41 thoughts on “1,300 Jobs Culled At Largest Hawaii Vacation Rental: Shocks Industry”
Dot P
We recently rented from Vacasa for just 2 days and were deluging by their annoying emails that went on and on even after the rental. Also the management costs equaled the rental fees. We would never rent through them again.
Every vacation home owner I know is unhappy with vacasa. They have marginalized local community rental agencies and wages. One owner told me phone support was in Asia and useless. A layoff of 1300 people in Hawaii is bad, but the local agencies will hire them back. The vacation market in Hawaii is strong. Expedia and Airbnb surveys show that vacation travel is very important to consumers in 2023, and they are still willing to spend $ on domestic and international locations. Mahalo and thanks, Mark
I wanted to take my family on an inter island vacation in a couple months. However, with hotel costs as high as they are it’s cheaper to fly and stay on the mainland than it is to do an inter island vacation.
Well the problem is they do not know how to manage units . They dont stress to old elderly owners that do not want to put a pennie to update there (1970) units that are dated with old furniture an bedding etc. But owner still charges like its updated. The management teams have no experience in manage owners .These are commercially run places an that’s what’s missing.
Our Maui condo rental agency sold out to Vacasa. We changed agents as quickly as we could. We have decades of experience both owning and managing rental properties, mostly on the mainland. Their customer service was terrible. We switched to a local company and the difference has been night and day.
To me it sounds like Vacasa has a good, profitable, business model, however, they have spent too much time growing while not dedicating enough time and effort to control their spending and other essential controls which are plaguing the business. To that end if they don’t address those problems they will be in receivership within 18 months. The Hawaiian Market “Could” become a losing proposition within the next few months depending upon a Court Decision of a case that should begin within the month pitting Oahu Council’s unreasonable Overreach against STR Owners Property Rights. If the Property Owners are Successful the STR Market will continue and Hopefully can recover losses incurred. If they lose the Owners, STR’S, and Tourists Lose.
After dealing with Vacasa once, I would Never secure a rental through them again. There is no way to deal with one individual, no common thread with an issue. Had to explain problem at least 10 times to 10 different people before issued resolved. No one bothered to contact me after writing a letter of complaint. Love dealing with other local Hawaii property management companies.
Our experience was the same. They refuse to give any documentable information. No last names, no direct phone numbers, no titles, never take any responsibility or action. Terrible company.
Vacasa is the worst. I reported them to the North Carolina Real Estate Commission and NCREC “slapped their fingers” no penalties. Vacasa put the blame on housekeeping, but problems obviously were not them. The property had broken (slum-like) furniture in almost every room, roaches, and they ignored our complaints. Rented for 2 wks and left after 1. Had to fight to get money for week we left. They tried to gaslight us – after we left, they replaced some furniture and said how wonderful it was and we missed out! Vacasa doesn’t treat owners or renters fairly by outrageous charges with no real value. They buy mom and pop real estate companies removing any real choice for renters. Avoid them! Never had a problem w/VRBO or AirB&B in 20 yrs.
Vacasa has been our property manager for the last several years. We live part time in our Poipu condo and rent when not there.
Our local contact, Daniel, has been a dream and become a friend. We know our cleaning crew and they are fantastic. All of our reviews have been 5 star.
We would not be able to keep track of all the Hawaii taxes and fees nor have the world wide advertising abolities on our own.
Please remember the Kauai Vacasa employees are local. Bashing the corporation hurts local families.
I just rented a home in Truckee, CA for a family ski trip. Booked it through VRBO but managed by Vacasa. Essentially $1000 for the three nights and $1000 in fees and taxes. Got an email saying I could extend my stay an extra night for $165. Sounds great until you click to actually book the extra night. Ends up $577 with the taxes and fees for the extra night. It has gotten really outrageous!
Due to mismanagement,overpriced or predatory bookings a lot of “vacationers” are cutting back on booking holidays and purchases in Hawai’i
(exhorbatant fees & taxes are the most add-ons. 😱
Sounds like California has an outrageous amount of taxes added to the rental properties, another reason why I stay away! Not knowing where the Fees are going I am “guessing” that some are imposed by the Local Taxing Authority, everyone must get in on the Feeding Frenzy!
Hawaii be begging the so called low Enders to come back soon. 1 percent have the money to all your chips in on the 1 percent when there are much better options around is getting a bit risky. What about all the big conventions I know there was a dentist convention had like 5000 or so come into Waikiki. Are the attendees supposed to pay and then get reimbursed?
I used to live in O’ahu and still have family there. That being said I now live on the East coast. With all that is going on in Hawaii and the costs to vacation there the Caribbean is a
Better option for an Island vacation. I am by no means comparing the culture as I have Relatives with Hawaiian blood. I am just comparing pricing
Vacations in the Caribbean are Awesome and depending upon where you go an”All Inclusive” 10 day vacation including Round Trip Airfare costs about $1,000.00 per person. We can have 3 Vacations for the price of One in Hawaii. Why should anyone visit Hawaii frequently just to waste money on everything that’s overpriced and being told that you’re not welcome? Think about That!
Airbnb is a search and booking engine, for which it takes a huge fee and offers little else.
Most Airbnb-listed rentals are available through another booking route, such as a local property manager – or, for Vacasa properties, Vacasa’s own web site.
If visitors only knew the difference they would choose vacation rentals that are owner managed and have a few dozen 5 star reviews on VRBO and/or AirBnb.
On every rental room or rental property visitors are forced to pay ridiculous, unwarranted and unethical sales tax, occupancy tax, county fees, city fees, resort fees, miscellaneous, readily undefined fees and in certain cases cleaning fees.
Hawaii is a world class, beautiful place to visit, to explore and to return to time and time again but the continuing economic burden placed on visitors cannot continue without some negative effects.
Visitors will go elsewhere. They have a choice.
Hawaii needs to change leadership in a big way. Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening anytime soon and the consequences may be jobs lost in the tourism sector in a big way.
5 percent is world class 95 percent is a dump. Seriously take away the high end resort areas kahala and a few others and it really is no better than Detroit with a beach a few miles away.
Do the BOH writers have a beef with Vacasa or have an undisclosed conflict of interest? I’m on FB and can tell you than the Vacasa Fraud Victim Page has little activity — of course, this hit piece may change that. Also, Yelp is an unreliable barometer for customer satisfaction — we all know that typically only disgruntled customers post on it.
Having said all that, I will probably be accused of being a Vacasa shill. I can tell you that I am definitely not. Have I used Vacasa in the past? Yes, with few issues. Would I use them again? I guess it depends on where I am traveling and what my needs are. But this article will not deter me.
We recently rented from Vacasa for just 2 days and were deluging by their annoying emails that went on and on even after the rental. Also the management costs equaled the rental fees. We would never rent through them again.
Every vacation home owner I know is unhappy with vacasa. They have marginalized local community rental agencies and wages. One owner told me phone support was in Asia and useless. A layoff of 1300 people in Hawaii is bad, but the local agencies will hire them back. The vacation market in Hawaii is strong. Expedia and Airbnb surveys show that vacation travel is very important to consumers in 2023, and they are still willing to spend $ on domestic and international locations. Mahalo and thanks, Mark
I wanted to take my family on an inter island vacation in a couple months. However, with hotel costs as high as they are it’s cheaper to fly and stay on the mainland than it is to do an inter island vacation.
Well the problem is they do not know how to manage units . They dont stress to old elderly owners that do not want to put a pennie to update there (1970) units that are dated with old furniture an bedding etc. But owner still charges like its updated. The management teams have no experience in manage owners .These are commercially run places an that’s what’s missing.
I see opportunity for a great operator.
Our Maui condo rental agency sold out to Vacasa. We changed agents as quickly as we could. We have decades of experience both owning and managing rental properties, mostly on the mainland. Their customer service was terrible. We switched to a local company and the difference has been night and day.
To me it sounds like Vacasa has a good, profitable, business model, however, they have spent too much time growing while not dedicating enough time and effort to control their spending and other essential controls which are plaguing the business. To that end if they don’t address those problems they will be in receivership within 18 months. The Hawaiian Market “Could” become a losing proposition within the next few months depending upon a Court Decision of a case that should begin within the month pitting Oahu Council’s unreasonable Overreach against STR Owners Property Rights. If the Property Owners are Successful the STR Market will continue and Hopefully can recover losses incurred. If they lose the Owners, STR’S, and Tourists Lose.
After dealing with Vacasa once, I would Never secure a rental through them again. There is no way to deal with one individual, no common thread with an issue. Had to explain problem at least 10 times to 10 different people before issued resolved. No one bothered to contact me after writing a letter of complaint. Love dealing with other local Hawaii property management companies.
Our experience was the same. They refuse to give any documentable information. No last names, no direct phone numbers, no titles, never take any responsibility or action. Terrible company.
We rented at Mahina Surf for years. Then Vacasa took over
Fees are high, rent has doubled per day
No more Vacasa for us
Vacasa is the worst. I reported them to the North Carolina Real Estate Commission and NCREC “slapped their fingers” no penalties. Vacasa put the blame on housekeeping, but problems obviously were not them. The property had broken (slum-like) furniture in almost every room, roaches, and they ignored our complaints. Rented for 2 wks and left after 1. Had to fight to get money for week we left. They tried to gaslight us – after we left, they replaced some furniture and said how wonderful it was and we missed out! Vacasa doesn’t treat owners or renters fairly by outrageous charges with no real value. They buy mom and pop real estate companies removing any real choice for renters. Avoid them! Never had a problem w/VRBO or AirB&B in 20 yrs.
AirB&B is no better, my friend, although more responsive to guests than hosts
Vacasa has been our property manager for the last several years. We live part time in our Poipu condo and rent when not there.
Our local contact, Daniel, has been a dream and become a friend. We know our cleaning crew and they are fantastic. All of our reviews have been 5 star.
We would not be able to keep track of all the Hawaii taxes and fees nor have the world wide advertising abolities on our own.
Please remember the Kauai Vacasa employees are local. Bashing the corporation hurts local families.
I just rented a home in Truckee, CA for a family ski trip. Booked it through VRBO but managed by Vacasa. Essentially $1000 for the three nights and $1000 in fees and taxes. Got an email saying I could extend my stay an extra night for $165. Sounds great until you click to actually book the extra night. Ends up $577 with the taxes and fees for the extra night. It has gotten really outrageous!
Due to mismanagement,overpriced or predatory bookings a lot of “vacationers” are cutting back on booking holidays and purchases in Hawai’i
(exhorbatant fees & taxes are the most add-ons. 😱
Probably trying to recover their 2 BillionDollar losses from you. (Yes, taxes & “The Fees” are way out of the ballpark)😡
Sounds like California has an outrageous amount of taxes added to the rental properties, another reason why I stay away! Not knowing where the Fees are going I am “guessing” that some are imposed by the Local Taxing Authority, everyone must get in on the Feeding Frenzy!
That is good news
Hawaii be begging the so called low Enders to come back soon. 1 percent have the money to all your chips in on the 1 percent when there are much better options around is getting a bit risky. What about all the big conventions I know there was a dentist convention had like 5000 or so come into Waikiki. Are the attendees supposed to pay and then get reimbursed?
I used to live in O’ahu and still have family there. That being said I now live on the East coast. With all that is going on in Hawaii and the costs to vacation there the Caribbean is a
Better option for an Island vacation. I am by no means comparing the culture as I have Relatives with Hawaiian blood. I am just comparing pricing
Vacations in the Caribbean are Awesome and depending upon where you go an”All Inclusive” 10 day vacation including Round Trip Airfare costs about $1,000.00 per person. We can have 3 Vacations for the price of One in Hawaii. Why should anyone visit Hawaii frequently just to waste money on everything that’s overpriced and being told that you’re not welcome? Think about That!
Airbnb is a search and booking engine, for which it takes a huge fee and offers little else.
Most Airbnb-listed rentals are available through another booking route, such as a local property manager – or, for Vacasa properties, Vacasa’s own web site.
Use Airbnb to search and then book directly.
“We hear the words but no longer hear the music.” Thanks for the laugh, and I am stealing that! It’s such an all-purpose phrase, isn’t it?
If visitors only knew the difference they would choose vacation rentals that are owner managed and have a few dozen 5 star reviews on VRBO and/or AirBnb.
On every rental room or rental property visitors are forced to pay ridiculous, unwarranted and unethical sales tax, occupancy tax, county fees, city fees, resort fees, miscellaneous, readily undefined fees and in certain cases cleaning fees.
Hawaii is a world class, beautiful place to visit, to explore and to return to time and time again but the continuing economic burden placed on visitors cannot continue without some negative effects.
Visitors will go elsewhere. They have a choice.
Hawaii needs to change leadership in a big way. Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening anytime soon and the consequences may be jobs lost in the tourism sector in a big way.
5 percent is world class 95 percent is a dump. Seriously take away the high end resort areas kahala and a few others and it really is no better than Detroit with a beach a few miles away.
Do the BOH writers have a beef with Vacasa or have an undisclosed conflict of interest? I’m on FB and can tell you than the Vacasa Fraud Victim Page has little activity — of course, this hit piece may change that. Also, Yelp is an unreliable barometer for customer satisfaction — we all know that typically only disgruntled customers post on it.
Having said all that, I will probably be accused of being a Vacasa shill. I can tell you that I am definitely not. Have I used Vacasa in the past? Yes, with few issues. Would I use them again? I guess it depends on where I am traveling and what my needs are. But this article will not deter me.