Vacation Rentals...Need Advice..

[McLovin]

Parents and I have been discussing getting a rental property during Thanksgiving week. We have never attempted to do this before but it seemed like a worthwhile idea, so we figured we'd give it a shot.

They have dogs and want to bring them with so I've been looking at places in Southern CA that have access to dog friendly beaches.

I found a place on VRBO.com that looks promising and the owner only wants 20% down plus a $300 deposit.

Has anyone had any experience with a service like VRBO.com or could suggest one? I was also looking at flipkey.com which is done by tripadvisor.com, a site I am familiar with and use regularly, but they only have 1 bedroom bungalows.

 

[Soundmanred]

Just watch the documentary "Summer Rental".
It will answer all of your pertinent questions.

 

[vi edit]

VRBO is awesome. I've used it close to half a dozen times and each time has been very good. My friends that have used it have had similar experiences. It's changed how I vacationed. No more hotels for me. Houses/condo's all the way now.

 

[weadjust]

VBRO,com is very popular for gulf coast beach rentals in the Southeast.

 

[McLovin]

Sweet! I appreciate the advice fellas. I got nervous finding only negative reviews about this site and its parent company/site.

ATOT comes through again.

 

[RichieZ]

i've used vrbo before and used to work at airbnb, its a fantastic way to travel

 

[Blackjack200]

are VRBO and Airbnb basically the same thing?

 

[OutHouse]

Parents and I have been discussing getting a rental property during Thanksgiving week. We have never attempted to do this before but it seemed like a worthwhile idea, so we figured we'd give it a shot.

They have dogs and want to bring them with so I've been looking at places in Southern CA that have access to dog friendly beaches.

I found a place on VRBO.com that looks promising and the owner only wants 20% down plus a $300 deposit.

Has anyone had any experience with a service like VRBO.com or could suggest one? I was also looking at flipkey.com which is done by tripadvisor.com, a site I am familiar with and use regularly, but they only have 1 bedroom bungalows.

i use VBRO and Homaway and i think they are owned by the same company... I got my vacation rental on a bahama island for next week through VBRO and the owner has been awesome. she is canadian and answers every email i send her and i have never had any issues with renting through either site, or the owners who list their rental.

 

[OutHouse]

Sweet! I appreciate the advice fellas. I got nervous finding only negative reviews about this site and its parent company/site.

ATOT comes through again.

all vbro is is a listing site. you deal with the owner when it comes to payment and scheduling.

 

[vshah]

^yup. with airbnb they handle the payments.

 

[Qacer]

My first AirBnb experience was for a flat in Paris. Way cheaper than a hotel and had a nice view of the Eiffel tower. The place had good reviews and nice pictures. But when I got to the place, it looked a bit run down and the bed was really hard on my back. Plus, it felt smaller than what the picture actually conveyed.

However, I'm not a picky person. The location was great, and the host was awesome. I didn't get to see her. She just left the keys under the mat. But she was very responsive to my e-mails. She was also very helpful with questions.

 

[Sheep]

I used VRBO for a house rental in Oahu. Place was SWEET and about two blocks from the ocean--way better than any hotel we could have booked for a similar price.

 

[Leros]

I've used VRBO twice. I rented a cabin in Taos a few years ago when I went skiing. We got a really nice 5 bedroom cabin for $200 a night. On another trip, I rented a cabin that was on a woman's alpaca farm. That was really fun.

 

[Ns1]

Dog friendly beaches = Huntington or in Ventura. There are no dog friendly beaches in la.