Vacation Rentals By Owner
Traveling with my family, I prefer staying in houses to sterile hotel rooms. Eating out gets tired after a few nights, and I like to have a full kitchen to make a home-cooked meal. If we’re visiting a city where friends live, we’ll cook a meal and have them over. It’s more comfortable and feels homier.
VRBO.com is an excellent means of finding reasonably priced accommodations, in the U.S. and abroad, that are often larger and more comfortable than hotel rooms, at a lower price. I’ve used it to find great short-term vacation rentals in California, Michigan and Florida. Making arrangements with the homeowners or property managers is easily handled through e-mail, and a deposit is usually required. You do have to clean up after yourself a little more than you would in a hotel room, but the savings and access to a city’s residential neighborhoods rather than its commercial districts make it a worthwhile exchange.
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Drew
We've used VRBO three times (once for a weekend place in West Virginia, once for a week in London on vacation, and most recently a week in Paris) and have had great experiences each time. The additional space to relax in, coupled with a full kitchen for low-cost meals at home, really make the rentals a better bet than a hotel room. Each of the three owners took payment and deposit through paypal, which added a level of security for us if the rental didn't work out.
I don't think we'll ever go back to staying in hotels if VRBO options exist. To be honest, there's also a little bit of fantasy involved: you can feel like you own a place in a vacation destination, if only for a few days! I highly recommend it.
Blackbeard
We did it for a week down in Falmouth on Cape Cod, Mass. We had a bunch of people pitch in to stay for different nights and the whole thing was very affordable. Great weather, bikes in the garage, and the beach was only 5 minutes away. Totally worth being able to not stumble into a hotel at 4 AM and instead have your own bed to sleep in.
Andie
I've used vrbo a number of times--first time for my honeymoon which was a raving success! But in addition to being a great resource for your own vacation, I've found it a good resource for people coming in to town. I had family coming into town and not enough room in my own apartment, so for the price of a reasonable hotel room, I rented a small 2 BR 1 bath bungalow about 2 miles from where I live. My brothers and their wives stayed there while my parents stayed with us. We grilled out every night at the rental, had a great time, cheaper, tasty eats, and no one sleeping on the floor.
Jason
VRBO is a good resource and alternative to traditional hotels, but beware the 'cleaning fee' that is often added to the rates. Many are $60 or $75 flat, which is okay for longer term stays, but can offset the savings for just a weekend stay.
c-dub
We used VRBO for a trip to Prague and Budapest a couple of years ago. It was absolutely wonderful. The apartments were extremely nice, in quiet little neighborhoods, and the owners were very helpful. We felt more like residents than tourists. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
Mark
My family has booked with VRBO at least 5 different times. Every time it's been a great success. We literally recieved our paperwork for our most recent rental last week. In our expereince the houses are always as good, if not better than advertised and you simply can not get a better rate for a large group of people.
Phyllis
Agreed that staying in your own condo or house on vacation is much better than a hotel room! We use a similar site for our vacations. It's called ScenicRentals.com - Vacation Rentals. Basically the same concept however it's MUCH easier to navigate their website than VRBO.
Artemis Fact
We've used VRBO with great success in Rome, Paris, London. It's much cheaper than 2 hotel rooms and with a kitchen, breakfast for the kids is simple. It also embeds you in the community- you are free of the hotel bubble.
Jess
Another happy user of VBRO! We've used them five times and have been very happy each time.
My tip: we usually send the owner an email before booking asking if they could tell us a bit more about their property. The response to this introductory email has given us good insight on whether or not we want to do business with them.
Davey
Is the house empty during the time you rent it, or are you sharing space with the owners sometimes?
c-dub
Davey, it's empty. Sometimes, you meet the owners, but the house or apartment is vacant when you rent it.
Jim
Another good site for urban short term rentals is Roomorama.com. (In the interest of full disclosure, I do work with em)...Theres more of a focus on higher/mid end properties in urban locations than some of the vacation rental sites. Just thought I'd let people know.
Jim
Michael Callahan
VRBO is nice but sometimes frustrating because it is difficult to get in touch with owners. http://www.vacarenter.com/ is a vacation rental by owner site that allows you to book immediately. Great new concept!