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Home Away from Home (Really!)
9 Reasons to Go the Vacation Rental Route the Next Time You Travel
HomeAway also contrasted a three-bedroom vacation rental private condo with the same hotel, and the savings were even more dramatic: The cost of the condo was $900 the entire seven nights – including everyone. "Bottom line?" Karpinski says. "If you're traveling with three or more people, vacation rentals are a far better value than hotel rooms."
Price isn't everything, of course. Karpinski says there are many, many other reasons to choose a vacation rental house – or condo or chalet or cabin or villa or farmhouse – over a hotel. Here are 9 examples:
1. First of all, there are plenty of vacation homes to choose from. More and more people are realizing their dream of owning a second home – and renting it out when they're not using it. That's good news for travelers like you. In fact, there's a vacation home within a two-hour drive of most metropolitan areas in the United States. There are plenty of others in Europe, the Caribbean, Mexico and Central and South America as well. And by visiting respectable Web sites – such as HomeAway.com or its affiliates VRBO.com, CyberRentals.com, GreatRentals.com, or Holiday-Rentals.co.uk – you can quickly find the one that's right for you.
"Over 130,000 properties across 100 countries are listed on HomeAway and Vacation Rentals by Owner (VRBO), ranging from $400 a week budget properties to $25,000 a week luxury homes," says Karpinski. My point is this: you can find exactly what you're looking for no matter where your vacation takes you. Even if you have to go to a small town for, say, a relative's wedding, there's probably a vacation home in the vicinity. Often, it's far better than staying at the local motel or worse yet, staying with family!"