[FlamingoFlo]

We are considering doing a lot of traveling in the US. Has anyone had any experience with vacation rental by owner, good or bad?

Thanks

[Topspinmo]

Ok, I'll bite? Why is ****????

[tomwed]

I Googled it and this is what followed:.


Your search - **** - did not match any documents.

Suggestions:

Try different keywords.

[FlamingoFlo]

I typed in initials and good bleeped. Vacation rentals by owner

[redwitch]

Works great for folks looking to rent in TV. Probably good in any community that has seasonal rentals such as ski resort areas and the like. I'm not so sure I would trust it for city rentals. Think it would be 50-50 to be a possible scam.

[justjim]

Haven't gone that route while traveling the U.S. but we never stayed more than three nights in one place---we were traveling and taking in a lot in a month. Of course, used hotels and motels---chain types like Hilton down to Best Western.

[GeoGeo]

We have rented several times. Some good experiences and some not what we thought. Have stayed in some nice places on the water. Have stayed in one that had a funky smell, one that the guy didn't tell we would not have any heat and that he was replacing the furnace while we were staying there, one place had a refrigerator that froze things. No problems with the owners (except trying to get our money back because of the furnace deal). Hard to tell from the photos. And you can't always go on what the reviews say. It is like staying anywhere else. Sometimes it is a super great experience, sometimes okay, and sometimes you wish you stayed somewhere else.

[GeoGeo]

Did I miss something? An earlier post mentioned typing in initials. What initials? Are you referring to the website:
http://www.****.com/

[TJ_Woody]

Vee aR Bee Oh has a "colorful" reputation. if you want to find out more about them and some people's experiences with them try Steve Elliott's web site. It's elliott dot org and do a search with Vee aR Bee Oh. I will say I've never used them, but it appears that the problem is not with the site itself, but with owners who don't necessarily live up to their promises/visitor's expectations.

[CFrance]

We have used VEE R B O, Flip Key, Home Away, and always had good experiences. Even used them for three European countries. Just remember you get what you pay for, so anything ridiculously cheap probably has some problems.

The thing I like about the first one I mentioned is the fact that you can scroll down the listings and tell right away which ones take pets. We don't like to eat out every day and enjoy having more room and better seating than a hotel room affords.

Our only bad experience was an overnight rental in France at the Le Mans 24 auto race (for our son) through Air bnb, but they refunded our total amount immediately. We had a stellar 2br/2bath penthouse apartment through them in NYC while attending a family wedding.

[mentoj]

It's www.****.com. As owners, we had several vacation homes in Kissimmee and used them with great success. We were also on HomeAway: Vacation Rentals, Beach Houses, Cabins & More We have since sold our homes but as travelers we would use both sites if we wanted to stay in vacation homes. There are also reviews from guests and most of the time you are booking directly from the owner.

[mentoj]

The site is the first letter of each of the words in the name. vacation rental by owner

[beachx4me]

Stayed some years ago with some friends in a ****, nice place and no problems. It just happened to be in New Smyrna Beach.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by mentoj

It's www.****.com. As owners, we had several vacation homes in Kissimmee and used them with great success. We were also on HomeAway: Vacation Rentals, Beach Houses, Cabins & More We have since sold our homes but as travelers we would use both sites if we wanted to stay in vacation homes. There are also reviews from guests and most of the time you are booking directly from the owner.

I also like it when the home is part of a group of homes managed by a company, as there is continuity and a degree of professionalism in dealings. You can often pay by credit card, the cleaning of the house is overseen by the management company, any problems with the rental home are fixed promptly, etc.

Either way, we've had very good experiences.

[Kahuna32162]

We use the site almost exclusively for getaways...just got back from a week on Amelia Island at a great condo found on V.R.B.O. Have also rented thru them for Hilton Head, Lake Lure, Gatlinberg, a lake cottage in Lower Michigan and an oceanfront condo in Maui. The homes are always immaculate and well equipped with everything you would need. Be smart, read the reviews and book early, many of the really good ones are reserved months in advance.