Review of VRBO.Com

I have vacationed for the past seven years down in the Charleston area of South Carolina. We have either stayed with family or rented though a resort company. Our lodging with relatives sort of came to a screeching halt as we increased the size of our family through additional children as well as adopting a dog. Our ability to use the same resort company had changed now especially with the purchase of a dog. I did not want this additional member of the family to be the reason we would stop visiting one of our favorite travel destinations. I searched the internet and came up empty as my queries were based on pet friendly lodging. I was about ready to give up when a friend referred me to try a website called vrbo.com which the acronym stands for “vacation rental by owner”.

VRBO.com is a website that advertises vacation homes on behalf of the property owners. VRBO.com is global and provides information on just about any destination one can think of. The site is pretty easy to navigate through as the opening page shows a picture of the world and you simply click on country or continent and click down even further to find the desired vacation destination of your choice. Once you get to the city or state page, there is then a listing of the cities or area of your choosing. The site will also display key icons that show whether the residence is pet friendly and also show other critical information such as a credit card icon which displays types of payment accepted by the owner. Just about every residence listed displays pictures of the unit with thorough descriptions. It is important to know what amenities to the residence are available and the listings provide such information. Some of the listings even include a short video taken by the owner which covers most rooms of the rental unit. The site offers more information such as clickable calendars that show availability and rates.

My recommendation to those travel surfers looking for a good buy is to read the amenities carefully and look for reviews or recommendations which are usually listed on the property site. I rented through vrbo.com in the spring and the listing had only one recommendation compared to the other listings that had several. Despite the single reference, I went ahead and rented and actually enjoyed the stay very much as I will keep this villa number for future vacation trips. Perhaps I was lucky, but the owner had another listing in another state that had numerous positive comments. I just assumed there quality of vacation properties were good no matter where I rented.

The prices for those units rented through vrbo.com can be mixed as some owners rent strictly by the week and some are monthly. It is most importantly the price of residences that warranted a positive review of vrbo.com. Overall, I think the unit prices offered up through vrbo listings are much cheaper than those listings advertised by the large commercial resorts. For example we paid $1000 for a one bedroom villa compared to $700 for a two bedroom villa on the same street which was just a short walk to the ocean. In my honest opinion I think the owner probably could have hiked up their price another hundred dollars or so and still would be undercutting the competition. Needless to say, there was tremendous savings on my part. If looking to cut vacation costs during this bleak economic cycle, it might be worth giving vrbo a try.