Avantstay

I have nothing but good things to say about this company. I am one of their photographers and couldn't have found a better client. The properties they have are sensational from cultural decorating to experiential items to help your trip be as best as it can be. They simply have thought of it all. They have been respectful and honest throughout our relationship. I highly recommend anyone traveling to have a serious look at their properties! Thanks Avant Stay! A+

As a business partner we
loved working with AvantStay. Their management team and designers were a pleasure to work with. They provided good creative direction and a consistent design language which is important for me as a creative. Their direction made it easy for me to provide a good and consistent product. Would love to work with again.
-*** Photography

I travel a lot for work and have Stayed in houses by Avantstay. Houses in San Diego, palm springs, Paso Robles, Sonoma, Lake Tahoe and Malibu. I truly appreciate how the staff really Puts in the effort to make each house comfortable and in style. Many times I've had to book last minute and they have always been quick to respond and accommodating to my needs. I like that it doesn't matter what city I book, there is consistency unlike other services I've dealt with. The staff is friendly and communicative. I Look forward to booking again soon.

We travel a significant amount, and I am also a property owner/manager who rents out property. I have NEVER dealt with such inflexibility and unprofessionalism. We were set to travel March 15-17, to a property in California, in the midst of a pandemic. I have spent countless hours dealing with both VRBO and AvantStay requesting a refund or a credit. That's right, I requested a credit. I told them to keep our full amount, and simply give us the option to stay at a later date when travel is permitted and safe.

I see below in one of AvantStay's responses to another review that they "are honoring a 100% future credit for guests to book any of our properties in the future. We are continuing to monitor the COVID-19 case and we are committed to working on flexible solutions with our guests". This is COMPLETELY UNTRUE. I have pleaded with them to give us a credit and they refuse.

VRBO has stated that 95% of property owners and managers have offered credits or refunds during this time, due to COVID-19. AvantStay falls into the 5% that has not. They say that tough times bring out the best, and worst, in people and businesses. AvantStay is the worst. I will never book a property with AvantStay again.

The coronavirus pandemic postponed our wedding thus our house for the wedding. Avantstay kept 20% and did not offer a similar house for the same price
We booked the house on 11/12/19 for dates 6/18/20-6/21/20. Our total was *** We received an 80% refund of *** Avantstay kept 20% ***

Coronavirus is forcing us to postpone our wedding, therefore cancel our reservation with Avantstay. We first looked at rebooking our same property for our new wedding weekend, but was unable to do so. We then looked at other properties they had and were told they would be willing to either "Waive or lessen the difference we would owe" once we tried to book another property with them they offered little (almost none) of a discount. It was significantly more expensive, and unfortunately could not swing the extra cost. We were forced to cancel our reservation, and like so many others did not receive a full refund. the fact that they keep 20% during a global health crisis is incredibly disappointing to us as a consumer. We are now limited going forward in booking any other properties (not with Avant Stay) because we lost out on that money.

American Hotel has been working with AvantStay as their main hospitality supplier partner for about a year now. Their team is very kind and knowledgeable about the vacation rental industry. They take great pride in making sure their guests stay is as comfortable and enjoyable as possible by providing top of the line linen, terry and guest amenities. They are a great partner and I would highly suggest staying with them on your next vacation!

company with zero compassion *** refund policy. The company is difficult to communicate with, is obviously disorganized, and incredibly rude to customers. Furthermore, they think that giving 100% credit for future rental if you cancel your reservation during such a hard time is sufficient to cover future lodgings. Problem is that most of their properties require at least a 3 day stay and are upwards of $1500 a night and close to $4500 for a full stay, meaning the $1500 in credit we were given is not sufficient to cover the stay at another property. We have been very disappointed by this company and are exasperated by the fact that we are out $1500 to a company that we will likely not be able to afford to go through at another time even with the credit they have allegedly given. Lastly, I don't actually believe they will honor the credit. *** these people.

AvantStay will not refund my trip that is cancelled for health and safety issues stemming from COVID-19.
I booked a rental home with AvantStay on February 6th, 2020, reservation ***, totalling $***. Since then, a global pandemic has rendered all nonessential travel prohibited in my state of Michigan as well as the state of the rental home, Arizona. Further, health and safety issues stemming from COVID-19 have led to a physician's recommendation that my family and I refrain from travel until further notice, due to the working conditions at my spouse's job. On April 22nd, I requested a full refund of $*** from AvantStay. They offered either to refund the cleaning fee, tax, utility fee and VRBO service fee, totaling $971.66, or a credit and refund of the $207.00 VRBO service fee. I then called their customer support, explained our situation and that due to work conditions and our health we will not be flying indefinetly, and was denied a refund for our full amount.

Seeking refund for a cancellation of a business trip due to global pandemic.
I booked a stay at an Avantstay property to attend a conference on a business trip March 21-26th 2020. Due to the global pandemic the conference was cancelled and my employer put travel restrictions on all employees. I sought a refund from Avantstay by sending more than a dozen emails and several phone calls explaining my situation and expressing my concerns. They stopped taking phones and would only communicate through email. Through email they offered me a credit for a future stay (within one year) at any of their properties. Due to the threat of spread of COVID-19 the conference I was supposed to attend was cancelled with no future date or location determined. My employer is still restricting travel. I don't expect to be traveling for business or personal use anytime soon given the threat of illness and restrictions enforced by many state governors. I find Avantstay's actions to hold my money and not offer a refund to be customer un-friendly considering most hospitality firms are accommodating their guests in these unprecedented times and offering full refunds; not credits for future stays. I have given Avantstay plenty of opportunity to resolve this matter. Again, I am seeking a refund; not a credit.

AvantStay is taking advantage of medical personnel that are giving all that they have for the state of California! Request *** refund.
On Feb 29, 2020, I made a reservation through Airbnb to rent the home located at XXXXX ***, that is managed aby AvantStay for Aug 12, 2020 - Aug 17, 2020, to be used for the rehearsal dinner for our daughter's wedding on August 15, 2020. This home would also house family coming from NYC and DC.
On March 19, 2020 California locked down the state due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. From this moment on our daughter, a Registered Nurse and future son-in-law a Physician working in the Emergency Room at Kaiser Permanente have been working long, stressful hours. Given that they support the same ER, not knowing how long this pandemic would last, where their guest would traveling from and the inability to complete wedding plans due to the lockdown they worked with the venue to reschedule the wedding to 2021. All vendors happily rescheduled the date and several even offered discounts as a thanks for the daily sacrifice and having to postponed their wedding. All but AvantStay.
The 5 day rental cost *** x 5 nights) was *** with a cleaning fee of $495.00, a service fee $874.17 for a total of *** We were required to put a deposit of *** On April 10, 2020, I sent a message to AvantStay noting that we would have to cancel the reservation and reschedule the same home for 2021 requesting the *** be used toward the new date. AvantStay responded stating that I could rebook with them but they were giving no refund. I opened a case with Airbnb who contacted AvantStay that did not respond to several calls. The one time they were able to get through they provided my phone number to AvantStay who said they would call and assist me with this issue and rebooking. They never called me and would not return further calls from Airbnb.
AvantStay is taking advantage of medical personnel that are giving all that they have for the state of California! They are postponing their wedding for the good of Californians who are sick and for the family in NYC and DC who are in a high risk category for COVID-19. They are still paying college loans and this is a lot of money to loose from their wedding budget. What a heartless company! I will never book with them nor will I recommend anyone else to. Request a full refund.

The company somehow double booked the property for which I paid over *** to rent. They effectively cancelled our contract but refuse a refund.
I signed a rental agreement with AvantStay on 2/7/2020 and paid them *** (plus a fee that Vrbo agreed to refund) for Vrbo property #XXXXXXX / AvantStay reservation #XXXXX. The reservation is for three nights (4/23 through 4/26.)

After the initial COVID-19 outbreak in my home state (WA), I enquired via email on 3/15 about their policy regarding potential cancellation. They offered only a credit (good for 12 months) or a partial refund of cleaning and utility fees and taxes. Subsequently, we exchanged several emails after that, but their policy regarding a potential refund did not change. On 3/26 I received an email from AvantStay, indicating that they and Vrbo had double booked the property. They offered three inferior alternative properties, effectively cancelling my reservation at the original property, yet they continue to refuse a refund.

My complaint is similar to that of another customer who filed with the Revdex.com: We are in an unprecedented situation, our Governor has issued an order that prevents me from traveling for pleasure during April, and it is unclear if and when this health crisis will be resolved. AvantStay wants to keep my money, but it has offered nothing in return other than (most recently) an 18-month credit. Since they booked the property with another customer for the same dates, it would seem to be fraudulent for them to continue to withhold a full and immediate refund.

Horrible customer service and rude employees, do not book with them. We booked a home for our group earlier this year for the first weekend in May. We have been trying to get a refund for several weeks now and AvantStay is being slippery and unreasonable. According to their site, we should have been able to cancel more than 30 days in advance for a full refund, which they are now refusing to issue us. In CA everyone is ordered to shelter in place so no vacations are happening and all companies are cancelling reservations and issuing refunds - except this one. Do not give them your money, you won't get it back.

Coronavirus has had to make us cancel our rental. They will not refund us and have not given us another option
I made a home reservation on March 15, for 16 people for the weekend of April 24th. The government has announced extended restricted social gathering guidelines on Sunday March 29th until April 30. We have to cancel our trip because we have frontline workers who can not go anymore because they come into contact with jail inmates and patients. Either way, we just should not be going on vacation right now in the first place with the global pandemic. The cost of the home rental is *** my home rental reservation code is *** I paid by credit card thru Airbnb, and Airbnb told me that it is up to the discretion of the host, and the host has done nothing to help, and has said they are not going to cancel and refund our reservation.

I'm a nursing student whom has put my hard earned money into a future vacation that now has to cancelled in light of the circumstances. Compassion *** a trait we all should be exhibiting at this time in the world and unfortunately your policy is not showing this. Due to travel restrictions and the safety of individuals the reservation we made months ago is not even possible. I hope you rethink this policy as I was able to get a full refund through airbnb, a company that I will stand behind with all future bookings.

AvantStay presenter incorrect location of property I reserved, and was unwilling to compensate me fairly for their mistake
I reserved an AvantStay property via VRBO a couple of weeks back. The property showed up as if it was in downtown San Diego, both the pin was placed in downtown San Diego and the description stated it was downtown San Diego. When I landed in San Diego, I took an uber to the address and it ended up being a completely different location ~20 minutes away. This completely ruined me & my friends vacation as we were attending a festival and needed to be walking distance from the venue. We also had several other friends staying in downtown and we weren't able to hang out with them.

When I arrived to the wrong location I immediately called AvantStay and they took full responsibility for the incident and assured me if I stay for the weekend they would be able to compensate me accordingly. They then sent me a link to speak to a customer representative about this the following Tuesday, which I followed up on. I've been on the phone with AvantStay multiple times in the past few days, staying on hold for >30 minutes at a time. The best they were able to offer me was *** refund, which isn't even close to making up for this incident since the house is valued at significantly less in that area of town (in comparison to downtown). Even the price of the property dynamically dropped from *** a night average to *** a night average.

This sucks, it completely ruined my vacation and the lack of compassion on the side of customer service makes me want to avoid booking AvantStay properties for the future.

Let me know if you need more info, I have screenshots and records on this.

We're in a global pandemic - we live in the Bay Area, where all 6 counties have issued a "shelter-in-place" order.

However they won't allow a cancellation. Instead, they want to collect rental fees for a property that will sit empty.

They can claim it's not covered by insurance, but they clearly have no integrity.

AvantStay did not properly disclose fee structure for a property I was attempting to lease for 4 days in February.
On 25 January I booked a property to lease through the VRBO website. Property ID. Confirmation ID. Within hours of booking the property I was contacted by AdvantStay, the property manager operating within VRBO for this particular transaction. I also quickly received a credit card charge notification for fees I did not agree to. Specifically, a $500 charge I later learned was an undisclosed security deposit. And a 4% charge of credit card transaction fees. Had this merchant banking fee been identified as an "owner fee" during the booking process I would not have reserved this property. Simply no way I would agree to pay the owner's banking costs on a credit card transaction.

I immediately contacted AdvantStay POC (***) to raise my concerns. Despite multiple emails, copies of screen shots to prove my point regarding improper fee disclosure I could not get this issue resolved. *** finally promised to have a manager call me. As of 3pm CST on 27 Jan I still had no resolution of the issue and no call from a manager.

I called VRBO customer care shortly after 3pm and that agent was able to conduct a conference call with me and an agent from AdvantStay. Another painful conversation and no resolution. The AdvantStay agent said a manager would call me within 2 hours and *** (AdvantStay customer care manager) did call.

*** was apologetic but frankly unable to resolve the issue. I want a full refund on this transaction because I don't have confidence in any business that isn't transparent in it's pricing. *** indicated he could not do a cancellation because the reservation was made inside a 60 day window. Frankly, not my problem. This entire transaction was poorly handled start to finish. I contacted my bank and have already lodged a dispute on the three charges for this rental. I am not paying for this rental because I will not be staying at the property.

Vacation rental was not charged as agreed. Upon arrival rental in subpar condition, most notably a leaking bedroom ceiling that soaked guest & bed.
On 12/_ I booked a three day rental managed by Avant Stay through ***. The total amount was to be billed in two parts. 50% billed at the time of booking, and 50% due upon arrival on 12/24/19. I became aware on 12/12 that the entire balance was charged to my card in the amount of $2070.33. I contacted the merchant, Avant Stay. I was told by ***, a customer experience specialist, that she would not be able to assist me because the reservation was made through a third party agent. I pointed out that it was Avant Stay who debited my account, but she again advised I would need to contact *** for asst. I called *** and talked to an agent named ***. She repeated something very similar, stating that "we didn't charge your card...we only have access to the last four digits of your card #". I explained to *** what *** had told me, & requested a three-way call to resolve the matter. I was placed on hold by ***, where I waited for several minutes. When she finally returned to the call, I was advised that she had spoken with *** @ Avant Stay, who would be escalating the situation to get her manager involved for further investigation. She stated that the manager was off-site and she could not anticipate when follow-up would occur. I called *** back for more details and was told that she sent an email to her manager and was awaiting a response. She was unable to provide a timeframe for callback, but stated that she would be working until midnight and would contact me up until that time if she received a response from her manager. This was apprx between 4 - 5 p.m. A few hours later I received a text from ***; "I was able to speak with my manager and here's what I have so far. Our properties are listed in *** and we have a channel manager who manages and collects payments for us. These payments are being collected based on rules that we set up. Since the reservation dates are within 60 days, it will not allow a 50/50 installment. If you can send us a screenshot where you've seen the 50/50 option, we can send it to our team for review. As of now, the full payment is required for this reservation. Hope this helps." Subsequently, I did forward screenshots as requested. I was told that the information would be forwarded to her manager and that I would get a call back. Over the next week and a half, I had several exchanges (both via phone call & text messages); including a text on 12/19 which read as follows, "Hi *** - I checked with our reservation software and because this was a reservation from ***, we don't have access to the charge at all to be able to refund it. It was charged outside of our system and will just be paid out to us on the day of check-in. I tried to see if there was a way we could do it in our system, but we are not able to. The only action I have on my end is to be able to cancel the booking, but it doesn't trigger out a refund. I'm very sorry about this and wish there was more we can do. Would we be able to offer you a complimentary early check-in or late check-out as consulation...at no additional charge." I was told in a different text that the 50/50 agreement was allowed because of a "glitch" with ***. The last text I received prior to check-in read, "We apologize again and really appreciate you working with us through this and we do look forward to hosting you for a great stay celebrating your daughter's birthday". Shortly after our arrival we were greeted by a guy named Gabriel (I believe) who was to change the lightbulb at the entrance. I never saw him again; the light did not work our entire stay. The hall bathroom had dry urine between the toilet seat & the commode, several walls & light switches in the house were dirty, along with dishes & silverware (from the cabinets), there were stained towels and MOST egregious~one of my guest woke up soak & wet because the ceiling & vent over her bed was leaking rain. Its been over a week still no resolution.

Kitchen Oven was broken, Refrigerator was not working properly. Requested maintenance, a person show up, left. Have not heard from them after.
Before my stay Fri, Aug 9th to Sun, Aug 11th. I sent in an email, specifically asking questions about the kitchen. As it was important, since I was cooking for 12 people. They reassured me they have a fully functional kitchen. After we arrived, noticed the rifrigated was not keeping cool, when it was time to use the oven, it was not working. Called AvantStay @7:43pm spoke to management, they quickly sent someone out to inspect. The maintenance worker was able to verify that oven was broken and not usable and refrigerator was not working properly. He said he will request that they change the oven immediately. He left, and we have not heard back from him. As a results, things we needed to cook, we couldn't. As we waited for someone to fix it, toward the end of our stay, we ended up leaving without resolution. A lot of food and money wasted. Which I can live with. I called avantstay management, expressed my concerns and bad experience. and said that experience is not what I paid for. Requested a refund. And I said I will refrain from leaving any bad review and give them the opportunity to make things right. They communicated with me, postponed, rescheduled times I had set to speak with them. Conveniently when they only refunded $250 for my "inconvenience" my link to leave them a review expired. To top it all off, they manipulated the system and used it against me. Next, I escalated the matter to Airbnb, they said no problem. They came back and said can you show us documentation that oven was broken and refrigerator was not working. Or we will need to close the case. I tried to explain to them, that since avantstay is an actual company,that works for them and unless they are denying that any of these things happened, they should be able to request from avantstay, maintenance request, work order for broken oven, etc.. records from them. But those geniuses insist I provide those records. My biggest issues at this point, is they delivered terrible service, they did not fix it during the stay to make it right, they used the system against me by procrastinating on the resolution until my ability to leave a review expired and now essentially either denying it to Airbnb or just don't care. I have requested information from avantstay multiple times, they tell me they will provide it to aribnb directly, they just need to request it, airbnb says they will, I can't tell if they requested or not, eventually they send me another email saying we dont have any documentation, if you cant provide documentation we are going to close the case.

After a 4 month process to attempt to sign a lease for my property in Carnelian Bay this company lowered the amount by *** last minute.
Here is the email that I sent to their head of corporate development, Fiona Quinn prior to a call that I had with her this week, outlining the timeline of interaction and my issues with their practices but she and they are unwilling to try to resolve this with me in any manner (Mr. is their CEO):

I'm not sure which would be the more egregious example of not working in good faith - dropping the lease amount by *** a month then raising it by $300 or terminating the discussions the next day after promising a conference call to finalize things. The bottom line is that your folks represented (verbally, in proposals and lease drafts) that we were in agreement on terms a number of times, causing me to rebuff other inquiries on the property since February, invest about *** that I wouldn't have otherwise needed to do at this time and end discussions just weeks before the lease start date.

It is my hope that we can finalize this agreement as envisioned as despite an attempted last minute *** drop. I hope you will agree that providing this and the other communications that I've provided to AvantStay to resolve and finalize this lease agreement demonstrates that I'm making best faith efforts on my side.

1/23 - my agent, *** emails me that AvantStay would like to tour *** CA which was listed on MLS for lease. We receive feedback from the AS team that they want to lease the house.

2/12-13 - I posed about fifteen or so questions to the terms that were sent over from AS and the next day I received a reply from *** which he received that included "They are firm on the *** per month....The response from *** was that next year it will be *** then *** then *** etc."

3/28/19 - *** met with *** and I was given a list from *** of items that needed to be updated, etc. We had ben asking for a lease since early February and *** committed to provide one shortly.

3/28 - 4/5 - I moved forward with ordering the replacement of upstairs living room windows and updating most of the homes' walls from wallpaper to paint representing *** of work that *** and *** had requested.

4/11 - We received the draft lease *** rent) and we responded back with comments on 4/13.

5/7 - Received feedback from *** on what shade and kind of paint is preferred.

5/9 - Got an updated lease without any material changes. We resent comments on 5/13.

5/17 - We receive back an updated draft lease which closed all but about half a dozen, mostly small issues which I believe we sent back re in a reply on 5/22.

5/29 - Had a scheduled call with *** and one other person to go through final lease points and resolved all but one in regards to the amount of use of my own home.

5/30 - We received a note from *** that the numbers had to be 're-run' and that the new proposal was reduced by *** to *** per month. *** and I separately replied with our displeasure with such material changes at this late juncture when we were needing to ready the house for the upcoming start to the lease in parallel by completing updates in advance and also rebuffing inquiries for the past 3-4 months as we negotiated this lease agreement in good faith.

6/5-11 - We receive an update offer of *** On 6/9 we countered with *** - and on 6/10 AvantStay came back at *** but then the next day, on 6/11 decided to terminate discussions with no explanation.

6/12-13 - Sent LinkedIn message to *** asking for his assistance.

6/13 - I email *** asking if AvantStay will be re-engaging to which she replies: My apologies; Since we last corresponded I have not been in the loop as you and *** have been in talks with *** and *** Please allow me to get caught up on the matter. I suggest we all get on the phone as there seems to be some miscommunication. Hopefully we can get this all sorted out. I do apologize for the untimely inconvenience these negotiations have caused you.