Ashley is very kind and helpful when looking for your dream home! We were looking for a rental on…read morethe island and had an annoying list but she did her absolute best to provide us with options that worked for us. We loved working with her and definitely would again in the future. 100% recommend!

We sent Ashley a note that we were interested in homes in Galveston at 6pm at night, within 5…read moreminutes she called us and the next day we were looking at homes and two days later we had an offer accepted on a house. She has the best follow up, thoroughness and responsiveness ever! All of which she followed through till we closed. Plus she is just a sweet and pleasant person to work with. If you need real estate needs in Galveston area look no further!

We stayed at a property in mid April managed by Bolivar Escapes. They were wonderful to work with…read moreduring the booking; however, that quickly changed when we reached out regarding an old rusty garage door broken and lying on the ground upon arrival. As soon as we opened the front door, the home smelled very musty. We soon discovered mold on numerous air conditioning ceiling vents, baseboards and a bathroom wall. Numerous pieces of the outdoor furniture was broken and rusted as well. Boluvar Escapes stated we would not be refunded because they didn't deem the stay to be life threatening and I should have notified them of an allergy to mold. They also let me know the property owner was remedying all the issues now, which certainly means they knew they had to fix them but refused to refund for the poor quality of the rental. At first I thought only the property owner was the problem in taking guests money but not maintaining the property, which is true. But the bigger issue lies with a professional management company that doesn't properly resolve clear issues and instead becomes childish by placing a one star overall review for me as a guest on Vrbo with 5 stars for communication, cleanliness and following property rules (that clearly equates, LOL!!). Do better Bolivar Escapes and own up to issues like a professional company should!! Offering a discount on a future stay was comical, as I would never stay at one of your properties again!!

Do NOT trust with your credit card. Bolivar Escapes swindled me out of $347 after canceling my…read morevacation. The fine print on their contract says they can switch the house on the contract without confirmation. When I complained, they refused to give me a refund. The beach house we rented was taken off the market 3 months before our arrival. When they sent me an email and I didn't respond that week (because I was on vacation somewhere else), they changed the house we rented without my acknowledgement. I rented through VRBO and the reservation said it was a Beach View house but they changed it to a house that was over 15 houses back from the beach. They never contacted me through the VRBO app and never attempted to call me directly. Just emailed me a contract with the address changed. When I realized what happened, they refused to give me a refund. Apparently the contract fine print says they have the right to switch houses on you! Even though I had not signed the contract yet, they kept repeating this policy and had already charged my credit card. Over 1 month later, many direct calls, and 3-way calls involving VRBO, they have refunded most of my money but kept $347 (which is a little more than 1 night stay). They spout random policies when we call them.  We cancelled the reservation and never had a beach vacation. I could see on VRBO that the house was re-rented out so Bolivar Escapes got all their money. But 1 month later, they still refuse to refund the final $347.

Casey Howell, specifically, was absolutely abominable (not a word I've ever used outside the…read moresnowman reference!). He was completely disorganized and unprofessional. He took three weeks before finally pursuing the property I originally contacted him about and didn't do his homework when it came time to submit the application. His disorganization led him to some major mix-ups, which he became angry about and attempted to shift the blame. At that point, I had already given him the number of two other people he could've made commission on just to be nice, so it wasn't as though I was extremely demanding or hard to deal with. He was rude, pretentious, and ended up cursing out my very sweet and patient mother (who was my eyes on the property since I was looking remotely before moving cities). PLEASE don't waste your time here; this person will not be your advocate.

Rented property listed by Sydney. Would not recommend her. She didn't want to do anything before 2…read morepm (showing the property & signing the lease). Also as the property was being sold, she expected my daughter to be there when it was shown. Not my daughter's job. She had school. Did not keep us update as the selling process continued for many months so rent check was sent to wrong person. She is not detail oriented or dependable.

Anthony Jensen is a great agent! From and knows Galveston. I've known Anthony and his dad for…read moreyears.

We have lived at this resident for a whole me and my husband work and or raising are grandsons.My…read morehusband has called several times and also wrote on the envelope check this a. m. we need this mold this to be resolved asap. We have been put off and given excuses I don't want this mold to become any kind of health issue for my family. We never really call you all for anything .So I at least thought when you heard a call from us you would address it in timely matter .If don't have a problem getting a rent check you should not have problems facing issues that come with rental property .Sincerely Janice M. Sneed Harris.

VJ Tramonte is one of the best realtors in Galveston. Highly professional and knows the island like…read moreno one else.

I would personally deem Joe and VJ as slumlords. I watched their managed rental horror show that…read morethey would then buy, then let rot in place. This while with over 20 years of rental income from tenants!

Michelle was extremely helpful in the purchase of our condo in Galveston. Although we are very…read morefamiliar with Islander East Condominiums, her suggestions and real estate 'know how' made our purchase seamless. She was always available to answer our questions and was very prompt in returning calls if we were required to leave a message. Michelle is also very knowledgeable in events, activities, restaurants, and (my favorite) shopping in Galveston area. I would recommend Michelle Hatmaker to anyone looking to purchase in Galveston and the surrounding area.

Dealing with Shannon at Swedes Real Estate was a waste of time. We reached out with a…read morestraightforward inquiry about a long-term beachfront rental, and instead of doing her job and actually helping, she told us to just "look on the website." When we followed up for clarification, her response was dismissive and basically boiled down to, "we don't have what you're looking for." That's not customer service, that's laziness. Shannon made zero effort to understand our needs, offer alternatives, or even pretend to care about earning business. Honestly, if this is the level of "help" she provides, I'd question why she's in real estate at all. Either she can't be bothered, or she simply isn't capable. If you're serious about finding a rental, do yourself a favor and look elsewhere -- because you won't get professionalism or effort from Shannon.

RENTERS BEWARE - Recently rented a property off of VRBO that was managed by this group. Because the…read morelocation was further down the beach from the rest of our group I had to cancel. On VRBO it states that you will receive 100% refund if cancelled before a specific date. I cancelled a day after I made the original reservation, and well before the May deadline. They kept almost $100 of our original deposit and will not give the full refund. I will never rent from this company again, and neither will the other 250+ members within our Jeep club. Absolutely disgusting way to take advantage of and steal from hardworking families just trying to enjoy a vacation with their friends. Note, they received 1 star because I couldn't give it ZERO! Edit after their response - attached is the only cancellation policy I saw, and to keep almost $100 for a booking that was cancelled less than a day later is a sh*t policy and not renter friendly regardless. The email I received after booking said they would keep a fee but it NEVER stated how much. Regardless, our Jeep club will never rent from this group, and if you do, just make sure you really want it, and don't mind paying extra for linens for the house, those aren't included either.....