Monday, August 31, 2015

Using Short Term Vacation Rental Agencies




There are many online vacation rental agencies that list millions of short-term rentals worldwide, allowing for more competitive and cheaper rentals. In some cases, the rentals are rooms in a house; sometimes it's the entire house, sometimes fabulous mansions. In most cases private owners are the ones listing their places in the online sites.

We used Home Away to find a wonderful apartment in the Saint Germain District of Paris, right across River Seine.

It was a flawless transaction although I should mention that I was diligent in checking the reviews of the apartment. One is advised to check the reviews carefully and to make sure there are many reviews, not just a few, because there are scammers who list in these agencies. I also called and talked to the owner/manager directly, and was careful to pay my deposit with a credit card. I had copies of all email-correspondence as well.




Aside from Paris, we also rented a house in Maui, Hawaii, via VRBO, still another vacation rental agency. We have friends who have used VRBO to rent houses in San Miguel Allende, Mexico, successfully. And my son used Airbnb in Europe, without any hassles at all.

But as mentioned, you need to do a bit of research about the owner/manager of the place you want to rent, making sure they are legitimate. The best way to do that is to read their feedback. You should also run a separate online search of their names to see if there are complaints from people. Never pay in cash, but use a credit card or Paypal, and document your transaction.

I'm sharing pictures of the places we successfully rented in Paris and Maui from online vacation rental agencies. They were both perfect for our needs.





Read also
Travel France: The Most Precious Images of the Trip to Paris

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