We just had the most wonderful experience at Robins Hill, the most beautiful home in the Rivers by the Sea rentals. A lovely old majestic house, that accomandate our family of 16! We were celebrating a 50 Wedding anniversary, with a multi generational family and it was perfect! We felt at home from the minute the door opened, the large yard was perfect for whiffle ball and yard games and the highlight, the Cape Neddick beach literally a 3 minute walk. Don the owner, even helped us with some special things we needed for a baby. I would do this rental again in a heartbeat....matter of fact, I will do this again. Highly recommend, oh the experience, oh the memories! Terri B read more

The Communication was perfect each step of the way. We told Don exactly what we needed for our family and he delivered just that. He is very knowledgeable about the area. I'd recommend him . read more

Don Rivers is a great realtor with tons of insight on the seacoast area. He may be a bit tricky to reach via phone but will give you your time when you do reach him. read more

I cannot say enough good things about Don, Rivers by the Sea or the Robin Hill rental! My husband, two children and I are from outside Manhattan and have family local in the York area. We ended up renting Robin Hill from Don for three months during the peak of the Covid outbreak. The property is amazing, just a few minutes to the beach and so much to do. Also, Don and his team were incredible, anything we need they made happen including outdoor furniture for the summer months for al fresco dining. I will forever be grateful to Don and his wife for giving my family and I a place with outdoor space and safety during a once in a life time (hopefully) event. We definitely rent from Rivers By The Sea again and will share your company with all of our friends! read more

We bought the Groupon for an overnight stay at the Atlantic House hotel, which is a beautifully restored nineteenth-century building. The valet/concierge/desk clerk Bill was very friendly and helpful. Our room was a bit small, which we expected, but beautifully appointed with hardwood floors and neutral colors. Unfortunately, the Jacuzzi tub did not work, and I noticed mildew along the seam of the shower curtain, so our room needed a bit of maintenance. It was nice being so close to the beach. We probably wouldn't stay here again because York Beach is only an hour or so from Nashua, and the normal room rates are high for us common folk. We had a great time, though--just make sure that the room is clean and that all appliances are functioning! read more

Let me start off by saying I work in the travel industry, but first and foremost I'm a Mom and now a Meme who's been vacationing in York servaral times a year over the past 25 years. I've rented for several different property, accommodations for families, friends, children and my beloved Boston Terriers. I have searched on my own, through the word of mouth and rental services. I have always had a wonderful experience with Rivers by the Sea, this is my top rated pick for any client who are looking for a York rental, I've always had rave reviews as their vacation went off with out a hitch. I'm very confident in recommending Rivers by the Sea in search of an amazing family memories. York has always been a second home me, getting married at Nubble and raising our children on Long Sands, now passing the torch to my children to continue this beloved family vacation spot. We were coming here before the York Beach became a shiny new penny, after all the pruning it's still the BEST family orientated town I can think of in New England. I am proud to say Rivers by the Sea has first hand in making wonderful memories to cherish for years to come. York has become very popular over the years busting at the seams, I myself would love to have the slow pace of the old York. I may of told one too many people what a great destination York is for all. Bittersweet in my eye, As I should of snagged a little diamond in the rough when the cost was attainable. Just a side note, on Friday I had a client tell me her whole family was looking to vacation in Maine this year as they were looking for a change from The Cape. I gave her Rivers by the Sea website and contact information and let her know York Beach was the place to visit with a growing family with hopes of family friendly beaches with plenty to do.RBTS would be more than happy to find what she was looking for. I would rather read a review from someone who has years of personal experience with the location, a few who sadly had a bump in the road may not think through their comments before taking to social media to vent. Please contact all parties involved and give them a chance to make things right. Thank you River's by the Sea! read more

First off, the most recent 5 star review was written by the manager, as she wrote the review AND commented on my previous review at the same time. Coincidence? Most likely not. That is against Yelp policy by the way. Also notice it's the reviewer's first review. Again - NOT a coincidence. Secondly, what she says is completely untrue, as we held our wedding on 2.5 acres in York with no problems from the town. It was gorgeous and went off without a hitch. You admit your responses were wishy washy because you were trying to figure out the ordinance. It's your job to know what you're talking about BEFORE you respond. I didn't cross out Blue Sky and the Atlantic House off my venue list due to them being too expensive. Are you SERIOUS?! Because that is hysterical. My wedding was extremely expensive, I crossed them out due to awful reviews on Yelp of Blue Sky, and the way I was treated by Rivers by the Sea, which also owns Atlantic House. I already had my reception venue decided on, as I stated in my emails more than once, and you kept pushing Blue Sky on me. I was looking for a CEREMONY location. That is the part of the wedding before the party. Even in my original review I wrote that I already had a RECEPTION location. Now you try to twist the facts around by stating you couldn't offer me a cheaper venue. We never ONCE spoke about the costs of ANYTHING. Please get the facts straight before you make such off the wall accusations. Don't give yourself such a huge pat on the back. Rivers by the Sea hasn't done "huge things" for the town, in fact, everyone always talks about the huge money and bankruptcy problems Rivers has. That is public FACT and not my opinion. FYI: the private home WON'T "rent" out their residence to another bride and groom and get fined $25k (you really are a piece of work with your threats - I hope everyone considering Rivers takes note of this) because it was the only wedding they will EVER allow at their property, they didn't do it for money, as they have plenty of it, they did it to help us accomplish our dreams. I did not post mean and callous comments. I posted the TRUTH, which is what the website is for. Seems other people have the same opinion, as Rivers by the Sea doesn't have a stellar rating on Yelp. No apologies were sent my way before I wrote my original review. The date on the review, if you read it, is February 8, 2011. You sent me a private message on October 3, 2011, which is EIGHT months after I wrote it. You stated in that message that you wanted to reach out AFTER reading my Yelp review. Please stop with the lies to try to save face. Again, this is just another example of lies and poor business practices by Rivers by the Sea, and their partner companies. Rather than attack me and patting themselves on the back, maybe they should spend their time improving their businesses. Just a thought. read more

We rented on Oceanside ave. It was very close to beach. We could see the ocean from the deck. It was clean, with a garage, washer/dryer, and beach accessories we could use. We plan on renting next year. read more

Worst rental company out there. Which is sad because there are some gorgeous properties but horribly managed, over priced and not worth the headache!! read more

I have worked with Rivers By The Sea in the past as they were the rental agency that found me my last home on Donica Ave in York, ME. I lived there for 10 years and was very happy with their professionalism and their large portfolio of houses to look at. This August, I took advantage of a Vacation Special Don Rivers was offering and booked the gorgeous, historical Robin Hill estate in the York Cliffs neighborhood for a family get-together. This home was amazing. The rooms were huge. The house was originally built in the 1700's and there is still a lot of the original architecture and you can tell it has been loved dearly as it is in great shape. The ocean view was incredible and Cape Neddick beach was a two minute walk from the house. When we arrived, we found a bunch of goodies to eat and bottled water in the fridge, fresh flowers, the stereo was left on playing the summertime oldies, all sorts of toiletries in the bathrooms. All the nicest extra touches that my girlfriend especially appreciated and raved about. The beds were comfortable. All and all, my family had an excellent time. Perfect location. A+++. I highly recommend working with Rivers By The Sea, Don and Katie are great, Robin Hill is amazing. read more

Please learn from my mistake and DO NOT bother doing business with this rental agency. The property I recently rented in York was filthy. They lack the professionalism and customer service necessary to run a reputable rental business. York Beach Maine is a beautiful get away so don't lessen your expectations by doing business with Rivers by the Sea. read more

Terrible company, stay far away! The property we rented was filthy and repeated calls to the manager were ignored. We finally reached someone who was rude and told us to stop complaining and just clean it ourselves. The company misleads customers and refuses to reimburse despite repeated requests. I am not sure how they stay in business with all of these terrible reviews. DO NOT RENT ANY PROPERTY FROM THESE PEOPLE read more

I hope all the rental businesses in York are not like River by the Sea. My wife who has terminal cancer contacted this company in June in regards to renting a house for a week. Karen knows that this will be her last summer and wanted to have a last family vacation with our 4 kids and 2 grandchildren. I have been out of work for over a year taking care of her and we really didn't have the money for this, but she really wanted it so I took some of our mortgage money to pay for it. Karen was very specific as to what she wanted to rent and told Sue and Hannah that she needed to be on the beach because of where her cancer is she can't walk far, and that she wanted privacy in a single family home but she would take a duplex as a last resort. Sue and Hannah who come to find out are a mother and daughter team called Karen and told her they found something EXACTLY that she wanted and they needed the check immediately to hold it. I sent the check to them with instructions on a note and an email to their office saying DO NOT cash the check until I know it's exactly what Karen wanted. They cashed the check on the same day, come to find out the place they found for us was an apartment in a four family tenement building that they call a condo and it was almost a mile from the beach. We never signed a lease we've requested our money back. Sue now just hangs up when she hears my voice. She gave me a number for their accountant but that just goes to voicemail and their voicemail is full so I can't even leave a message. I got the owners name DONALD RIVERS from a friend and got his number through information but same thing full voicemail. I got a hold of the property manager Paula and asked for another number for Donald only to be told he can talk right now because his wife was just diagnosed with cancer. How ironic!!! Have been in touch with York police, filed BBB complaint, they say many complaints not all resolved. They still haven't returned my money. Police detective told me they to have had many many complaints that these people have ripped off a lot hard working family's that just wanted a nice vacation. In my case our family's last complete vacation. read more

My initial encounter with Rivers by the Sea was very positive. We needed a month to month rental on short notice and they were very helpful. The first place they put us up in however left A LOT to be desired. It was old, falling down and smelled of mold. There were even mushrooms growing out of the bathroom walls. They were accomidating when it came to moving us to a better property and I felt that it could consider it overall positive. However, when it came to getting our deposit check back it was an absolute NIGHTMARE. It took me 4 months to recieve it and I had to actually go in and sit in the office and demand that someone would talk to me before they would address the situation beyond just blowing me off and telling me they would email someone about it. I would be VERY careful when getting involved with this company. They are nothing but helpful when they are taking your money, when its time for them to pay you however its another story. We also found out they had lied about how much rent we had paid to the property owner. And she was having a hard time getting what they owed her. It's a huge company down here for rentals so this is pretty amazing. But just proceed with caution if you choose to rent from them. read more

Never rent or use Rivers by the sea to rent your properties because DON RIVERS is a crook!!!!!!! He rented my cottage out and got the money from the clients and I have yet to be payed what they owe me which it is over $4000 !!!! There are many many more people having the same problem !!!!!!!!!!!!! BEWARE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

Beware They are all crooks that are taking peoples money and not paying the ones that should be paid. Scam artists. I will never rent with them again. read more

STAY AWAY. BAD NEWS. CROOKS. We rented a property from them that should have been condemned. When we asked for assistance, they blew us off and did not help. We asked for our money back and again, got no answer. By far, the worst vacation experience I have ever had. Too bad because York is a nice little beach town. I went to the police and they are quite familiar with the Rivers family and this sham of an agency has dozens of legal cases and is being investigated by the Maine Atty Gen. Ask anyway in town about this outfit and they will tell you they're shady. The locals know to stay away but not the tourists. read more

DO NOT MAKE THE MISTAKE I DID. I owned a beautiful beach house in York Beach at the end of Long Sands that I just sold in June 2012. Lori O'Brien the manager of Rivers by the Sea was aware I was selling the house. She booked several weeks and kept telling me, "Don't worry, I have plenty of houses for rent I can just move the renters". When I went to pass papers she tried to stop the sale of the house because she was losing her commision on the weeks that she had booked with me. I had to pay her $600.00 so the sale would go through even though the new owners honored all the contracts. She basically extorted money from me. Now I have to take her to court for the EXTRA $600. she got out of me. TAKE IT FROM ME DON'T DO BUSINESS WITH RIVERS BY TH SEA OR SHOULD I SAY CROOKS BY THE SEA read more

Where do I start? We rented a house near Long Sands beach. We saved up and paid top dollar for this thinking we were going to have the best vacation ever. It was above and beyond our price range but we wanted our 4 kids to have fun. We had issues right off the bat. Toilet in one of the bathrooms was clogged and there was no plunger. It looked like it had overflowed at some point. The "ocean view: was actually a screen door covered in gray duct tape. The stove had 4 burners. 1 worked. The kitchen sink leaked. The fridge was literally falling apart. There were no screens on the windows on the top floors. Thank God my kids aren't babies but advertised as a family friendly house and I hate the thought of kids there. The top floor boasted a rec room for the kids. There was a pool table that had seen much better days and about 5 broken tv's, 3 broken lamps and a mixture of broken furniture. Puzzles all over the floor. No WiFi at all!! the tv in the master bedroom was from 1960 with 5 channels and a VHS VCR. No screens in bedroom windows and when you put the ceiling fan on you feared for your life. We called, then called again, day 2, day 3 finally we stopped in the office. They offered some money for the next years vacation. a voucher. We weren't happy but were trying to make the best of it . Then we notices a ton of safety issues. Outlets with no covers exposed, a dryer that would not shut off unless you manually shut it off. Too many issues to even post. We stopped in again and explained all the issues. We showed them pictures. They said the man who owns it was going through a divorce and didn't have time to make the small repairs needed. They called him and said he would mail us back 1/2 of the rent plus the voucher for $500 they gave us for the following year. Only once we left they never sent us either. They never returned phone calls, emails and they moved out of the office they were in. They did not keep their word. They are still renting the same house for the same money with the same pictures. I would bet the same issue are there too. I hope a young child doesn't get shocked or fall out of the duct taped screen door. Do not rent from them. They are snakes and will tell you whatever you want to hear to get rid of you. read more

Rivers by the Sea is a horrid company to work with. They made a mistake with a date -- ok. I had already made my deposit, though --and trying to get my money back took me months. I had to call, then call again. Politely urge, then threaten them with a lawsuit and article in the local paper before I got my refund! I use Seaside Vacation Rentals if I want to rent in York. read more

DO NOT RENT FROM THIS COMPANY, unless you want headaches &to leave feeling riped off!! I wish there was an option for less than one star, because this business is one of the worst I have come across in a long time. I can't tell you how many unreturned phone calls I had and how many times I had to attempt to get a response about renting a property...if it hadn't been the only one that would meet our needs, I would have told them forget and take a course on customer service! It is one thing when things are not up to par & the business makes their apologizes & makes it right...This company doesn't care enough to even do that! We rented a place for a month in York and when we arrived the place had not been cleaned since the last guest and when we notified them about the problem they sent someone who couldn't even clean the bathrooms thoroughly, which mind you was the only thing I requested. The yard had not been mowed and the grass was shin high when they finally mowed (10 days after move in) they left all the cut grass in the yard, the upstairs porch is dilapidated and blocked off, the dishwasher doesn't work, the shower upstairs fills up from a clog & the hot tub wasn't hooked up...this isn't even mentioning that the place inside is falling apart with cracks, holes and other blemishes inside (basicaly there wasn't one thing inside that hadn't looked like it should have been replaced years ago). Mind you this is a property that is listed for $4000 a week!! It really is a shock to me how they stay in business. I plan to notify the owner of the property to ensure they know that their property management company is slowly letting their property fall apart & riping them off! Absoutely appauling, there really are not any better was to explain our experience! read more

I posted a comment on their Rivers By The Sea Facebook Page and I guess the truth is painful to read because they took in down and blocked me from commenting on their page. After reading many of the comments written by other people about their rental experience I now feel I have no other choice but to also comment about my Rivers By The Sea experience. To sum it up in one word "HORRIBLE!" We have been vacationing in York ME for over 15 years and have been lucky enough to use a friends cottage. They decided to sell it. We needed to find another place to rent and checked out the Rivers website and found a cottage to rent for our 2 week vacation. We found a 3 family unit avaialble. We were renting the 1st floor & friends decided to rent the top floor. We both got our contracts and sent them our deposits. We do not live far from York and on a nice day took a ride up, saw that the property we sent a deposit in for was for sale. We contacted Rivers about our concerns and they assured us that if the units were to sell, the new owners would still honor our rental agreements. This was in Sept. 2011. We got an email from Rivers in Feb. 2012 notifying us that the property owners had decided not to rent their cottage out for the summer of 2012. We were given a short list of other property rentals to go through and again drove back up to look at them. None of them compared to the one we were going to rent which was right on Long Sands Beach. The choices were awful! We contacted Rivers and asked for our refund back which was almost $2000 because we had sent them our next payment. Our friends also asked for their refund back. We found a phone # on the for sale sign of the property we were suppose to rent and called the owner. The owner told us that they pulled their rental contract with Rivers in early Nov. 2011 because they were not happy with their service. They were more than willing to rent to us the 2 seperate units for our summer vacation. Rivers By The Sea lied! We were told by the owner that they had a difficult time getting their money when their 2 units were rented out. Rivers did not notify us until Feb. 2012 to tell us the units were not availabe for rental but still took $ from us. We were told by Rivers it could take up to 30 days to issue a refund. We waited, and waited, no refund check for us or our friends. Several phone calls were made to them as well as emails. All we got was the run-around. "Oh, we thought it was mailed", "we moved offices", "let me check with the accounting dept." Excuse after excuse and no refund! 45 days still no refund. At this point we are furious! I contacted my attorney who sent them a legal letter about our refund and they did not respond to it. 2nd letter sent. Still no refund. It took 2 months to get our refund from them!!! To try to make up for their terrible service they sent us an email not an actual gift certificate to use towards a future rental. Why on earth, after all this trouble with them would we ever consider going through them to rent a cottage? I wouldn't mind but this is the 2nd time our rental plans have fallen through with this agency because of them and their unsatisfactory service. For a rental agency to brag about how long they have been in business just makes me laugh! My experience has been "horrible" and we have made the choice to never rent from them again. Please anyone who reads this...DO NOT RENT THROUGH RIVERS BY THE SEA! read more