In an effort to enhance our website and our users’ experience, we want your feedback! You could win a weekend getaway to one of our new luxury vacation rentals! All you need to do is post a reply.
Details:
Winner will receive a complimentary stay from January 25th to January 28th, 2008, in 813A S. Pacific St, one of our brand new, 5 bedroom vacation homes on the sand! This vacation rental can accommodate up to 14 guests! If you are the winner and absolutely cannot make these dates, we’ll give you a $100 Starbucks giftcard.
How to win:
Leave a Reply below and be sure to give your name and where it says ‘mail’ enter your email address. On November 26, we will randomly draw a name from all entries and notify you via email if you have won!
Here is what to include in your comments:
- Any key words you would use if you were searching on the internet for a vacation rental like ours
- Suggestions for our website and what you think would make it more user friendly
- Most important factor that keeps you from clicking away from our website. What makes you want to stay on it?
- Any other input, thoughts, suggestions, etc. are welcome and appreciated!
**This will not be the only opportunity to win a free vacation! Keep you eye out for more contests!
When searching I look for the words, new, newly renovated, modern, updated, beautiful, oceanfront.
As long as I see photos of attractive accommodations I stay on thw site. I also look for good value.
We really love renting your properties…but have some great suggestions.
1. Definately have “virtual tour” videos of the houses, rooms and surrounding area, view, etc. 2. Also, maybe the click through to “Things to See and Do” in the surrounding area….like museums, attractions, shopping, food, etc.
3. Guest ratings and comments that are posted.
4. Key words like….”stand on the sand”. “Bring your surfboard” “relax and unwind”.
5. Maybe a get away package called “I Wanna Live on the Beach!” (people are always saying that!)
6. Maybe if it’s “whale season” or “dolphin season”…make a note of those dates and time periods.
What would make me want to stay on the website would be maybe a “pop up” that offers discount deals on rentals…or maybe a “featured property rental” that you’re highlighting.
Hope these suggestions help! I hope I win!!!!!
Loved the website from the minute I clicked on it. The properties are beautiful! More photos of the houses. We want to see where we will be staying. One photo of the beach is plenty we get it. We just want to make sure we won’t end up in a dump like so many in Newport!
We were so suprised to see just how stocked the house came! It was aswome to be able to totally cook there and not have to go out!
You will feel like you are rich and famous staying here!
Good keywords to use would be “on the sand”, “beachfront”, “san diego beachhouse”. It would be more user friendly if you simply advertised availability and prices instead of making the customer contact your company directly. The amazing beach houses you have kept me at your website.
You have beautiful properties. I have stayed in two and know they truly
are what you say they are. I think this survey is a good idea, although you should keep it simple. Beachfront is important in your communiques and pictures are equally important.
The quality of your website matches your properties. Thank you. Beth Tomasovich
I find this website very easy to negotiate. It is easy to drill down by using selection criteria and terms like “oceanfront” to get the exact kind of accomodations and views that we prefer. LOTS of choices and price ranges. If you are interested in seasonal deals and discounts, you will be interested in the tickler emails. As with any site, more pictures are always a plus – I tend to shy away from postings without ample photos. It would also be nice to be able to do a side by side comparison of 3-5 properties at a time. Through this website, I have found several lovely properties for our family vacations that have been memorable experiences – anyone preferring to be “on the beach” would benefit from accessing this site. My parting thoughts are that it might benefit the company to do a followup email questionairre to the customer following the completion of the stay to get input on the property and quality of stay so that it could be used to do quality control and to maintain rapport with the customer.
Key words I would use would be San Diego, vacation beach rentals.
Your website is very user friendly as it is. Most important factor that keeps me from clicking away is that I get the information I want…..pictures of the properties, availablity and prices.
As a customer of Beachfront Properties I have found your rentals to be of better quality, better maintained and managed than any I have experienced in over 27 years of renting on the beach in San Diego county. I recommend your website and your properties to others.
keywords: beachfront San Diego area; Carlsbad; Oceanside; DelMar area
Looking at the pictures and descriptions keep me at your web site. Love getting the special rate offerings. We always check your site first. Thank you
i searched ocean side, beach front etc. i originally found you through vacation and rentals. i think your website is great and very easy to use and the videos of the houses were very helpful the house actually looked like it did in the picture.
there were lots of interesting links to chekc out on your sie.
one of the best things you have going is the service of the humans on the phones actually helping with the booking and arrangements. DeWanda was particularly good!!
You guys have the perfect name because “beachfront” is what it is all about for us and the families we travel with! When I leave these hills of Colorado, I do not want to stay 5 blocks from the beach or even 1 block. With young children, we have always wanted to be right there — so we could see the water even while they were napping or hit the potty in a flash!! Now the kids get older, they get more independent but they still need a watchful eye. So what we look for are photos, photos, photos — what do you see from the house, what is the view? We also look for detail in what is offered so there is no surprise. Surprise is no fun for a customer so lay it all out, even if it is not all positive. Your level of description is great for me and I seem to be able to find out what I need, from the number of beds, etc. Hope we can come sometime soon!
Words to include are Waterfront, Beachfront, on the beach. The more photos of the units, the views from the units to the beach and views of the units from the beach, the better.
The availability calendar, the amenities of the unit and seasonal rates of the unit are critical information as well as a phione number to reach a live person to answer questions and confirm pricing and availability quickly.
We have used you a couple of times and the experiwnce has been good.
The fact that your properties are all quality, beachfront homes has us always looking for dates from your website first. Secondly, we have rented several beach properties from private individuals, other rental companies with some disappointments, however every one we have rented from Beachfront Only has always been clean and nicely furnished. We have rented from Beachfront Only for more than 7 years, and stayed in homes from Encinitas to Oceanside and have never been disappointed. The pictures you see on the website, if anything, do not do the properties justice, they are always nice or nicer than we had expected.
First, I am so excited to enter this giveaway. I live less than 100 miles from this incredible beach house. What a perfect family holiday we could have with our kids and grand babies.
When looking for a vacation rental I would search for “beachfront rentals.”
I love your website and I suppose the one thing that keeps me from going elsewhere is the fact that you’re in San Diego. Oh, and the beach! I also like the photos and video tours. I may have missed the option but it would be easier to view the photos with a “next photo” button.
The next photo button is the only suggestion I have as your site is a delight to visit. I’ve bookmarked you and have subscribed to your feed.
I’m truly excited about this giveaway and I have enjoyed your delightful site.
Cathi
I’m truly excited about this giveaway and I have enjoyed your delightful site.
Cahti
When looking for vacation properties I search affordable luxury properties, or oceanfront properties. I am also interested in dog friendly, but am willing to pay an extra deposit for that if required. It would be great to have the virtual tours for all properties. One of the most important features is always the master bathroom. It makes a difference in whether or not I would rent a property.
We have stayed at your property twice in Oceanside and it was always FANTASTIC!Key words I would use in a search of property there: Southern California Vacation Rental. Sometimes I will also use: house, cottage or condo (depending on what we are looking for) as well as: oceanfront or ocean view. The Website is very user friendly. When I search properties, I search by #1 Location, #2 Price and #3 How many it accomodates. Of course, the more pictures, the better. I usually do not want to leave your website once I am there. It is very well designed with a picture and description of the property on the first page and you can scroll down them to find the one that fits your needs. I have been very satisfied with the current website. Thanks!
we love your beach houses
When I found your webiste, I had typed in a search for San Diego Beach Rentals. Seems like a pretty good website and I didn’t find any fault. thanks
Our stay in Encinidas, Ca at one of Beach Fronts vacation rentals was a perfect experience. The location was exactly what we were expecting. Clean, Spacious, and directly on the beach. The view from the Master bedroom was unbelievable. The kids had a great time surfing, swimming, and playing in the sand. Our first experience using the website and working with the staff to reserve the perfect location was easy. I could actually see pics and read about the stores and items needed to be comfortable. I continue to receive email updates about upcoming specials or locations and we look forward to visiting again in the near future.
KEY WORDS WHEN SEARCHING ON THE INTERNET: BEACH HOUSE, ON THE BEACH HOUSE, ON THE BEACH VACATION, VACATION, RENTAL ON THE WATER,
I ENJOY THE WEBSITE, THE ONLY THING I MIGHT SUGGEST IS MAYBE A MAP SHOWING THE LOCATIONS OF ALL THE RENTALS AT THE SAME TIME WITH A POPUP LINK TO EACH ONE
THE WEBSITE HAS GREAT PICTURES
Very good website greaqt pictures however does not seem to load very fast an advance in a timely fashion. http://WWW.SanDiego.com has a very good one and easy to use. Your staff is great and very helpful.
Your website name is perfect! In the search engine it came up instantly. I have no suggestions to make the website more user friendly because I had absolutely no problems with it. The reason I was on it for a very long time is because you have an abundance of pictures in all different views which makes it easy to pick which one is best for what you are looking for. The information section was also extremely helpful, It left me with no questions. Great Job to whoever put this website together….
This was the best family vacation! We celebrated my Dad’s 60th birthday and the condo accomodated 10 adults 2 toddlers and 2 teenagers all cofortably! We couldn’t have asked for a better location, which was breathtaking as well as relaxing. We all look forward to coming back and making this an annual event for a family vacation. I wouldn’t change anything about it. Everything was wonderful.
I found this vacation rental by pure coincidence and the booking staff was absolutely wonderful and so helpful. Thank you again Nancy!
Wonderful vacation Rental! I found it by typing in beachfront vactation rentals+ san diego. It gave a number of listings from private to rental companies. the website was eway to navigate through and had all of the information needed about the rental properties. The only thing that would make this webiste better would be to include a calendar of availability for each unit with dates blocked out when it is booked. This would save time for the consumer.
Everything else is great.
Visually the site can seem a little “busy” and it can be hard to focus on what you are looking for, but once I get past that I like the layout and the ability to click on thumbnail photos to look closer at properties.
For me and some other folks I have spoken to it is your presence on other sites such as VRBO that are key in the search process. I have rented from you many times but the first two times I found you while searching on VRBO. It was only after that I began going to your site first. My biggest key words were San Diego Beach House Rentals.
While I now know many of your properties for myself, in my early searches I sometimes wished there was more narrative information describing the homes and the layout rather than the same canned statement for each one. BUT on the other hand, the photos ultimately tell more than the words anyway, but as a new searcher I remember wishing I could have both.
I REALLY appreciate the floor plans and virtual tours. Our needs in the rentals are very specific and we cannot afford to make a mistake in renting the wrong property because we misunderstood the configuration. So I would say that those items help to keep me on the site and coming back.
I like the new availability calendar, but in doing searches for properties that fit our needs and are available I do not always trust the results. Rather than doing searches for homes that sleep more than 8 people I need to see properties with specific bed and bath configurations. I do not foresee ever putting someone on a twin bed or window seat bed so that information is not useful to me but shows up in any search, giving me many house options to wade through that are not nearly what I need to find the ones that are. (This is a very nitpicky item and while I might suggest a little better searchability, when I put on my “father and family vacation” hat I see I would really appreciate knowing about the nook and cranny beds).
Thanks
Gerry Dye
The place was perfect for our group. We come from all over the country to meet for a wonderful birthday party, and the home was welcoming, plenty spacious, and filled with most everything we could have needed while there. We’d stay again at a BeachFrontOnly property in a heartbeat. Cheers!
(Broswer compadibility is a must. I’m using Firefox and I’m having font problems, everything is really small.)
When I searched I was looking for: affordable, last minute getaways, beachfront, private, mid-week specials
You have done some nice improvements in the last year on the website.
Always have picts of the livingroom and bedroom at a minimum.
After seaching for available dates it would be good to be able to sort by price. Not clear that you have to click – get a quote in order to see charges. I would think that that the charges would be displayed since the dates have been selected.
Good Search functions keep me on sites like this.
I always look at your website whenever an e mail is received. I initially found your site by looking for beach rentals in Oceanside. I like your Beachfront ONly site.
There is really nothing I think needs to change about this website. I check it weekly and just love looking at all the vacations rentals “dreaming!” Maybe the only thing that would interest me more is more monthly email specials. Other then that I love this website and love staying in your vacations rentals, we are returning vacationers:)
The Mahtesian and Fowler Family
I typed in beachfront rentals to find your site. We have rented through your organization in the past and use your services exclusively when staying in the San Diego area. What keeps us coming back is the excellent customer service, quick replies to questions or concerns, and great selection of home rentals. Your website is easy to navigate and the pictures give an accurate and complete sense of what the home is like. No room for improvement in my opinion. thanks.
key words- beach front, oceanfront, vacation rental
Suggestions- notes if they are baby and kid friendly with cribs, toys, high chairs, etc.
Most important factor – quality of rentals and location on beach
We have been renting from Beachfront Only for many years. The main reason we keep returning is that we live about one hour north and this is a perfect weekend getaway for our family, especially with children who work and attend school. In addition, we have been able to bring along the family dog(s) which is a real plus.
I am so pleased to see that you have floor plans for most of your inventory of homes. It really helps families plan which property is best suited for their group. It would be nice if all units on your site had this feature. The addition of the area map is great. I hadn’t noticed this before, but it is a wonderful addition.
We do a lot of renting all over the United States. I have several things I appreciate when I am looking for a rental property, Things lacking on your website that would be helpful to me as I get ready to plan a vacation are:
- Have your “seasons” specified instead of a range of prices.
I want to know what the rental rate will be without having to make a phone call or send an email. If you have your pricing set up so that a prospective renter can determine the cost on the website, it is very helpful.
- Have “per night” pricing specified when it is available.
I always disliked having to email your company to get per night rates. I know you try to rent full weeks, but most people are unable to do that except during the high season. You might get more short-term renters this way….(Wait a minute…do I really want more people going for the weekend rentals???? MOre competition for properties! Yikes!)
- Have availability information on the website.
Being able to check if a property is available is a must for me when researching out of the area rentals. Most people want to know right away if a home is booked or not. It would take a lot of calendar updating from the office, but it would save on the number of email responses made for availability requests.
- All rental costs, taxes, and fees should be posted on your site.
I really dislike having additional fees tacked on the end of the rental price. Each unti should have the cleaning fee, tax rate and security deposit posted on its page.
- I assume most of the units are still “dog-friendly. I haven’t found anything on your page indicating this. (Did I miss something?)
I have discovered int he past that there are some properties which do not allow dogs. Those which do should have that noted. In addition, the “pet fee” should be disclosed on the website.
Note: In the past we have been quoted the same dog fee for a very small home as we did a large one. This did not make sense to us. Also, it was explained that the fee was for carpet cleaning, but some of the very large homes are mostly tile. At the time the management person we spoke to said this policy needed to be re-evaluated. Has the pricing changed? Is it now based upon each home? I’m just curious about this.
These are the best suggestions I can think of now. You can count on us returning to a Beachfront Only home in the future. Seeing these changes on your website might speed up the process!
Thanks……and please, pick me for the free weekend. We would love to stay in the new property. It has been tempting us since you put it on the site. It is just a bit too pricey for us right now!
Kathy Dumont
BDuKDu@cox.net
Hey, one more suggestion.. Instead of only notifying the winner of the contest, you should reply to all who entered, or perhaps the entire mailing list. It will be a motivating move to those who didn’t respond the first time around!
Kathy Dumont
I have stayed at one of your properties before and loved it. It was one my families favorite vacations. It was nice to be able to just sit back, relax and listen to the ocean, walk along the beach, watch the kids play in the sand and barbeque on the patio. I actually came back from a vacation feeling refreshed and energized, rather than feeling like I needed another vacation to recuperate. I don’t think people know you can actually rent a beach house right on the ocean and have it affordable. We’ve also split the cost with other families. Your website was easy to use and the key words I looked for when searching different sites were “right on the beach” or “right on the sand”, which is what brought me to your website. I also liked to see a lot of property photographs, especially showing the you are right on the ocean & not a block away, which your website has and some of the other sites do not. No one wants to rent a place and not know what it really looks like. That’s why I prefer your site over the others. I also like to see “specials deals”. I actually like receiving your emails on the special prices. The calendar to show availability of your properties is great. I like to be able to check availability on my own and not have to email or call someone.
First of all I would like to take the time to say that I decided to take my 2002 family vacation in San Deigo, CA., and it was the most relaxing experiecne that I had ever had in all my 32 yrs. I searched the internet under San Deigo vacation homes. There is nothing that I can think of that could make the site better at this time, it is “PERFECT”. The most important factor to me was that your site has very clear photos and the 360o feature is the greatest, we see every angle, and when I arrived at the home, the photos didn’t lie it even looked more breath-taking. In conclusion I would like to thank you all for giving us your patrons the opportunity to have some comments.
Words or phrases that we used to find your site were: “beachfront”, “on the sand”, or “beach access”. These phrases were very helpful to us. The only suggestion would be a little more detailed map of your rentals, especially with proximity to one another. We have a very large group and have thought about renting two or three properties next to each other. Maybe an aerial view of the coastline. The most important factor of your website is the great virtual tours or your properties. We have rented with you the last few years after pretty much stumbling on to your website. Your rental company is by far the best we have ever dealt with and your customer service is great.
Hello,
The key words I would use are “oceanfront, beachfront, on the sand”
I really like your website. I think it has a great, simple, clear and easy to use interface. I especially love and appreciate the virtual tours. That really helps to envision what the rentals look like. I would say the great pictures, and of course the beautiful location of the rentals, and the virtual tours are what kept me on the site, and helped me find a great rental, 1023 South Pacific, which I am so excited about.
The only part that was not as user friendly was the availability area. It forces you to send an inquiry and wait for an email reply or call
I would rather be able to see immediately what the available dates are so that I can ponder what would work best without having to pre commit, and make a formal inquiry.
Hope this helps!
Best regards,
Michelle Deniaud
The key words I would use like Beachfront properties for rent, right on the water, Oceanfront rental properties.
I would also like to have links for things to do in and around these rental properties. More pictures of the activities like surfing right in front of 813 pacific st, Oceanside.
Key words for me would have to include: beachfront rental, luxury rental,multi-family rental
sometimes it is diffucult to remember the rentals by address, maybe if they had names it would be easier to remember
We loved your property, spacious and very nicely furnished, not so stuffy that we were worried about the kids breaking decorative pieces all the time.
Terms that would get my attention in an ad would be, ‘perfect for a couples get away’, ‘5 master suites – no couple gets stuck with a bunk bed (very hard to find), gourmet kitchen perfect for cooking clubs, even includes red and white wine glasses
Comments – you switched us from our first choice that wasn’t available and upgraded us. We have rented beach houses with friends for years and really appreciate those types of perks. Also, in Bodega Bay, if they don’t have the house rented on the Sunday we would normally check out, they will give us an extra day. We love Carmel, but will often opt for Bodega Bay to get the extra time.
Your staff was very responsive to all emails which was also a very positive experience. The effort you are making is obvious. We had a wonderful week. Thank you, Debbbie
Hello
I found your company by using Ask.com and typing beach rentals in san diego. I found your website excellent with lots of pictures and readily available calandars of dates of availability(no time wasted making inquiries for already booked properties) I found your prices good and the info on the website up to date and truthful. There were so many options for rentals and I liked that I could search by area. I also found the blurbs about each neighborhood helpful
We had a great time. Thank you so much
Barbara Bartel
key words:hear the waves right outside your door
web: have a section that summerizes each of say 5 or ten rentals in a given areaso that we can compare what you have in the area and then go to the properties that are of interest to us in further detail.
important factor: pics from in the property looking out on the beach and ocean
other:We were impressed at how clean our rental was and how quickly the people responded when we asked for hangers for the closets we had a bunch of new hangers within MINUTES! WELL DONE!!
Thank you for helping us have a great family gathering!!
Bill and Tammy Palmer
key words: sound of the waves
web: a summary section of properties in the same area to compare before going into the individual properties that interest you.
factor: pictures from inside the property looking out over the beach at the water.
comment: We were impressed at how clean our rental was and how quickly the staff responded when we asked for some clothes hangers, they were there for us within minutes! WELL DONE!
Thank you for helping us have a great family gathering!!
Bill and Tammy Palmer
I have typed out our response twice and each time I get your reply is awaiting moderation; when I try to submit, I get please type a reply. It should not be this hard to try to respond to your request for suggestions!!!
Bill and Tammy Palmer
Hello-
My family has stayed two years in a row at your rentals on the beach in Oceanside. It is absolutely wonderful. We have stayed at 815 S. Pacific and 809 S. Pacific. When we stayed at 815 S. Pacific it was still the older rental and we thought it was great. Now you have built that gorgeous new rental!
When I was searching for a beach rental I used keywords like beach front, beach only, beach, beach rentals, oceanside beach rentals, and on the beach rentals. We have been in contact with your company and one other when we were looking for rentals and even though your rentals were just a bit higher priced we liked your website and your service. Your website is very friendly and descriptive. The pictures are great and a person gets a very good idea what type of rental it is from the description and pictures. I look for hours at the rentals and the pictures. Many sites do not have that feature.
We have never had any complaints when staying at your properties. It has always been wonderful. It would be nice if you offered a reduced price for returning clients. I would like to bring my family every year but I have to budget. A slight reduction would be welcomed.
The beach, the condos, everything is wonderful with Beachfront Only. If we could afford to stay the entire summer there… we would!
Bonnie Russell
my family and friends have rented from you (the encinitas properties) and we had such a lovely time! the views are remarkable! no complaints!
the one thing i could suggest for your site is that when you click on a property and look at the images (which are great btw) if you hit the “next” button it takes you to the next property instead of the next image from the place you were checking out… very frustrating
i found you guys by looking up “beachfront” and “encinitas” so it must be working!
Liz David
I found your website by doing a search for beach houses and San Diego. I liked that you had things divided by area and I found your myriad of search criteria very helpful. I especially liked searching by date of availability. I liked being able to see pictures of the properties and your upfront pricing was great.
It was a bit annoying when looking at pictures to have the next arrow take you to the next property.
I think it also would be nice to have more detailed area information available.
We did have a great time on our vacation and will definately take advantage of the return customer discount.
Thank you so much
Barb Bartel
The words “beachfront” were what originally got my attention, as we wanted to be right on the sand. “You don’t have to leave the rental” would also be eye catching.
We recently stayed in two different rentals of yours and were soooo pleasantly surprised. Both places were so well stocked, we could not believe it. We didn’t have to buy anything extra for Grandma to make cupcakes for the kiddos. The places are beautifully and seemingly newly furnished.
The location is unbeatable – literally steps away from the sand. Even with being in the two story we couldn’t have asked for a better location.
Website is very easy to browseiwith great pictures of the inside of the units.
Even though I had to call the office and speak with a live person – I never had to wait and never got lost in the “push #2 for ______”. I would like to see more pictures of the outside of the rentals though and a listing of the square footage would be helpful – especially with your smaller units so you have an idea of how much room – especially when more than one family stays.
Everyone was professional and courteous. Very helpful when we wanted to try and change to a bigger unit. We would definately stay at one of your properties again. HOpe to see you next year.
Keywords I use are beachfront, oceanfront, san diego, carlsbad,oceanside.
Have available calendar online. Much easier.
Love all of your pics online.
Let people know if it is direct beach access from property or if you have to walk to public accesss.
Also, let people kow how far you are from coffee shops, restaurants, etc. I mean as in walking distances. We hate to get back in our cars once we are at your properties, and love to walk.
Everybody wants to be able to look out their window and see a spectacular sunrise and sunset over the ocean and that’s why I look for the words “oceanfront” or “beachfront.” I loved the virtual tour feature of your website because that is what sold me! Your site is user friendly and always up to date which is great for those of us who plan vacations last minute. The only other suggestion I have is maybe you could provide a link to locally recommended restaurants and bars. Other than that, we spent a fabulous week at the beach, thanks to you and your staff! Keep up the great work!
I got to the website through a travel agent, and was very impressed. The virtual tours for our rental were accurate – no surprises. Square footage would be helpful. I found the site to be very user friendly. Very helpful to have the availability posted. We appreciated how fully the unit was stocked, and how much was furnished. We were 101 stair steps from the beach, but the view was fantastic, and the surfers were entertaining. Emphasize how easy it is to get from one place to another. Getting to San Diego attractions was simple. We had a great, relaxing time. Who knew there was a return customer discount. Count me in!
We have stayed in 3 of your properties. I originally located your vacation homes through a search for oceanfront properties, since we wanted a home on the beach. Key words for me are beachfront, oceanfront. I search by location, number of rooms/beds, and price. Pictures are the deciding factor once the first three criteria are met. I especially appreciate the customer service your provide on the phone. I needed a handicap unit for my father and your staff really helped me find the right propert. I also like the email updates and special offers you send us. Great job!
Key words that I look for when renting a beach house are “Beach Front”, “on the beach” beacause I want to be on the beach.
Suggestions to make the website better would be to have a section for the house which describes access issues, i.e. steps/stairs to house, to beach, distance to beach or how accessed and if accessible to those with disability or inability to traverse many stairs or other obstacles, ect.. I would find this helpful as I have to consider if the house would be acceptable for my inlaws who we generally take with us and have physical limitations. Previously, without the ability to go see the house before renting, I had great anxiety if the unit would work; especially considering the rental payment.
One great thing about not knowing some of the finer details was the help I received when I called to get additional information. The woman was very helpful and provided the comfort i needed. Maybe that would be something you could highlight or stress on the website is the ability to call and talk with a with a person.
I do not have any suggestion regarding what keeps me from clicking away from your web site. On the contrary, when I rented from you previously, I found the website to be very easy and provided great information and was easy to use.
If you don’t have them already, I would add search words like “pet-friendly” and “fully-stocked” – I was surprised and pleased that the kitchen had everything imaginable for cooking! The website is great – I was much more impressed with yours than so many others. I’m not all that impressed with the virtual tour – it takes a long time to download and the pictures do the beach-houses justice enough. You may want to consider a “carousel” picture feature. A good example can be found on http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight. Also, since there are SO MANY websites for beach rentals, I would invest in the search-engine concept where the website is highlighted and “bumped up” to the top of the page. Only a few seem to do that and they’re right at the top to view.
WE HAVE STAYED AT ONE OF YOUR PROPERTIES AND COULDN’T ASK FOR MORE!!
USE DIRECTLY-ON-BEACH/SAND – LARGE WINDOWS FOR BEAUTIFUL UP- FRONT VIEWS OF OCEAN. KITCHEN AND FURNISHINGS ARE FIRST CLASS! AMENITIES ARE MORE THAN AT 5-STAR RESORTS
USE PLENTY OF PICTURES OF PROPERTY AND VIEWS OF OCEAN TO SHOW THE PROXIMITY OF THE BEACH.
THE WEB SITE WAS USER-FRIENDLY.
STAFF IS VERY HELPFUL AND VERY FRIENDLY AS WELL.
Used words like “oceanfront rentals” and “san diego” and loved your site! Could use more virtual tours of inside, also from outside looking at condo so you know what your surroundings are going to include. Also had a wonderful experience booking my condo with your staff. They are very friendly and eager to assist.
Key words: West Coast Beach Rentals, San Diego Beach Rentals, California Ocean Front Rentals.
Your website is robust to say the least, the property listings what catches my eye and keeps me on your site. I would suggest that you incorporate the availability calendar of the specific property selected from the home page rather than making users go through the generic availablity process.
My wife and I brought our entire family out this past summer. We rated it as the best vacation ever and are planning on a return. Your proprerty was outstanding, perfect in everyway and your staff is extremely accommodating and professional.
I have done alot of travel searching and look for specific location words, like beachfront or on the water, views, specific destinations, etc. Good quality photos with views of more than just the front of the location, ie, room shots, view shots, outside ammenities like decks, etc are a huge reason why I stay on a site, a picture is truly worth a thousand words. Ease of navigation on the website is also a plus, any glitches and I am “outa there”!
Pick me Pick me! I have lots of AZ relatives that would love a few days on the beach!
BEACHFRONT!! Our group brought 2 groups down to your beachfrount property at 814 A & B. We all wanted to stay forever! Dolphins gave a show the 1st day out in the ocean. We watched from our room!! The unit was very orginized and everything we needed was at our fingertips. The whole group of 24 want to come back again sometime soon. I would love to bring some more family and friends to see the wonderful locations. Blessings, PAM
I used San Diego Vacation Rentals, Encinitas Vacation Rentals in search engines. Your website is effective because it shows the properties easily with pictures of the interiors, exteriors and views. It provided pricing and locations. It is a better website than most i have seen. The other key element is to see availability. Also you seem to be flexible on start dates. That is key. Most others go Saturday to Saturday. You also seem friendly. Alot of other vacations rentals places treat renters poorly. Good work.
1. Keywords I use for searching are Beach front rentals california, on the sand, water front.
2. your website is very user friendly. Virtual tours are great. map links to properties are also helpful. also upto date calendar of available dates.
3. What keeps me on your website is the virtual tours and that the prices are available.
4. other input. A follow up questionaire after our stay would have been appropriate. We had a lot of issues with our stay and some recourse on your part was expected but was not sufficiently offered.
Susan(my wife) and I have rented a piece of paradise from you on two separate occasions. The first time was for a high tide adventure shared by 6 couples for 5 days as we revisited our surfing days and reinvented our love of the beach, friendship and our zest for life as only the beach can offer. The second time my wife and I celebrated our anniversary with her having 4 wonderful friends/soulmates over for four days and with me arriving in time for golf with my buddies at Encinitas Ranch and after shuffling our friends to the ever waiting Coaster reinventing/reignitinng our friendship and love for each other whle sharing walks on the beach, sharing sunsets and the calming sounds of the rolling surf at night filtering into the breeze filled master bedroom. We cannot afford to stay away any longer and will be visiting again in January as winners or soon after as two people that feel like winners when we allow ourselves to bask in the luxury of the most relaxing and deserved vacation/getaway possible! Thank you for being so available, efficient, caring, congenial and affordable. Bill & Susan Kleinz and friends!!
Hello, Thank you for this great contest/giveaway. Glad to enter.
Key words: sandy beach southern california luxury rentals. The web site is great. Having the giveaways will defiently make me want to check your site much more often.
The most important factor that keeps me on the site is the quality of the homes. Makes me feel comfortable.
I watch the news and shop alot. You could make top news video clips and a stock market window available to your viewers and direct links to our favorite shopping products like Clinique, Juicy Couture, UGG, Baby Phat, nice perfumes, etc.
This could save me a trip to the mall which is time I’d rather spend at the vacation house.
Other thoughts are the decor throughout the beach rentals is appropriate. I would enjoy seeing a more elegant approach such as easy, relaxed colors-blues, tans, earth tones. Keep it eye friendly. I feel elegance is an upgrade.
A factor that I struggle with every time I want to book with your company is location and room service. I prefer the Del Mar or Solana Beach area. Room Service would be very nice at all your properties.
P. Linton
We started having a summer family reunions at few years ago. What’s important for us was to be “on the sand” first and foremost but also wanted a first class setting. We found it with Beachfront only. The gourmet kitchen was fabulous. It was beautiful, well stocked, great layout with a view of the ocean. The beach setting was very family friendly. The high ceilings, molding, fans and interior design in every room made it a luxurious beach house.
We opted for the upstairs unit for the view but really missed being able to sit all 10 of us on the patio so at a prime time it separated us. We’ve learned how important this is for us.
Your website had everthing and what kept me on were the photos and virtual tour. The maps are super especially if you’re too far away to check it out the properties. Also love the emails with reduced rates in the off season. Continued success!
Neptune house was the best 60th birthday treat that I could have ever imagined. Surrounded by kids and grandkids, we all had a wonderful week.
My suggestion is that your website needs to appear on the first page when I type in ocean front rentals north San Diego. I did not know the names of all the little towns, but knew I wanted to be in the Del Mar area. Even after typing in beach front rentals north San Diego, it took a few hits and wasted time before I found your website. Once there, I knew I had found exactly what I was looking for. The virtual tours allowed for us to make the perfect choice. Availability also helped to determine which properties we could consider. Many colleagues have since visited your website and are requesting all my vacation pictures as they too are interested in renting your properties! The personnel were very professional and you could emphasize how well-equipped your units are, equal to the best hotel service. Thank you for a wonderful time!
Sincerely, Judith
WE HAD RENTED A PROPERTY LESS THAN ONE HALF BLOCK
FROM YOURS THE YEAR BEFORE AT ALMOST THE SAME PRICE
AMD IT WAS A DUMP, I WAS WORKING IN SAN DIEGO AND
DECIDED TO TAKE A DRIVE UP THE COAST AND HAPPEN TO
RUN INTO TO NANCY AND WAS TALKING TO HER ABOUT OUR
UPCOMING TRIP AND SHE CALLED DEWANDA AND THE REST
IS HISTORY, THE PROPERTY WAS GREAT, EVERYONE
INVOLVED WITH YOUR COMPANY WAS GREAT, AND WE HAD
ONE OUR BEST VACATIONS EVER. THANK YOU
JUST KEEP DOING WHAT YOUR DOING, YOUR THE BEST!
MR .JOHN ROMANOTTO
BEACHFRONT ONLY
THE ONLY PLACE FOR ME!
When looking for a beach rental, I would use words like step on the sand, feel the pacific ocean on your feet and relax with your family and make memories all at the same time. ‘
Enjoy the most relaxing weekend on the sand, with public parking available for guests.
I am looking forward to my 7 day stay in Oceanside.
Your staff are very friendly and courteous.
Thank You
Amy Johnson
I google, California Beachfront. I love your website. I don’t get on the computer much in search of something, this site was very easy to get around. I would love to see a calendar that shows property space for what dates instead of waiting for someone to contact us back to let us know if it’s open or not. We love your properties. I can’t find one reason not to keep coming back every year. Keep up the great work.
Lynda
I love your condos! My family and I have stayed there a few times over the past couple of years. We love the luxury of the condos and the fact they are right on the beach makes it even more spectacular.
Key words I have used are beachfront, oceanside rentals, and on the beach condos. They seem to give me good results.
Some recommendations- hmmmmm. Not many! Everything has been perfect everytime we have rented from you. Maybe a slight “frequent flier” discount might be nice. My family would love to go every year and a slight reduction may make that possible. Otherwise you guys have a great website with great properties to match.
Thanks for everything!
JUST THREE WEEKS AGO, THE BEGINNING OF NOVEMBER, MY FAMILY HAD A RELAXING VACATION AT ONE OF YOUR PROPERTIES IN ENCINITAS.
BECAUSE WE LIVE IN NEBRASKA, WE OFTEN DREAM OF A VACATION ON THE OCEAN.
WHEN I BROWSE THE INTERNET, I WILL TYPE IN “SAN DIEGO BEACH FRONT OR OCEANFRONT VACATION RENTALS” ALSO “SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BEACHFRONT OR OCEANFRONT VACATION RENTALS”.
SO, WHEN I DISCOVERED YOUR WEBSITE BACK IN AUGUST, THE PICTURES WERE DREAMY AND ENTICING. I KNEW RIGHT AWAY THIS WAS THE PLACE TO BOOK OUR VACATION, ESPECIALLY WHEN I DISCOVERED YOU OFFERED TRAVEL INSURANCE, WHICH WAS IMPORTANT TO HAVE FOR THIS VACATION, DUE TO MY MOTHER’S TERMINAL ILLNESS.
AFTER BOOKING OUR VACATION, I WOULD OFTEN FIND MYSELF GOING ONLINE TO LOOK AT THE PICTURES OF THE RENTAL, TO ESCAPE FROM MY REALITY AND ALSO IN ANTICIPATION FOR OUR TRIP.
ONCE WE ARRIVED AT THE CONDO, WE WERE ALL IMMEDIATELY DRAWN TO THE WALL OF SLIDING GLASS DOORS THAT OVERLOOKED THE OCEAN. PULLING OPEN ALL THE BLINDS, THEN ALL THE DOORS. WE WERE AMAZED AT HOW PERFECT THIS CONDO WAS.
YOUR WEBSITE PICTURES HAVE DEPICTED THE RENTAL PERFECTLY.
I SLEPT WITH THE DOORS WIDE OPEN, SO I COULD LISTEN TO THE RYHTHM OF THE OCEAN WAVES AND FEEL THE COOL BREEZE AND OCEAN MIST ACROSS MY FACE. UNFORTUNATELY, WE HAD TO CUT OUR VACATION SHORT A DAY, BUT OUR VACATION RENTAL WAS EXACTLY WHAT WAS NEEDED TO REJUVENATE ALL OF US, AND GIVE ME THE STRENGTH TO GO BACK HOME TO MY MOTHER’S BEDSIDE AT THE HOSPICE HOUSE, TO SUPPORT AND COMFORT HER, IN THE LAST FEW DAYS OF HER LIFE.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO SPENDING MORE VACATIONS WITH BEACHFRONT ONLY RENTALS.
I find it easy to navigate your web site. I especially like the virtual tours.
The added decorative touches to the pictures make the places feel homey.
When looking for a large group, I appreciate knowing if a property is an uppper or lower and the number of bedrooms for both units.
“Beach front only” says it all. I would like to see more virtual tours of the properties though. Also, I was surprised that there wasn’t a follow-up questionnaire e-mail after our vacation. We stayed at 812 Neptune the week before the fires. How close did they get?!
We loved staying with you in Oceanside and look forward to a return vist soon. Beachfront/Oceanfront/On the suft are all key words we look for.
The web site is excellent – I would note units which are (or are not) pet-friendly. There is a terrific selection of different units of all price and size ranges.
Not only was the unit great, even better than anticipated and fully-furnished, including kitchen, beach towels, etc.
We especially liked the binder which listed many attractions from San Diego on up and East. The list of restaurants, stores, etc. was a great bonus. The binder was thorough and very well thought-out.
We really loved it, look forward to visiting again soon – hopefully in January!
Thanks again.
I have literally spent HOURS at a time on your website taking virtual tours of your properties! Our family vacations are more than get-aways, they are lifelong memories for us and our 5 children. Your luxury accommodations are the foundation and framework for a fantastic week of quality time with each other.
Key words that I search for are “luxury, beachfront, five star, oceanview, vaulted ceilings, large bay windows, balconies, secluded, romantic, immaculate, up-scale, prestigious, newly decorated, dog friendly, and spacious”.
A few things that I would like to see on the website is an availability calendar, a seasonal wildlife sighting chart, photos of the surrounding area with attractions, and a mapquest link so that I can better plan my itinerary. Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoy perusing your website. Choosing just one property is so DIFFICULT! We may have to stay at them all one by one.
I Love Vacations…and now that some of our kids are in their 20’s… I love to be able to provide a place for GREAT memories… the beach is always the place to be….Your website is great…the photos are very inviting…the information about how many rooms, etc seems to be terrific…I personnally love the “reduced price” words cuz i love a discount…and any key words like ocean, family vacation, are great. I am looking forward to renting one of your properties soon….Actually I am wanting to plan a 4th of July extravaganza….got any suggestions? jill
We enjoyed our stay in oceanside – condo rocked! loved the stocked kitchen – on site staff helpful, website sold us, keywords – ocean front, luxury ocean front rental. The more pics the better – virtual tour helpful – Thanks, Jeff
We are renting the same place we rented last year. It was great. Great location, furnishings, internet, hot tub and of course views. I found the staff at Beachfront Only to be very helpful and responsive.
PARADISE! that is what we rented. For our family, it was the perfect get away. Your website was easy to find, I was looking for “Beach Front Only” when I began my search, BINGO!
We can’t wait to plan our next visit to one of your properties. Our family lives in the desert (Las Vegas) so a get away to the beach is always on our minds.
Virtual tours (inside and out) would make it easy to pick the perfect rental.
In a search I would include words like, on the beach, and kid friendly. I like sites that have lots of pictures. Pictures of the view from the back and from the front. Pictures showing the building in regards to how accessible it is to the beach. If I found that I was given too many options that weren’t in my criteria I would click away from the website. We have already used Beachfront Only and loved the site. We found and excellent vacation spot and had a beautiful, memorable vacation. Thanks! Dawn
Like the key words “one the beach, and beachfront”, Love your website photos, they really give you more of an idea of what you are getting than a written description. Would like to be able to see availability without emailing, a pop up calendar type thing would be nice.
Would love to stay at the beach in January! Pick me!
Joseph
We love vacationing at your properties. Living right up the coast in Orange County allows us to get away to a great, relaxing destination without all the hassle of airlines and car rentals. Very easy to pack up the car and go.
Here’s a possible suggestion: Perhaps you could devise some sort of incentive program rewarding your customers when they refer your properties to friends and family. Say, 3 free nights at one of your properties for so many nights rented by a referral. The complimentary stays could be scheduled during the off season times when vacationers are few.
We hope to be regulars again soon after we finish updating our own home. Thanks.
-Mary
First of all I thank you from the bottom of our 10 hearts who all stayed at 950 Neptune beach “HOME”. THis was an amazing experience for all of us and we will be back next year for our yoga retreat. EVERYTHING was perfect.
The virtual tour did not do justice to this dream vacation for us and I was so excited just from the web . Everyone who helped me arrange the trip at the office was so accomadating.and friendly. It was easy to make arrangements and the view was breathtaking. Being a 2 year resident of Encinitas and moving back to Chicago made me appreciate and miss Beacons Beach and the best town in CA!
Thank you Thank you, Thank you and See you in 2008!!!
I would recommend your site to everyone. There is nothing in my eyes that I feel you should change.
Nancy
Your website is already better than most, so you are far ahead.
Key words are: beachfront, oceanfront, on the beach, on the sand, luxury beach home
Obviously, the photos of the view are essential and are the first draw. It’s also very important to me that I understand what the backyard or deck is like in addition to the view becasue that is where I am spending a lot of my time. I want to be able to see what kind of chairs and tables and loungers you have out there and other amenities. I like how your pictures enable me to picture myself out there.
Re families with kids for bluff properties — always include pictures that show fence or railing and perhaps include that in comments.
Re inside — Multiple photos and 360 tours are important.
What keeps me on the website is I can see from the overview page showing the initial view photos and brief summary that you have many high quality properties. When I drill in on the details, I love that there are lots of photos and details. At other websites, I give up in disgust because I really can’t get a feel for the property and enough information and so I don’t even want to bother calling them.
Found you through VRBO and then spent HOURS on your beachfrontonly.com site. On VRBO, I would search for listings that had the word “front” in it because it was usually beachfront or oceanfront. On the beachfrontonly website, the main things improvement I would make is to have all the information for each home all in one place. For example, I would find one page which showed some pictures, but then I would go to the checkout site because that part had the videos and additional pictures. I would then also go back to the VRBO site because what I REALLY found useful on that site was a simple list of the prices for the different seasons (and specific dates). Otherwise, to find this information, I would have had to enter each set of dates on the checkout site and update each time. Another recommendation for getting more business would be to note your pet policies and if pets are considered for some units, say that they are pet friendly. Finally, though it was a bit cumbersome to find all the information on the different pages (whether on VRBO, beachfrontonly.com, or the beachfrontonly reservation site), I especially appreciated that you posted all of that information! I also liked being able to see the square footage and the floor plans. This helped me really understand what I was getting. Okay final thought is that since these are all beachfront, having a way to search on the type of beach access (i.e. patio on the beach, steps down to the beach, no direct beach access, etc). Thanks for having such a good site already and incredible properties!
I think your website is very user friendly and my experience with your company was pleasant and we had a great vacation. We look forward to using you again!
I really like your properties and believe everyone’s satisfied with them.
It would be nicer if the website can be found easier because I found your website through other site. Here are some of my suggestions.
1. Internet searching Key words: vacation rental, beach rental, beach house rental, beach weddings. In my case, I just had a vacation plan to beach and searched these words.
2. Suggestions to make user friendly: big & nice pictures on the main home page instead of listing small pictures on the right side. Since your properties are luxury and attractive, show many pictures and virtural tour videos. Traveler’s rating will be good, too.
3. Any other thoughts and suggestions: Have special promotion often. Also, I just married 3 months ago, and if I had known your beach wedding package, I would’ve used it.
We had our wedding at one of your beachfront proterties and it was beautiful. Everyone that I dealt with was very helpful and although there were some bumps along the way in terms of planning and picking which property, it all worked out in the end. It was a little difficult to plan everything without being able to see the actual property before hand, so more virtual tours and very in depth descriptions would be helpful. We have talked about going back for our anniversary- so we would love to win this vacation to start the celebration! Thanks for everything!
“Luxury on the Beach” describes your properties and would attract me to your website. Being able to sit in comfort and gaze out at the ocean, listen to the waves and walk right out onto the beach is what a beach vacation is all about. Many sacrifce luxury to be on the beach but with your properties they don’t have to – so give lots of pictures on your website. Even though I had shared the website with my guests prior to coming, they were amazed that the property was even better than the pictures when they arrived.
While I haven’t read ALL the postings, I agree with the last 30 I did read. Not wanting to sound redundant, I’d like to add that after spending a horrific vacation week at a beachfront property (sight unseen) in 2006 in Oceanside, CA my family decided to drive around and jot down addresses of local rentals that looked appealing. Your rentals were at the top of our list. We phoned the office and were invited to walk-through a recently vacated rental. We gasped at the luxury and cleanliness of the unit and realized we wanted to stay there for our 2007 vacation. We feel we got MORE than what we paid for and will definitely return next year for another awe-inspiring vacation on the beach.
Thanks for bringing my family closer together, through this beachfront vacation. We have an extended family that came for Thanksgiving and what a blessing, to all come together at the same spot that gave joy to everyone! The kids and adults surfed together, played in the sand together, ate good food together, and enjoyed all the amenities around the Oceanside and San Dieago area. We just dropped our busy lives, and came together to appreciate the centralitity and basics of kids having fun!