We recently stayed in the "Birdie Haven" condo next to Stoneridge Golf Course in Blanchard. The unit was clean and well-equipped, with a nice view of the golf course. We also had access to the pool and fitness center operated by the property owners association; it is quite nice. A couple of questions came up while we were there. Each time, a text to VRA was quickly answered. We would definitely stay there again. read more

Exceptional Service During a Stressful Time We stayed in a Vacation Rental Authority (VRA) property in Dalton Gardens earlier this spring while we were temporarily displaced from our home due to an insurance-related issue. It's never ideal to be out of your own house, but VRA made the entire experience as smooth and stress-free as possible. The rental itself had a few issues right out of the gate--things like the dryer not working and the hot tub needing attention. What truly impressed me was how quickly and professionally VRA responded. Their team was on it immediately, getting people out to the property and resolving problems without delay. No runaround, no excuses--just fast, effective solutions. From start to finish--communication, responsiveness, repairs, billing, and overall customer service--VRA was top-notch. Issues happen with any property, but how a company handles them is what matters, and VRA absolutely delivered. Their attention to detail and commitment to taking care of their guests really stood out. I can't say enough good things about the Vacation Rental Authority team. If you're looking for a company that genuinely cares and shows up when it matters, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend read more

Vacation Rental Authority has amazing rental properties, from Downtown to Lakefront, as well as offering beautiful Funship boat rentals...we enjoyed every aspect of dealing with them through each step of the way, great communication, spotless home, friendly office staff. I'd give 10 stars if I could! MC read more

My recommendation: avoid this firm. There are other vacation rental businesses with more savvy (and nicer) leadership at the top. I sought VRA out to replace VACASA as our vacation rental management company for our property on the lake. I did this for 2 reasons: 1. Because they are a locally owned small business. I support local entrepreneurs whenever possible. 2. The guy who manages the property management services for VRA worked for us with VACASA and he was a class act. He moved to VRA, so I wanted to give them a chance to manage our well established and very busy rental property (booked at over 80%). But, the owner (Kathy) was a problem. The legal contract she had written up is very much 1-sided, requiring owners to pay the entire rental fee (including VRA's 30% commission) if the owner (me) was required to cancel ANY reservation, "for ANY reason". No other vacation rental business penalizes Owners for needing to reschedule a rental in emergency situations e.g. Septic pump issues. And these unforeseen requirements to reschedule a guest happen with some frequency when your property is on a Lake, in the woods, not connected to city services. Cabins are like that. When I asked them to amend this restrictive legal language she called me too "legalistic" and refused to represent my vacation rental. She never spoke directly with me, always made me wait until her sales staff relayed messages back and forth. It took several days. Being a successful business owner myself, it was crystal clear to me she wasn't a very savvy business person. So I stayed with VACASA and am happy I did. read more

Avoid any rentals managed by this company. They are unprofessional, argumentative, and downright aggressive. I was shocked at how they handled the air conditioning breaking at my $1,000+/night rental during a heat wave. They shared such gems as "if you don't like it, pack your bags and leave" and "don't call here again, if you do, we won't answer." Fun times! read more

STAY AWAY! False advertising and horrible service! We rented a home from VRA in Couer D'Alene and they were absolutely horrible to deal with. The home was advertised very differently then what it was, this is the Rockford Bay Retreat Location, please DO NOT RENT HERE!!! The location was in accurately advertised stating that it had a 'FANTASTIC WATERFRONT CABIN WITH GRASSY BACKYARD, BEACH AND DOCK' however, the house did NOT have a beach or beautiful grassy backyard, but instead an overgrown mess on the water and huge hilly backyard with unsafe access to the waterfront and dock. This place and service from VRA was a huge disappointment for what we spent. There were so many things wrong with the property and how VRA handled it: -difficult access to the pier/treacherous stairs to the pier - dock is not tied in properly and is a hazard to anyone walking on it, as well as a boat tied to it -No propane for the grill to use to cook out -Firepit on the deck not working -No Beach area, as mentioned in the description, but nothing but overgrown grass/weeds. In fact, we met the lawn guy and he said it is only cut once a month, because it is too expensive to come out to do it!!! -Furniture needs to be replaced outside, mold on the beds, which should have not been outside to begin with and the outdoor furniture is destroyed and disgusting to sit on -No place to put clothes; owners have all the closets filled with their belongings/garbage with no hangers or space to hang anything -Dishwasher was broken before we got there, which they knew about and had not fixed -Stools at the kitchen island were all broken and could not be sat on; They also knew about this and did not fix, but only said new chairs had been ordered through amazon, oddly which still weren't there -Umbrellas were all broken and again another item they knew was broken, but had not taken care of. The most upsetting part of this location is that we flew across the US to come to a place that we had heard nothing but wonderful things about and we had to deal with incompetent people at the agency who were not capable of doing a few simple things to make our stay easy. It would have only taken a note to let us know the issues we had at the property they were addressing and that they knew about it and were addressing it. However, the fact that nothing was addressed until we were there, which was minimal and that both my 5 year old and parents fell down 3 times the hill to be told that the property wasn't listed as 'handicap access' was beyond disgusting and insulting. We called to specifically highlight the issue about the hill and steps to avoid any future problems with other renters and to give the owners and RVA the opportunity to fix this so noone else would get hurt and absolutely nothing was done to fix it or to resolve the issue. When we spoke to them they said noone else had complained about the property or the stairs and yet we spoke to the neighbor and they expressed how this property had had nothing but issues over the last few years and they knew that there were definitely issues that were complained about with the hill and stairs/lack thereof. We've stayed at many VRBOs and have nothing but great experiences. We have even had the owners contact us to let us know that we should not stay there if our child was too small to go up their stairs or to follow-up to ensure we had a great experience, but never have I dealt with such incompetence and lack of customer focus at a rental. Please do not give this place your money, time or frustration. There are plenty of other properties you can go directly through on VRBO with instead of VRA. read more

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Stay away from any listings via their website or Vrbo we reserved and paid for our condo 7 months out , 5 days prior to our stay we were notified our unit was no longer available they gave us two options one which slept 4 the other slept 6 which included a hideabed but was 40 mins away from where originally booked which had 3 bedrooms with some of our party flying in from from Florida and Nevada we were pretty much stuck taking the unit which at least had 3 beds. The unit itself was in need of a lot of repairs, baseboards falling off wall, shower that didn't always work, tile missing in master bathroom and dishwasher which wouldn't stay closed and cabinet doors thru out which wouldn't stay closed it was very disappointing stay for sure. This company was fully aware up to 4 weeks ahead of time that the unit we booked was having construction being done based on the email they received from the HOA of the complex we had booked. We paid $300 per night for our original condo the unit they dumped us into was not worth more than $200 at best based on Vrbo rates no compensation was ever offered and they had the balls for a 5 star review read more

Stayed a week at Riverfront Retreat. very quiet neighborhood. House was comfortable and clean. plenty of room for everyone to spread out. great having 4+bathrooms. The dock was a great feature for all of the family to enjoy. would definitely stay again. VRA was very responsive to a few minor requests for assistance. read more

Communication and ease of booking was impeccable! I highly recommend booking your next vacation through them.

We booked our home through AirBnb, but worked with Vacation Rental Authority directly. They were absolutely wonderful. Always available, kept us updated, the property was clean and perfect for us. We had such a good experience that we plan to book an executive rental through them for a month or so next year. read more

I usually do not give reviews but we wanted to come to the area to see it in the fall, for a family trip and my wife and I had ordered a pack and play from another company and they fell short. So we called vacation rental authority just to see, and they delivered one over to us within ten minutes. We also ran out of trash bags and some bathroom products and they ran extra over to us free of charge and their staff was very nice and professional, although these where little things and may not be a big deal to some it was just nice to get good service and really was the icing on the cake for an amazing weekend. -m read more

This company is the worst. I'm highly allergic to cigarette smoke and don't want to be exposed to second hand smoke. We walked into this unit which was advertised as a non smoking unit and were hit with this awful smell, yes the unit was overpowered with cigarette smoke from previous renters. We have contacted VRA several times a day about the cigarette smoke, and other big issues about this unit and we get an email response that the team is "working on it". Well it is day 4 of our 7 day rental and the "team" has not come up with a solution. Today I received an email from an Abby who told me to open the windows and look for deodorant spray under the sink. The blinds are in the down position, and are hard to raise, so opening the sliding windows does little good and we do open the one window that opens in this unit every time we are there. Plus we are in the middle of a heat wave with temps above 100 this week. I have asked for a phone number to contact a real person and never given one.We have looked for other accommodations, but this is the height of tourist season and none are to be found. We booked this unit months ago to make sure we got the location and unit that is right for our family. Thanks but no thanks VRA. It is evident from other user reviews that gaslighting is the way this company responds to customer issues. So if you find out your unit is 505 North 3rd St Unit 302 Central Loft, run don't walk from this company and this unit as it will stink. As an update, Brandi, the manager now states that the stale awful pervasive cigarette smell in this unit is from a unit in the building being piped in through the HVAC and they have no control over the "environment", but still refuses to give us an air filter or anything to get rid of the smell and still claims this is a non smoking rental. They also claim the cleaning crew smelled nothing before we rented. We have had lots of family members walk into the unit and they are overpowered, so I guess the cleaning crew does not have a sense of smell. We are rarely in the unit at this point, sleeping on an air mattress at a family's place, and every time we return the odor is worse than ever. read more

This agency is awful and does not provide good customer service. We stayed at one of their properties recently, and the property was not in condition as advertised. The bar stools were broken. The water was a disgusting brown color so we had to purchase bottled water. The umbrellas on deck were broken and chairs needed replacing. There was trash left on the property. Most importantly, access to the dock was hazardous. Three of our family members fell. One side had cinder blocks for supposedly steps and when trying to use them, one came loose and almost fell. Then there was advertised a grassy beach area which was not the case. Instead there was trash and overgrown grass. Then there were two beds that were not even healthy to sit on. We tried on several occasions to contact this rental company and did not get much of a response. Don't use this company ever! read more

Bree and VRA team. Thank you for taking the time to dispute my review here on yelp. I encourage savvy consumers to review my google comments and look at positive reviews for VRA closely. Must be in the employment contract that employees post 5 star reviews. I also noted quid pro quo reviews from vendors. Pest control Eric Allen posted a postive review to VRA the same day Bree posted a positive review for Allen Pest control. I dont have time to dig further but if you have to rely on employees and vendors to keep your star rating up you are doing it wrong. read more

Vacation Rental Authority - Skin irritation - Vacation Rentals Near Me - Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

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We rented a home for a week in C'dA. Great place -- super clean and modern. When we ran into a small difficulty with a lock on a door, they worked quickly to resolve the issue before it became a problem. read more

Rented a four-bedroom home for four days through VRBO. Vacation Rental Authority handled the arrangements. Very prompt and professional. They even reached out to us to make sure the air conditioning was working properly because they apparently received a report about the temperature? It turns out that we had the vents closed upstairs--which we found out after they sent out a repairman within a couple of hours. Would definitely rent through them again. read more

Vacation Rental Authority in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. We stayed at the Lakeview Terrace in Rathdrum 8/5/2020 thru 8/11/2020. When we arrived there was no patio furniture on either the front deck or back deck. No propane tank for the BBQ. We had specifically inquired about these items when booking and were assured they would be there upon our arrival. We contacted the property management the next morning. They responded that the owner had the items locked up and their maintenance person had no keys. They stated, "Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause". Seriously??!! They should have brought us some furniture, even if it was the fold-up bag chairs and a propane tank. We were not able to enjoy the ability to cook on the grill, socialize outdoors, or enjoy sitting on the front deck with a cup of coffee and watching the sunrise. You should refund us some of our fees for the "inconvenience "!! We will never use this property management again and will do everything possible to make this known everywhere on social media. VRA sucks!!! read more

I will never rent a boat or anything from vacation rental authority again. Worst experinse ever trying to say I damaged the propeller when I never even came close to anything besides water. And they guy who inspected with me when I took position of it even pointed out there was damage done to the back before I even got it. They tried to say I returned it at 7 when I returned it at 4pm and the manager was very rude when she said she had pics and I asked for the pics before I took it and she couldn't. And said she can charge me because she has every right when I have 8 people that witness the guy telling me when. I returned it everything was good. Then get charged 750 dollars and only found out because I checked my bank account. I work in customer service with car with people and they have the worse service and I will be telling everyone I know never to use them. read more

Rented a condo for a stay from 7/22-7/24 from Vacation Rental Authority. Arrived at the destination to our condo in the perfect location and walked into our condo and was immediately impressed with our choice, minus the other lady that was also using the condo and was in bed when we walked in. Needless to say the trip went downhill from there, after multiple phone calls with the team at VRA, trying to figure out what happened or telling me that I'm in the wrong spot or offering much much lower quality options to my home that averaged $400 per night got relocated to another home of equal if not better quality but 30 minutes away inn the middle of no where and in the opposite direction of all things we had intended to do. After we returned, I reached out to the company for a partial refund considering they did not hold up their end of the contract and as a result of this our trip was negatively impacted both physically and financially due to the drastic location change, I was hoping that we could come to a reasonable solution that would work for both parties.I was ignored completely after three emails and five phone calls I finally reached out to the owner and she basically said there was nothing more she could do. You can also see from Debbie K's review how this company operates as this was the woman that my husband, baby and I walked in on. read more

Loved this vacation rental. Extremely comfortable for our family of five. Close enough to drive into town but spent most of our time playing games and enjoying the view. Comfy beds, great kitchen and plenty of outdoor covered patio seating We will definitely be back. read more

The house we selected for a Girl's weekend was absolutely PERFECT! It was so nice we didn't want to leave! It had everything that a person could possibly desire from a vacation rental - beautiful rooms, well equipped kitchen, a lovely hot tub, and a beautiful view! read more

Recently had our condo cleaned by VRA. Could not believe the service and how clean the unit was. Great job and we will call for cleaning next time needed. read more

We have rented vacation homes, boat and jet skis for two years in a row. Exceptional service every time. Always on time, clean, professional and super easy to work with. Hard to go anywhere else. read more

We rented their Funship for a day on Lake CDA. The boat was in excellent shape and clean. The staff, as well as the business owner, were wonderful to work with and very accommodating. We had a great time and we would rent from them again! read more

I've used this company a couple of times to rent a place in Post falls on the river and have always had a great experience. They have affordable properties and the places I stayed were as pictured (better) and very well taken care of. They are helpful and the check in was flawless. Worth checking with them first for vacation options. read more

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY through Homeaway, VRBO or through any other methods. I have to give them a 1 star, but i would give them a 0 if i could, they dont even deserve the 1. They have a "Cancellations will not receive a refund" policy, which i understand, but they are blatantly refusing to cancel the reservation at all, stopped communicating with me completely - no word back from them in 4 days after multiple messages to them regarding why they haven't cancelled it and then I realized that they hadn't charged the 2nd payment (not due til June 6) and they might be waiting for that to ensure they get ALL their money before cancelling. The policy doesn't state "If you cancel, you will still be charged the full amount" so they should have no issues cancelling it so i can place my claim with the insurance plan i got for trip cancellations. This is unfair business practices according to the FTC and i plan on filing a complaint with the FTC, BBB and whatever other agency i can in order to ensure no one else has to deal with this company, hopefully they get shut down as this is obscene - if you need money that bad, do a better job with the rentals you do place and people might use you more. I also contacted Homeaway and my complaint was escalated to their Trust and Security department because even THEY can't reach them if that tells you anything. read more

We rented our vacation home from this company last year and we are back again for 2016. We love CDA and the guys at vacation rental authority gave us a boat rental credit. We always rent boats so this is great. Coeur d'Alene is by far our favorite location for summer vacation. We spend a week here each year and it just keeps getting better. They now have all sorts of tours around the lake and you can rent just about anything you need for vacation. read more

Vacation Rental Authority - Vacation Rentals Near Me - Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

We rented a cottage downtown for two months while we relocated to the area from California. First problem occurred the day I arrived and the home was not ready. Beds were unmade, toothbrush on the counter etc. I called VRA and they sent over a house keeper to clean it while we waited. VRA said they were surprised that the home was not clean as they had just cleaned it and maybe the owner had come in and stayed unbeknownst to them. Kinda weird. Final straw was after we left we asked for our deposit back. VRA claimed we broke an upstairs window and took the money out of our deposit! We did not break any windows which we communicated to them. So frustrating! I hate getting ripped off. Renters beware. If I was you I would use a different vacation rental company. Update: It has been over 40 days since we vacated the rental and we still have not received our deposit back. On top of this, VRA now says they are deducting more money from our deposit to cover internet service while we there, which was supposed to be included in monthly rent. SMH. read more

What a beautiful vacation spot! As someone who's traveled everywhere from Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic to Switzerland, Egypt and beyond, I was taken aback by Coeur d'Alene's breathtaking views and wildlife. Vacation Rental Authority offered great driving routes, restaurants, and shopping options. The lady I worked with was very friendly, helpful, and quite obviously passionate about the area! Perfect location for a romantic getaway, personal reflection, or adventure. read more

Our entire vacation was destroyed, they accidentally booked us the following year.. 14 family members traveled from all over the US to find that our dream vacation on the lake ended up being in the woods.. 4 of us slept on the floor.. no boat.. nothing..no hot tub, no deck furniture, no fire pit, we tried to find a hotel but everything was booked... It was too expensive to rebook all of our flights home.. The rest of the reunion and wedding party were 30 minutes away.. terrible customer service.. the woman was mad at me for crying.. read more

Warning! ! Warning! Absolutely a NO service company. Made appointment over two weeks ago to have them do a sprinkler maintence. I called a couple days before appointment to confirm, but there was no answer. Had to leave message and requested they call me back. They never called back. I waited all day on appointment day for them to come to my home. At 2:00pm called and talked to Robert to make sure they are coming. He didn't know and was going to have Richard call me. No call from Robert or Richard. Called again at 3:15 pm. Left message asking for return call. No return call. 4:00 pm still no call. Still no show from company. My whole day off wasted sitting here waiting for them. Plus I waited over two weeks for them to come on day of appointment..... DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY What a waste of my time and money...I just wish they would have told me they didn't want or need my business so that I could have paid someone else who really wanted the business. read more

Had a great time at lake Coeur d'Alene on the pontoon boat that my friend rented. The staff was wonderful and so very helpful! Really appreciate good people! read more

Was looking to rent a home while vacationing in Couer D'elene over the 4th of July. These people are ridiculous. 1st - they refuse to rent any home less than 5 nights and refused to make exceptions. 2nd - the cost of one place was 450/night ($1800 before tax) but after all their ridiculous fees tacked on the price was over $2400! 3rd) When I called to ask if the fees were refundable, they side stepped the question repeatedly and then informed me that they refused to rent any home for less than 5 nights - no exceptions. The woman was unbelievably rude and tried to talk down to me over the phone like an elitist pig. I will NEVER do business with this company and recommend anyone thinking about it - stay clear!!! read more

All attestations and claims made herein are my experiences and my opinions. Absolutely the worst experience in my 55 year on earth. If you are a homeowner planning on using this company for renting your property, I would highly advise you to find another company to represent you as they will absolutely not look after your best interests. They are way more concerned with the renters than the homeowners who they are suppose to be representing. In my case, they terminated the agency contract after their renters caused extensive damage to my property which they would not fully reimburse. I was forced to file a small claims lawsuit. where they ended up spending a considerable amount of money on an attorney rather than paying me money for damages caused by their renters. Their absolute strict hold harmless agreement is something that nobody should sign as it basically absolves them from any liability even when they are totally negligent in representing your best interest while they are suppose to be acting as your agent. When they use this strict hold harmless agreement, they also refuse to release the names of the renters who caused the damage, so you are unable to recover any damages caused by the renters. Their contract is so one sided, I actually want to kick myself for ever signing something that absolutely absolves an entity from doing anything they want and their client unable to hold them accountable for anything they do, due to the one sided nature of the contract. DON'T SIGN THEIR CONTRACT, YOU WILL BE SORRY. I would advise anyone considering using this company to move on and find another company to represent them. When you have to have an attorney represent you in small claims court, it kinda says something about your company in my opinion. That being they would rather spend money on an attorney than satisfying their client, the homeowner. They terminated the contract after 2 rentals of a 7 rental season and reimbursed only 6% of the 35% fees charged and I had to do all the administration of the rentals which is why I hired them. They claimed that I was being petty when their renters, who were not vetted that well, were continually damaging my property and I wanted to have my property left in the same condition as it was prior to the rental. Gosh, I wish I could operate a business like that, where I could retain 80% of income yet only provide 28% of the service that was paid for, I could make a lot of money selling a business model like that. They provided me no recourse to recover damages caused by their tenants. Unbelievable really, to represent the people that pay you that way. They also made references that they would make me way more money than I previously had with my very unique and desirable lake front property. Not only did the fail miserably in that claim, but they actually caused me to have the lowest rental income in many years of renting this property by a long shot. Absolutely horrible results. The list just goes on and on and on. I left out many other shortcomings of their business but I don't want this to be a novel. STAY AWAY. Vacasa rentals will treat you way better. read more

We had the most relaxing time cruising around Lake Couer D'Alene. The pontoon was super comfortable, very generous in size and even had a grill on board! Everyone was extremely nice and accommodating, would highly recommend! read more

"Downtown Cottage, N 2nd Street" Pictures aren't always worth a thousand words... The photos included in this listing show a darling home that is decorated nicely but notice there aren't many exterior photos? There is a reason. What you might need to know is: The Good: *Cute interior with great wall colors. *Drive directly south on this street and you hit CDA's lakefront with shopping and restaurants. *The beds and bedding in the upper bedrooms are incredibly comfortable. The Bad: *After driving up to this home I was immediately dumbstruck at the curb appeal; there isn't any. *The exterior is unsightly and neglected with overgrown weeds, and lawn and shrubs that aren't being cared for. (Notice there isn't a clear front pic of the house). *The walkway and driveway to the house are uneven, weedy and unattractive. *The neighborhood of this home is just fair with unkempt houses on both sides and an older apartment complex directly across the street. *Upstairs there are two bedrooms with no door or privacy between the two. We had to rig something up to address this issue. *The largest bedroom has wide slatted blinds with a section broken which allowed a significant amount of bright eastern morning sun through. Not so good if you'd like a few extra minutes of shuteye. *The other upstairs bedroom window came with bamboo shades though we found them in a heap under the window. Again, we rigged it so they would hang for us. *The upper bathroom threshold was loose and my son-in-law tripped over it. We found some masking tape and secured it so it was no longer a safety issue. *Stair carpeting dirty and stained... might want to wear shoes here. *Internet? We were given the wrong password and the issue was resolved a day before we left. *Though there are smart tvs in every room, there is no cable or satellite service, you must use your own NetFlix or other streaming memberships. *No iron or ironing board; big disappointment since we were there for our son's wedding. The Bottom Line: I debated whether I should write this review or not, but I felt it is incredibly important that not only the potential renter be informed, but also the homeowner and Vacation Authority. This property lacks pride-of-ownership and they are charging too much for what they deliver. However, it does have potential should the owner but the much needed effort into improvements both inside and out. After much research for vacation rentals in the CDA area I noticed this homeowner has multiple listings and personally, I think I will steer clear from them altogether. Would I recommend it to a friend? No. Would I personally rent it again? No. Vacation Authority as a property manager? No thanks. read more

Already booked again for next year. Like I said before, these guys make booking a vacation easy and the homes are really, really nice. I love CDA and highly recommend this place. read more

Wosrt experience ever. Rented a boat for the 4rth for my family was suppose to have it from 11am to 7pm. When showing up 10mins early i had to wait around and called a couple times for a good 25 mins. We where shown to the boat went through all the damage to the boat. Both sides of the boat where extremely damaged and one of the guys pointed out that the back end had damages it was all wrote down and i signed it we took it out to Rockford bay and floated and let the kids swim never got it anywhere close to anything. 3pm rhe kids had enough so i called them too let them know i was being it back . Got back to the dock at 345pm where i was told someone would be waiting no pine was there and 2 call a couple times until someone showed up. We cleaned that whole boat making sure it looked just like it did when we got it. The guy said everything was good and we left. Checked my bank account and found out they charged my account an ex 772. I never got a phone call. So i checked my email and they said i did damage to the back. When the guy i picked it up from stated damages to the back when i picked it up. Sent the manager all the info. Thinking she will see it was a mistake amd do the right thing. But she didnt and after telling her that i was told about the back having damages when i got it and asked for before pics. She started getting short with me and saying they are in their rights to charge my account. They don't care how they treat there customers. And after any little bit of money they can screw you over in. Im a local also and will be letting everyone i know and the 8 people i had with me will be telling their friends and family also to never use them. read more

Ironman participants stay away unless you want to pay five star prices to cat-sit during race week! We stayed at the 'Indiana Ironman' property# 83946 for the race this year (2014) and it was a complete disappointment. If you feel like paying a premium to stay at your grandmother's mold and mildew scented house while babysitting her abandoned cat then, by all means, use Vacation Rental Authority to book your next holiday. Let me reiterate that point, YES, the home owners felt it was reasonable to leave their cat in the garage for the renters to check in on. As an additional side note, I am extremely allergic to cats! The property descriptions use words like 'fully stocked' to explain that you will not find an empty closet or drawer anywhere in the house so don't expect to unpack. Laundry facilities are available after you reconnect everything the owners could think to disconnect or hide before leaving. Internet connectivity is advertised but non-existent while the problems are simply glossed over by VRA management as "Unfortunately the spotty internet is a problem for the whole area. Small town life!" Funny thing is that mysteriously the hotels down the street have no such issues. Complaints are a waste of your time and fall of deaf ears with a $100 credit on a future rental considered reasonable compensation for your troubles after you just spent $4k to rent from Vacation Rental Authority for a week. Stay at a hotel, at least there you have some recourse when things are not as advertised and the rental company has some interest in making customers happy. The only thing VRA stands behind is their 'No Refund' policy. read more

I booked a home through Vacation Rental Authority for IRONMAN weekend in Coeur d'Alene. First, after a long flight, we arrived in Coeur D'Alene where we had to stop at the Vacation Rental Authority office to pick up the house code. I'm not exactly sure why they couldn't email it or do it over the phone, but the office was located in downtown Coeur D'Alene, which didn't seem like a big deal at the time. Turns out the house was a 35 minute drive from downtown and NOT the 12 minutes we were lead to believe when renting the property. This was irritating since we booked the house under the impression it was close since my kids would be back and forth from the race venue downtown. The house was somewhat hard to find mainly because the driveway looked like a construction site, unfinished with gravel and weeds, like no one had ever lived at the house. This was dangerous as it was located on a very steep hill and switch-backed on itself with no barriers or markings. We finally got to the front door only to find that we were given the wrong key code and couldn't get inside. We had to call and wait for Vacation Authority to call us back with the new code, again, very irritating. We're inside two seconds and hear *beep* *beep*, the smoke detector is low on batteries and of course it's located at the peak of the cathedral ceiling which meant another call to Vacation Rental Authority! This was getting a little ridiculous. This wasn't the only issue either, it was pretty clear after living in the house for a few days that the house had never been properly prepped for our arrival, toilets were not cleaned, oven was not cleaned, the outdoor grill was filthy, the upstairs TV didn't work and the downstairs TV had parental controls so we could only watch cartoons and the news. Before our arrival we were also assured of a propane tank for the grill. The tank was actually locked to the outdoor porch and no one seemed to know the code. Luckily, Vacation Rental Authority was able to drive out the next day to put new propane on the grill. The absolute final straw was when Vacation Rental Authority told me to set the AC at 65 to help cool the house off when we arrived and 2 days later the AC stopped working. This was during the extreme heat wave and AGAIN we called Vacation Rental Authority to come out and help. I was told by maintenance that the AC had iced up and it needed to be set at 75. That is understandable since it was extremely hot outside, but then I found out we were charged $100 for the maintenance call, they said we had been told to set the AC at 75. Ridiculous! I was NEVER told 75 and you would think they would cut me a break for all the other issues with the house. We had been working all along with Vacation Rental Authority thinking they were giving us honest guidance, but I was fooled. Never again! We will definitely be using someone different when we come back in future years. read more