So a few friends and I rented out this place recently for a little getaway in celebration of his…read morebirthday. The Valley View home is a great place to rent if you want to get away: you feel like your in the forest yet you are so close to Santa Cruz/Capitola/San Jose/San Francisco. It's also a home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Need I say more? =)

We just stayed with Bailey Vacation rentals in Rio Del Mar. Their simply the best. Lisa in the…read moreoffice really took care of us. The place was clean and ready. Great location. They have great recommendations on places to eat just really great service.

This has been the worst experience I've had moving into a house in Santa Cruz in my 24 years of…read moreliving in this town. Beware of this company, they do not take care of their tenants, or do their job, which in it's most basic form would be to make sure the house is ready to be moved into on the agreed upon move-in date. I feel like I've been fighting with property management since the day I moved in a month ago, and it will probably take another month of back and forth ridiculous communication before I get all the things I paid $11k for to be done before the agreed upon move-in date. Here is a list of things I've dealt with, I am leaving them here so that others know what to look out for. The entire house was filthy on move in day, had not been professional cleaned for a move-in. It still has not, over a month later, partially due to them not getting communication right with the cleaners they finally sent, partially due to me being busy and out of town and not having the time to deal with it. They did illegally send cleaners into my home without my permission while I was on a trip, and still not clean. The landlord had agreed to moved out a bunch of his old furniture to make space for my stuff, and half of what was agreed upon to get moved was still in the house on Nov 1st. I moved it to the deck, for him to come and get, then told property management to get a tarp to cover it, so it would not get rained on. They never took care of the tarp, so it did rain on the furniture, one night I had to dragged mattresses into the house by myself. I went out and bought a trap the next day and they are now refusing to reimburse me for the tarp. The house was advertised with a hot tub, and it is broken, come to find out it has not been turned on for 2 years, which PM did not know, but the landlord did know. They put in the lease, that if the hot tub breaks down while I'm here they would not replace, but that was based on the fact that it worked to begin with. Then they said they would take $50 off the rent for each month the hot tub is not working, and when it came time to deduct that from rent they said "that is only if we can't get the hot tub working at all." (They are currently trying to get it working - so fingers crossed the can deliver on something they promised up front). The hot tub cover that was left behind, and the condition was disgusting, they said it was ready to use, though it is covered in black mold, slugs, and water is soooo dirty. There has been a dead rat under the house with rat droppings for this entire first month, and the landlord has stuffed old boogie boards on top of it twice, despite my request to take away the boards, which are mostly garbage. They left several large pieces of furniture for me to "deal with" after saying the landlord would be happy to take anything away I did not want to keep. cupboard drawers broken, closet floors need a carpenter to fix random floor boards, shower drain clogged. I am not going to get detailed about everything that has been out of integrity, but I'll close by saying, if you do rent a house from this PM be sure to go there a few days before your move in date and make sure you are getting your moneys worth and that the place is actually ready to move into. I like the house and the location, and I'm a really easy going person and fantastic tenant - worked with Portola PM for 13 years, no issues - so it's really been unfortunate to have this completely unnecessary experience, because it's tainted my view of the house, and left me questioning keeping it. My hope is that I can get everything worked out in my second month here and stay. And hopefully get to a place where I can stop communicating with PM about the house, they have been frustrating and terrible communicators. We shall see.....

I wanted to love this place because of the location and history of the lodge…read more luckily weather was nice and we were outside unless sleeping. I suggest another motel nearby, even if it means splurging a little more. We walked around the property with our son to check it out and was disappointed half of the lodge was closed For renovations. Hopefully they really are making updates. when we walked through the bar area it was sticky had had tons of flies inside. Not where I'd want to sit for a glass of wine after 8 hours of driving. The room was nice ish? Until I realized the bedsheets had tears in them and there was Ink or pen stains on the "comforter". The pillows are toddler size so make sure to ask for extra. They had 3 hangers but 1 was broken. There's a notice in the bathroom to put dirty towels on the floor and hang the ones we'd reuse. I'm glad we re used most bc no one came to make the beds or give fresh towels. The shower curtain was broken and someone had tampered with the smoke detectors and no one bothered to fix this. Super super sketchy and NOT SAFE. When I brought this to the front desks attention he said "okay thank you. Please come visit us again". what?? This is a major safety violation but whatever. There is an "ice room" but no place to refill your water bottles. No waters are provided in the room so fill yours up before heading back to the lodge. Everything felt sort of dirty and the walls are paper thin- I could hear other people Going to the restroom. If you do stay there request a second floor bc you will hear every footstep if you stay on the first. Shout out to the sweet girl working in the diner who served me an my very tired son. Food was okay but she was very kind.

I'm so sad to be leaving this review. I've been coming to Brookdale Lodge for many years now, but…read morethis last trip really took the cake. I've always loved the atmosphere outside the hotel, but the inside has ruined just about everything for me. I now have a 1yr old son, so as any real mother, safety is my main concern. My son was almost crushed by this heavy mirror hanging by a thread, almost grabbed this disgusting spoon & filth left in the fridge, and exposed to mold during bath time all in one weekend. The floors are damp & disgusting, and everything basically falling apart. The tv is extremely bright & the remote is blocked from trying to lower the settings. When I mentioned all this during checkout, they listened & blinked, that was it. Extremely disappointed, I won't be returning or referring anyone ever again. It's an embarrassment, this place has potential & makes plenty of money so the bottom line is, they just don't care.

Properties with stunning views, immaculately clean. Professional and exemplary customer services…read more Everything one would want and more, highly recommended

Simply wonderful. Beautiful setting, gorgeously maintained. Rustic yet clearly cared for with love,…read morehard work, and dedication. The grounds are beautiful, whether you just look out from the stately house, or if you wander on some of the trails -- maybe set for a spell on a bench. If you're looking to exhale and then breathe in amazing nature, you have found the place! The room is very comfortable, too. Our bathroom was plenty big and roomy. Loved the big bath (whirlpool, if you like). The 'full breakfast' is fantastic. Jen is a wonderful baker (a breakfast bread pudding one day; mini churros another day), and each morning we had a varied and hearty breakfast that was delicious and well-balanced. The house itself is big and inviting with hip old timey jazz pipedor more modern-day chanteuses gently piped in. Enclosed porch for reading or just relaxing. Our room had a private porch, too. So much here. So many ways to really unwind. Walking around the grounds is inspiring. I ran into Derek a time or two who was relaxed but busy on the many projects that keep him focused here. The whole place looks perfect for a wedding, or a family gathering, or even a business get-away. Or, of course, just a simple, lowkey retreat. Lovely hidden (but easy to find) gem. Can't wait to return.

Really beautiful venue for a wedding, beautiful displays on tables. (However, food: was so-so. )read more

I've rented with Beachnest several times. Their staff has always been super helpful and responsive…read more A special shout out to Briana! I'd suffered some very painful losses in the last year and feel so very grateful to have had a restful stay in a charming home. Many thanks, Beachnest!

I stayed in the most beautiful, quaint little beach cottage with my family for a special, much…read moreneeded get away. This property was better than we imagined; roomy, cozy and had everything we needed for a relaxing weekend. Walking distance from the beach we enjoyed sunrises and sunsets, there was a great yard for bbqs, stargazing, and jacuzzi time. I will definitely be back soon. Thank you John and Liz for being amazing hosts!

We had some minor issues the first night but everything was quickly taken care of. Nice clean…read morecabins. Great location. Hosts were very nice.

Felton is stunning--majestic redwoods, peaceful river vibes... or so we thought. Unfortunately, the…read moreproperty owner had other plans. We arrived Mother's Day weekend hoping for serenity and got a front-row seat to her personal 40th birthday rave. The main river access? Taped off for her party from Friday to Sunday. The peaceful sounds of nature? Drowned out by a DJ and enough bass to rattle the trees from 5-9pm on Saturday. Other guests looked just as confused as we were. Things really peaked when our assigned parking spot was taken by a party guest after we came back from dinner, and the "emergency" contact basically said, "Good luck--there's a party going on." Nobody in the office, of course. The cabins themselves? Think sad summer camp meets thrift store chic--hot, musty, and uncomfortable, with a creaky bed and WiFi that gave up faster than we did. The location has so much potential, but, unfortunately is neglected by an owner who doesn't care about you or your stay. In fact, she passed by my family a few times and did not appear to be friendly. If you're looking for peace and nature, this place might deliver--just not when the owner's throwing herself a bash like it's Coachella.

The goats have moved on to greener pastures and I'm ecstatic with the results! There is not a…read moresingle square inch of green less than 6 feet off the ground anywhere. We thought this would take a week but it took 3 days - those goats take their work seriously. The good: -Billie and the goats and dogs (and emu) are all delightful. Billie was extremely accommodating and hard working. The goats and dogs are absolute sweethearts and all come running when they see you for pets. -Poison oak is now extinct on my property. -The ground is fertilized and there is nothing to clean up other than sticks. The bad: -Noise. The "baaa"-ing was one thing, but the guard dogs were pretty brutal through the night. We had some coyotes hanging around so there was lots of barking. So that's it, thanks for following. I'm really happy to finally be able to present this and I'm actively brainstorming on how we can get a goat co-op going in our neighborhood.

Lost Emu Farms run by Billie was one of the best decisions we had made. She came out to the…read moreproperty promptly on time to meet with us for an estimate. Her assessment was spot on and we decided to go with her services. She was kind, compassionate, extremely thorough and just plain fun to be around. The result of her services left our property so much safer and useable. We are so grateful for Billie and will have to have her back sooner than later! Thank you again!!! To anyone in the market for her services, we have recommended her to all of our close friends, if appropriate for your needs, you will be beyond satisfied! Best value ever!!!

Incredibly beautiful wedding venue! The entire property is lovely with redwoods, adorable cottages…read moreand cabins, a gorgeous deck and reception areas. What sets it apart from other lovely venues, however, are the staff. Every person we encountered was helpful, accommodating and kind. We had an especially stressful situation during my daughter's wedding when her caterer failed to make an appearance. They were supposed to provide tables, linens, ice and bartending, food and service, breakdown-the works. Somehow, Diane and Jackie and the Sequoia staff came together to put together lovely tables, purchase ice and arrange emergency catering for 120+ people all while patiently fielding questions from outraged, worried parents and assuring the bride that her reception would be perfect. There aren't enough superlatives for the level of service they provided. They truly made the day beautiful and kept the newlyweds happy and focused on their celebration.

I'm a wedding planner and I work with Sequoia retreat a lot. The staff there are beyond top notch…read more The dedication and care they show to their couples and vendors is so rare and meaningful. Whenever we have the privilege to work at this property I already know it will be a dream experience. If you want to find a venue that truly cares about you and creating a meaningful experience for you and your guests this is the spot. It's tucked away amongst noble giants offerings stunning views from their deck. The owners really go above and beyond. When faced with any type of situation they meet it head on and provide an atmosphere for vendors to collaborate and create magic together.