Shawn F.
AVOID RAILEY VACATIONS!
We booked “Serenity Now” from December 26–29, 2025 for a family Christmas gathering at a total cost of $9,432.30. Because of everyone’s schedules, our main family events were planned for Friday evening and Saturday, since most family members were leaving Sunday morning. Unfortunately, this turned into one of the worst rental experiences we’ve ever had. When we arrived at the scheduled 4:00 PM check-in time, the property was completely unready and still being cleaned. We were informed the previous renters had trashed the home and failed to check out on time, which delayed everything even further. At 4 PM, only the downstairs bedrooms were finished. The rest of the house was dirty and unusable. The main house was not completed until 6:35 PM, and the pool house/game room area still wasn’t finished after that. This completely ruined the first night of our family gathering. We paid nearly $10,000 — roughly THREE TIMES the normal rental rate — specifically to enjoy the house and amenities during a very limited family window together. Instead, we spent the evening waiting on cleaners while unable to unpack, gather, host events, or use the amenities we paid for. By the time the property was finally clean enough to use, everyone unpacked and simply went to bed. To make matters worse, the pre-lit Christmas tree that had been promised was never provided. We immediately contacted Railey Vacations and requested a refund for the first night since we were unable to fully occupy or enjoy the property at the contracted check-in time. They refused. What’s especially frustrating is that their own rental terms state they “take pride in ensuring our rental homes are fully prepared for your stay, every time” and that their mission is to “always meet and exceed your highest level of vacation expectations.” Neither happened. After weeks of back-and-forth with highly unprofessional employees they still refused to issue any refund. We filed a BBB complaint, and Railey waited until after the response deadline before finally offering an insulting $400 refund for a nearly $10,000 rental experience that started with a completely unusable property. We then disputed the charge with our credit card company, and Railey still refused to reimburse us for the lost first night. We even asked why the previous renters — the ones who caused the delay and trashed the property — were apparently not held financially responsible for our lost time. We never received an answer… so we can only assume Railey did charge them and kept the additional funds. We’ve rented from Railey several times before, and honestly, the experiences have never matched the “luxury” pricing they charge. But this experience was by far the worst. This company clearly cares more about protecting revenue than customer experience. They had every opportunity to make this right and chose not to. We will NEVER rent from Railey again, and we strongly encourage others to avoid them as well.



