently has a construction clause and they finally replied to me after a month stating they don't know when construction may or may not affect a rental they obviously can see an entire 5000+ SQ Ft home being built beside another would be cause to WARN potential renters!! We were looking forward to sleeping in and enjoying our beach front balcony! We could NOT. Unacceptable. They cannot charge PREMIUM prices for a rental that is impaired with constant NOISE and Construction hazards! read more

Simply called to request information about a property large enough for my very large family and explained that I was having a small wedding and immediately was met with they could not rent to me. I couldn't even explain that we were looking for a house for my large family. As I attempted, I was met with "Sorry, we do not allow weddings or parties at any of our properties." Then they cited that they are inspected and it is not allowed.... This felt discriminatory through, at minimum, stereotypes. We would have been comfortable with just renting the house so everyone could stay together. I then looked up their BBB profile... Renters beware.... read more

Don't trust them to many inconsistences with what they said and what happened. Find someone else to help you for finding a beach rental.

Palm Harbor - 806. Due to flight delays, we arrived late on a Monday night. It was dark and the code provided for access to the elevator was incorrect. Another renter gave us the code before the on-call staff member could locate the information. This is the second time we have rented through Distinctive Beach Rental in the last year and the second time that the information they provided was not accurate/current/complete. The view is spectacular and the bed is comfortable. There are several minor issues - no ice maker, no beach towels, kitchen utensils were lacking - those are minor and inconvenient but manageable. Most disturbing is he carpet in this unit. It is disgusting - Dirty and Stained. It shouldn't have been rented before it was cleaned. I would not bring children here. I definitely would not use Distinctive Beach Rental to manage the rental of my units. We rent in FMB a couple of times each year and have had much better results renting directly from owners. What could have been a spectacular experience was definitely unnecessarily diminished. Carole Mollette read more

We rented a room at 100 Estero Blvd, FMB. Things to be aware of is that you must be paid in full 2 months prior to your stay and it is non refundable if you cancel after that. It is a very long contract....which made me a bit uncomfortable (especially being told I had to write out my cc number on the form that was not secured for them to "keep on file"), but after talking with an office gal, had me a bit more assured that everything would go smoothly - which checking in and the emails explaining what to do were very good. The unit itself was large, had a gorgeous view (minus having to always look through the screen to see it), and a huge, beautiful balcony. The furniture was comfortable and nice looking (loved the round table on the balcony). Having a keypad entry was very nice. But the three star rating comes from these notes. We were told that bath towels were included, but not beach towels, so we brought our beach towels - only to have housekeeping show up on Monday morning with a HUGE black garbage bag of 6 VERY large beautiful beach towels. On the other hand, you get 6 total bath towels (unit sleeps 6) which were thin and not very big - and no washer or dryer in the unit to freshen them up unless you wanted to go downstairs and pay to do so. There were no coffee filters. There was only the bag to use in each garbage can - including the kitchen garbage. There were 2 filled to the brim with water "humidity" bags hanging in the guest closet that hadn't been dumped out and smelled like a wet basement. A giant palmetto roach ran across the kitchen counter and went behind the counter of the stove the 1st morning we were there. There were only a few hangers in the master bedroom and only two night stands for clothes (if you had 6 guests staying, have no idea where their stuff would go - only were allowed half of master closet and guest bedroom closet not that big). The décor was minimal - no feeling of relaxation or welcome. The shower curtain kept falling down in the guest bath. The pool chairs were not very clean looking - and had a note on gate saying the overall management is not responsible for keeping them clean. One night came back from Times Square to all the outside lights out - none in the stairwells, none at our door - had to use our phone light to see the keypad for entry - VERY dangerous - especially the stairwells with absolutely no lighting if you had to use them instead of the elevator (as the elevator was actually not working one day of our stay). There was no where to hang a wet suit to dry - could use way more hooks - some on the balcony so you have a place for suits. While I know that this was a condo/private unit type rental, we have rented other houses in the area for less money and a much more welcome feel and a lot more paper product / towels and a washer and dryer in the unit. This unit was quite a bit more expensive than others we have rented, so the roach and lack of a few "nicer" things was a bit of a disappointment. We have stayed in other units on the beach (north end) that aren't condos for a lot less money and way more amenities (including the pool). Just kind of feel that you could supply toilet paper and trash bags and coffee filters for a week (especially since I had to look at them in the master bedroom closet with a note that said "owner" on the huge pack) and some nice bath towels like the beach towels you ended up supplying. While we enjoyed our location and the views, we would not return to this unit nor rent from a company that makes you pay so far in advance with no refunds so far out. Plenty of other places that you pay upon arrival that are much more welcoming and provide much more bang for your buck. read more

~Long review but may save your vacation~ House rented was at 5566 Palmetto Dr. Fort Meyers Beach, Fla We rented this house through Air B&B which went through Distinctive Vacation Rentals. (DVR) Upon arrival we immediately knEw that whomever had taken the photos was a master photographer and at ease with Photoshop. We knew there was a bedroom downstairs with small kitchenette and bath. We were not expecting that it was completely cut off from the rest of the house nor adjactent to the garages which smelled heavily of mildew/mold odor. You had to enter by a door at the back of the house. Other issues include: Hot tub not working Only 2 burners on the stove worked The sliding glass door wouldn't open to the patio It had only 5 beds not the 6 as advertised The pool was dirty and had black streaks in it Only enough towels for 4 people to shower The gas grill was filthy On and on We made calls to Distinctive Vacation rentals and when the guy showed up he said he couldn't smell anything besides a lived in house. He also asked if anyone was sleeping in the garage. If not he didn't seem concerned. He made statements like ... So. You "claim" there is mold/mildew smell. Are you willing to pay someone to test it? Who's going to cover that cost? He also said he was just a light bulb changer and the owners don't agree to spending money to fix things. He stated that they would be expecting another call from us soon We called the next day because the hot tub still wasn't working and was told it was on delay. It has stayed on all day. The water is hot but no bubbles. The owner of DVR came and again. Stated nothing was wrong. There was no odor and said the jets on the tub was for heat not water jets. He said he would show us how to get it to work on the keypad conveniently located up a flight of stairs. As we went up the stairs he got in his truck and left!!!! We called Air B & B as we thought they cared about the places they help to rent but apparently that isn't so as they closed the matter when the owner of DVR told him all problems had been resolved. So just a warning. Do NOT go through Distinctive Vacation Rentals OR even Air B & B if you are expecting a very expensive vacation to go well. It won't. read more

The rental was at 151 Mid Island Fort Myers Beach Fl. I suggest that you do not rent this house or use Distinctive for any rentals!!!! Distinctive rented the house with moldy patio furniture, a dirty pool that had a rock water fall that didn't work because the water was too low in the pool, dead curled up bugs all over in the house, filthy carpet, mouse turds in laundry area, a filthy disgusting dirty grill with ketchup droppings on the deck, filthy dirty used patio table and running ants on the kitchen counter! Pictures to follow! They literally rented it this way! The screen/glass door that is mainly used to use the pool area has no hardware on for automatically closing causing the door to stay open, the patio door rollers are so worn you can hardly muscle them open or closed! The air conditioning was broken! As long as Distinctive can get you in a house that's all they care about! Then they will run you around with all their excuses! It was a terrible experience to say the least! read more

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I scheduled, 2 months in advance, a week stay with Distinctive Beach Rentals from 8/2-8/9/2018 during the massive die off of marine life due to the Red Tide. They were really nice to work with and helped my family by refunding our week's stay. We will be sure to book with them once the beaches are clear. Thank you Distinctive Beach Rentals!!! read more

We rented 5566 Palmetto Street. Great proximity to beach, the pool area is fabulous the tiki bar is so fun. House was clean, although the bed in the downstairs room was not very comfortable which I shared with distinctive and they responded gratefully and told me they would let the owners know right away. The reason I gave it 4 stars was the location from downtown and the traffic. More than an hour in a car if you try to go toward Times Square after 11 AM. If you just want to go the beach, or rent in the off season this is the house for you. Or better yet-rent bikes! read more

Distinctive Beach Rentals - Coffee on the pool deck. 5566 Palmetto - Vacation Rentals Near Me - Ponte Vedra, Florida

I chose to take out of state family to Sanibel Island and rented a condo on the beach managed by Royal Shell Vacations. This firm is useless to its clients and do nothing to mitigate areas that needed attention. I reported house phone and internet down 3 days before we left. While they may have listened, the supervisor URI gave me the run around and then I find out they have been fired by owner and hired someone new. For people on vacation, Internet is not a priority, unless your a Stock Broker working with clients even on vacation. The unit itself was costly and furnishings were motel grade. Moreover, the stairs to 2nd level are not equal in size and hard to go up or down. Mine was 164-2 Southwinds Dr. Sanibel Island Florida. Stay away from both. read more

Perfect beach rental! This place was perfect for us. We rented a very beachy house in Fort Myers Beach for us & our two girls. It is about 2 blocks from the beach & allowed us to bring our dogs. There is an indoor pool & the house is very cozy. We will definitely use Distinctive Beach Rentals again! read more

Are there any stars less than one? This business is the worst run ever. My wife rented from these guys and I got totally gypped. AC was broken. I suffered in high heat for days. Calls to fix went unanswered. Then the plumbing backed up and we had to call ourselves to fix since all other units booked solid. My wife was crying. Worst vacation ever. read more

Liked the Gateway Villa condo, but zero hospitality from the janitor as he lectured me for dropping sand from my bicycle on the sidewalk. They can do better with the customer service from that aspect. read more

Through the Distinctive Beach Rentals website, I booked 283 Carolina Avenue for a week. I paid in full and SIGNED a contract. Distinctive Beach Rentals also SIGNED the contract and accepted my payment. I cancelled another reservation based on this CONFIRMED and PREPAID reservation. Then, Distinctive Beach Rentals called me to cancel. Claimed that the property was shown as available in error. Distinctive Beach Rentals offered no alternative accommodations and no consideration for the blatant breach of contract. I did get a half-hearted "sorry," but no real acknowledgment of the vacation they just ruined, and certainly no attempt to make the situation right. read more

Distinctive rentals practice dishonest deceptive business dealings. If you pick a property, sign the contract and pay, don't expect the property to be available when you are ready to leave for your vacation. They will cancel your rental. The rental company will not care. Make sure you buy your plane tickets from a company that will refund or credit your purchase price if you are flying. Cost my family $1800 in airfares and Distinctive rentals took no responsibility for the problem they created. read more

My family arrived at the condo advertised through VRBO and we are extremely disappointed in the location of the property. Distinctive Beach rental managed this rental unit. In particular, the beach is not as it was advertised on the website. I selected this property because the website stated that it was beachfront and oceanfront property. Property is overlooking a canal and the beach is unusable. This is a wild and unkept beach and is not suited for play or leisure. In addition the "ocean" is quite a ways from the property. My wife and kids went out to that beach yesterday and were unable to walk barefoot at all. Beach is full of sharp shells. My 78 yr old father can't even make it to the water because it is a far walk especially for an elderly person. Pictures that were advertised are misguiding. They appear to show the beach closer and don't show the true nature and consistency of this so called "beach." Owner of the company, Amy Loughrey, could only propose to rent another, additional property to remedy the issue and not refund or exchange whatsoever. read more

Be careful with these people, they don't care about their clients and aren't terribly worried about the shape of this property (3770 Estero Blvd). I was a guest at a small family wedding that was to be held on the beach behind this house. The bride (who is 5 months pregnant), the groom, their 8 year old daughter, and the mother of the bride stayed for the week and the ceremony was to be held that Friday at sunset. The location? Gorgeous. The bride and I lived in Key West for years so she has a penchant for funky old beach houses, she didn't mind much that house was in poor shape. The contract stated only 16 occupants; we had 9 total spending the night during the evening of the wedding and only the 4 immediate family being there for the week. No problem, right? My 70 year old parents drove 6 hours and secured a hotel room. Family flew in from California and Connecticut to attend, securing their own hotels to avoid going over the occupancy limit. It was expensive but no one minded, we all just wanted to be a part of this wonderful day. As my beautiful friend is having her hair done on the wedding day, the "gentleman" of this property management outfit calls and unloads on the mother-of-the-bride. Too many cars on the property and he wants us out, immediately. My dear friend sees her beautiful family wedding dissolving right in front of her eyes and, especially being pregnant, this kind of stress is the last thing she needs or deserves. We rush across the street and speak to the Lutheran church, who kindly agrees to let us park in their lot for a couple of hours. Thank God for them, truly. We all move, including the caterer's truck, and clear the property hoping that now we can put that nastiness behind us and we can carry on with our evening. Think again! Here comes the "gentleman" again, this time in person, to directly confront the bride and groom about the number of bodies in the house. Seems that the occupancy means no more than 16 people in the house at any time, not just who was staying there. We had 22 people total in attendance, including the caterers. So as we are all hugging and chatting, the kids are playing by the beach, this "man" is berating the married couple-to-be and using terms such as "forced eviction" and threatening to call the sheriff. What a guy! He then claims his wife, who booked this rental with the bride and mother-of-th-bride, says she had no idea that there was going to be a wedding and essentially claims the bride is lying. So, her story is that after looking for weeks for the perfect rental, and cancelling a standing reservation on another rental for this one, these women find this house and in ALL the excitement they never once mentioned that this was for a wedding? Seems legit. Long story short, the caterer (who overheard all of this mess and the property manager's disgusting attitude) stepped up and performed an act of professionalism nothing short of a MIRACLE. He finishes his beautiful food over two hours ahead of schedule, making it look effortless and beautiful. We all quickly ate, walked out back for a beautiful wedding ceremony, and then pitched in together to pack up the house and get the hell out of there. The "gentleman" had made sure to threaten to return at 6:15 so he could count how many people were in the house. Rather than pick and choose who could stay for a reception and who had to leave, we ALL chose to leave together. Be very, very careful when choosing to deal with these people. I have worked in hospitality/tourism for almost 15 years and this was a low I have never witnessed before. I understand occupancy limits, they are necessary (especially during spring break) to ensure your property isn't trashed. Although, this house was in such bad shape I'm not sure what else we could have done. However, it was a misunderstanding that simply required a little finesse and not threats of police presence. Their conduct is definitely "Distinctive", and not in a good way. In summation? There is a special place in Hell for people like this and I will be leaving this review on any venue I can find to warn others. Hopefully, they can avoid dealing with Distinctive Beach Rentals lack of professionalism, courtesy, or just plain kindness. read more

This is a review of their business practices. I've searched properties for the month February in Fort Myers Beach on VRBO a couple of years now, and Distinctive Beach Rentals has many properties on there, and they never show it's a business and not an owner offering them. The worst part though is they show their calendars are recently updated and properties available until you email or call them. They run a classic bait and switch operation. Rentals that show as available have a very reasonable price but when you get in touch with them, that unit is no longer available, and they offer another at double the price or more. Actually they should be reported for deceptive business practices. I let VRBO know of this situation and didn't get any satisfaction from them. Money talks I guess. You'd think "By Owner" would mean by owner or at the least identify yourself as an agent and be honest about price and availability. read more