Ocean View Properties

We’d rented from OVP before and found the experience fine, so I’m disappointed to say that our most recent experience was not good at all. The property we rented was dilapidated and in need of upgrades. It had a wooden tub that collects standing water. We cleaned the place from top to bottom and were still dinged $ 63 for 2 hours of additional housekeeping with no explanation provided. This is really unfortunate because customers have no recourse. It’s your word against theirs. If I thought better of it (and had read others’ experiences) I would have taken photos. Needless to say we won’t be renting there again.

We rented a home from Ocean View before seeing the reviews on Unilocal.The service we received was impeccable. The home had everything we needed and more. The supplies we brought that were recommended before our trip were not needed. Upon our arrival we found a gorgeous home with the hot tub not only clean but hot as well. A few days after our departure we received our full cleaning deposit back and we even had our yellow lab with us during our stay. Our only disappointment is that we were the last people to rent this wonderful home due to it being sold. We definitely would use Ocean View again when renting at Sea Ranch.

INFESTED WITH BUGS!!! DO NOT USE OCEAN VIEW PROPERTIES !!! We rented the Canyon home advertised on the Ocean View Properties website in Jan. 2015 for 4 nights. We have rented in Sea Ranch before through other companies during the winter months and had amazing experiences. Unfortunately, this home and company were nothing less than a beautiful disaster. After traveling 4 hours from Sacramento, CA. finally reaching the Ocean View Properties rental office (about 4 pm) we then drove to the home and immediately started unloading all of our gear, strategically placing it in the general area it would be in for the duration of our vacation (this took about an hour or so). The food items were priority since they required refrigeration.
After the kitchen was up and running, naturally we began organizing inside the home. We then noticed there were a couple of dead Rollie Polie’s on the carpet in the living room stairway. Didn’t think much of it as the home was located in the meadow /​ocean area. When we finally started to get our bedding onto the beds is when the situation got real. From the start, we opted to do our own cleaning upon checkout and bring our own bedding since OVP charges for it and thank goodness we did… As we started to remove the comforters and mattress pads from the beds in the home we noticed that there were dead rollie pollies EVERYWHERE (pictures available upon request). I was floored and disgusted, I made my husband move the dresser and the bed and there were hundreds .It was as if this house had just had been treated for bugs and no one bothered to clean up afterwards. I was so embarrassed that I had invited friends for a nice little get away and now we all had to deal with this. I called the office immediately but of course they had already closed. We grabbed the vacuum and went to work on all 3 bedrooms, the living room and the closets and we kept the lights on at bed time. First thing the next morning (Friday) my husband spoke with OVP and advised them of our experience, they did apologize and told us that in order to compensate us, they would take care of the cleaning upon our departure. My husband advised that cleaning in addition to refunding one night of our home rental fee would be appropriate since we have already cleaned there home better than the home had ever been cleaned already and we lost an evening of our planned vacation dealing with this ridiculous issue. OVP said they would make note of our request but they would have to discuss this with the manager and call us back. Neither one of us received a call that entire day. The next day Saturday, I called myself to follow up and was told that we needed to talk to the manager on Monday when we checked out since they did not work weekends. I advised them that that this house had an infestation as we were now seeing live rollie polies everywhere. They said it must be the time of year because they currently had 5 other homes that were having the same problem however; they then offered to move us to another one of their homes… I declined because now 2 days into our 4 day vacation why would we then risk wasting more time on our «vacation» trying to re-​pack and get moved into another home that may have had the same problem.
We decided to stay the last two days and talk to them again at checkout. Checkout Day– Even though OVP advised that they would take care of the cleaning, we still cleaned that home from top to bottom. Garbage’s were emptied, dishes were cleaned, rugs washed, everything was returned to its rightful spot and looked fabulous. Spoke to OVP Monday, they told us that the owner was «out of the country» and they would follow up with us. I called them Tuesday for specifics, when will the owner be back in the Country, when would this be addressed? They told me that the owner was traveling to Japan, and would not be back until Feb. 2^nd 2015. Their contract said security deposits were returned within 10 days of checkout. Now, because «Management» was suddenly out of the country we again were given the run around. I called on Feb. 3^rd, owner was not in, told them to call me, no call… Called Feb. 4^th 2015, spoke with Dorothy (the owner) … I reiterated the situation again and requested a complimentary night + the cleaning charges covered by them. Dorothy advised that her company spent 3 ½ hours cleaning the Canyon home after our departure and that should be compensation enough therefore they were not incline to refund us one night and we should have called right away, I said I did but the office was closed so I called first thing the next morning, she stated that I should’ve called the after-​hours number which I did not even know there was (this was not displayed in our home) and we should have moved if it were that bad and we already received our deposit back so they would not be giving us a free night. I told her we had not gotten anything back to date, she finally stopped arguing and said she would refund us… REALLY

Ocean View Properties is no longer my choice for Sea Ranch rentals. I’ve used them many times over the years, and most experiences were fine, but they are currently keeping sub-​standard homes on their inventory, while not advertising that fact in their listing descriptions. The last home I rented was a dump. The gas log fireplace was turned off and the instructions for re-​lighting it did not work, and I had to call OVP to send out their fix-​it guy. The instructions for the DVD and cable were a joke, a few scribbled lines of unintelligible nonsense on a scrap of paper, and of course, there was no way I could get the darn thing to work no matter what I tried. The TV itself was probably 1980s vintage and had a lousy picture. Gave up and read books instead. The windows were rusted shut and impossible to open. A couple of light switches did not work. The chandelier did not fully light, and it seemed to be due to a short, not the bulbs. I battled constant ant invasions no matter how meticulous I kept the kitchen; in fact, the little guys were burrowing under the grout on the kitchen counter, pushing grains of grout into the sink, indicating they’ve been at their work for years. The oven and stove were old, falling apart, filthy and worn out, like it had been pulled out of a landfill and somehow got running again. The furnace blasted 90 percent of its hot air into the garage through leaky ducts. If this is the kind of home OVP deems acceptable to rent out at ANY price, what else are they foisting onto customers? Adiós, OVP.

We used them once and it was ok but wouldn’t rush back. We have had stellar service on our last two visits from Beach Rentals. They are full service and address anything that comes up (unlike VRBO or Craigslist).

They don’t return cleaning deposits — it’s a scam…

We had great experiences with Ocean View Properties! We have rented many houses over the years… and yes, there are varying qualities — but the website has lots of photos to help you make the right choice for you. In the last few years we rented Spyglass whenever it’s available because it has a nice vibe, close to town, the golf course — and a 15 minute walk to the wonderful Del Mar swimming pool. Dorothy, Rochelle, and Randy have always been welcoming and helpful with any requests.

For starters, here are you options for renting properties in Sea Ranch:
Craigs’ List, VRBO (vacation rental by owner)
and RamsHead. Use any of these and you’ll do better than the losers we used.
As always, I prefer to aim for sharing the facts, and to let readers of my posts decide for themselves…
Heard about Sea Ranch from friends…“OMG…so beautiful! You gotta go for weekend…“
Googled for a rental house. Found Ocean View Properties. NEGLECTED to check out Unilocal prior to engaging them over the numerous options we all have (listed above).
Did my online search for a house at their web site; chose a property. Booked it. Sent in the deposits, and signed contract, blah, blah, blah.
Noticed some «fine print» on the contract that essentially boils down to ‘we guarantee nothing, and you have no recourse.” Read their contract, and you’ll see exactly what I’m referring to.
This verbiage concerned me a bit, because… well…to put it bluntly, I’m a bit of a Hot Tub freak. My friends don’t care a ton either way, but for me the hot tub is about half of my fun during a trip like this. With this in mind, I wrote an email to the rental office (copies available by request) explaining that the hot tub is a big deal to me, and that I was concerned about the contract language in the event the hot tub didn’t work. I got an email back telling me the hot tub works. (Copy available by request.) I replied that I’m sure I would be treated fairly in the event of a problem.
Guess what… the hot tub didn’t work.
We called the rental office, who called the hot tub technician, who called us. Apparently we had inadvertently put the hot tub in «sleep» mode. OK… no problem. A few pushed buttons and off we go, right?
Wrong.
Seems this hot tub is special; we were told — literally — that «the heat element turns off when the jets are on.» No shit. Well… that’s a surprise to me. Never heard that one before. But the rental office assures me this is normal for this hot tub.
Hmmm…ya think?
After a few more calls to the hot tub tech, I was told — literally — that «I really don’t want to go out there in the rain. I’m sure you can understand.»
No. I did not understand.
Aside from the hot tub, almost all of the outdoor lights were non-​functional. We called this in as well, and we were told — literally — that «the owner is having financial trouble.»
I explained all of this to the rental company after our rental was completed. We got a measly $ 25 off.
These guys suck. Well… at least *I* think they suck.

I’ve had several nice stays at these rentals. I’ve stayed in Beachcomber and Beach Walk and have visited Bel Tramonto as well. All of these houses are lovely and comfortable. They are all a quick walk to the beautiful beach, they have hot tubs, and my actual stay in them was nice. Buuuuuut…
Good luck finding these houses! The only directions I could find were to the rental office (which is not where the actual houses are). If you have people coming up after office hours, how are they supposed to find the place? There is no sign at the entrance, and our instructions from the rental office was to look for a mileage marker which is very hard to do in the dark rainy night. Once you find it, the map they give you is the opposite of helpful. There are house numbers and lot numbers which add to the confusion.
Also, out of the maybe 30 people that came with us, two had cell service (both on Verizon), so you can’t call people to help them find the house. The houses have phones, but only for local calls, and the WiFi was spotty as well.
Contrary to others’ reviews, I’ve always found the houses nicely cleaned on arrival, though they do tend to charge you for cleaning after regardless of how clean you get it. And the BYOLinens thing is fine if you want to save a few bucks, but remember that that doesn’t just mean sheets. You should also bring plenty of beach/​shower towels, hand towels, and cleaning rags.

While the people that work here are nice, their rental policies leave a lot to be
desired.
If you choose to clean yourself, the mop, vacuum, broom, etc. are often old or falling apart. We have always chosen to clean ourselves because we have not felt comfortable letting them determine how dirty the place was left.
The houses obviously aren’t checked before they are rented because we have always left them cleaner than we arrived.
We have found nicer places with set cleaning fees on VRBO. It is nice to avoid the middle man and deal directly with the owners who care about repeat business.

Have used Oceanview numerous times and had a good experience. I thought it was strange that Unilocal doesn’t list Oceanview unless you try a few different searches. Had fun at Urban Escape about a month ago, Bones Restaurant, and playing at the beach. Will use Oceanview again. Not sure why all the negatives, but we had a good time.

this company is a scam. i rented bel tramotta for 3 nights. we were forced to bring our own towels, linens, trash bags etc. bascially like camping inside.
they then kept $ 135 of my security deposit because the house «was not clean». basically low class, near criminal behavior.

Never will rent through these folks again. Their attitude is that they are doing you a favor to take your money. No attempt to deal with house inadequacies and problems. House not clean when we arrived, but we are supposed to clean when we leave or pay them even more money.
Use a different agency who actually cares for their homes and your satisfaction.

We rented a home called the «Sea PInes» and were literally flooded out on our 2^nd night (which was during their busy holiday season). It rained non-​stop for several days – and consequently this property flooded in the living room to about 7″ of standing water. We immediately called the rental office and were put into a very nice 2^nd home for 1 night but were advised we would need to vacate the next day and be placed into our 3^rd home! All of this was very tiring and completly took away the entire reason we rent at the Sea Ranch which is to get away from the insanity of the city! What most upoet us was the fact that this rental agency in all likehood KNEW of the past flooding issues with this home but rented it to us anyway! In fact, we were advised by the manager that the home was immediately re-​rented right after we vacated and we pretty sure that neither the owners nor property managers bothered to fix the massive water flooding issue that had seeped in throught the exterior living room walls. To us, that was pure negligence and irresponsibly lazy management. I have been coming to the sea ranch for over 20 years and this by-​far was the WORST experience me and my family have had with a rental and a property management company. Additionally when we checked in, the house smelled musty, the kitchen floors and counters were sticky, the dishwasher had not been emptied out and there was some kind of tooth paste or something sticky in the bathroom sink— very, very poorly cleaned!
There are many other rental companies in Gualala and The Sea Ranch area lodge that will provide clean, safe and well-​maintained homes. I’d look at alternative rental agencies first before using them again.

We rented a house up at The Sea Ranch through Ocean View Properties. It’s something we do several times a year, though this was the first, and I can not stress enough, the last time we will rent through this terrible company.
First, my fiancé called to reserve the rental. They said they need payment, but that they’d hold it until they got the money from me. I then called approximately 10 minutes later. The man at the rental office told me the house I wanted was available and that he could rent it to me. I pointed out that my fiancé had just called. He hadn’t realized that. He’d told her he’d hold it for her, and then 10 minutes later offered it to another person, not knowing we were together. That should have been all the warning we needed.
The house was a bit dirty when we arrived. It wasn’t a huge issue, but there had obviously been little cleaning prior to our arrival. There were also numerous light fixtures with dead or missing bulbs. We’ve seen this in other rental houses, but not to this extent. Usually, we just note the issues at the office on the way out.
We talked to the folks in the office on the day we dropped off our key. I told them about the cleanliness issue and the myriad maintenance issues, such as the lightbulbs and the badly scuffed and chipping paint. They spun a hogwash story about how they place was just so popular that they couldn’t schedule maintenance.
A few weeks later, I got a check for the deposit, less $ 90 for cleaning. We called and the rental office people told us that the homeowner would be gone for another week on vacation, but that they’d leave a message. Two weeks after that, I got a form stating that the house was left dirty and that the renter did not make a reasonable effort to leave the home clean. They also cited the presence of white dog hair. Not only had we spent hours cleaning before we left, we also didn’t have a white dog at the house, or even guests with white hair.
What can I say, but well played, folks. You sure screwed over those dumb out-​of-​towners.

We stay at a lot of rentals on the Russian River and in Sea Ranch, and this was by far the worst experience we’ve ever had. We rented «Urban Escape» in November for my birthday, and were pleased the house was large enough for me and 9 of my friends. The house itself was fine, although a bit worn around the edges and not particularly clean. But we had agreed to bring our own linens and do our own cleaning to save a couple hundred dollars off the rental (even though most other property management companies provided linens and cleaning for less than $ 100). So the place not being clean in the first place was frustrating, as was the foreboding thought that if we didn’t leave the place sparkling, we wouldn’t get all of our deposit back.
So on our last day we spent about 4 hours cleaning the entire house, including a bathroom that wasn’t even used, floors, windows, fridge, etc. Most of what we «cleaned» was dust and such present when we arrived. When we dropped off the key, we made a point of telling the person on staff that we cleaned a ridiculous amount and left it far cleaner than it had been when we arrived.
And what happened when our deposit was mailed back to us? Sure enough, $ 150 had been taken out of it for «cleaning». What a rip. I called to complain, and then had to wait over a week for a response in the form of a voice mail, that claimed there were «white dog hairs» all over the house. Now, they knew we’d had a dog, but the dog we brought had no white hair. Simple rip-​off artists who apparently don’t think they’re making enough money charging over $ 400/​night.
Next time I’ll go with Ramshead in the Sea Ranch area, we’ve never had an issue with them.