Renting Vacation Homes: Tips for Budget Family Travel Planners

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A lot of families are harried, with work, stress, and over-scheduled children getting in the way of genuine familyRental Properties for Budget Family Vacations (homeaway.com) togetherness.  We often depend on family vacations to bring us together. Be it relaxing by a lake or actively exploring a new country, an annual family vacation is one of the best ways to build strong family ties. It’s a shame that economic worries are relegating annual family trips to the backburner: Those valued experiences should never be disregarded in their importance. With budget being a concern, vacation rental properties provide a money-saving alternative. I spoke with Justin Halloran, VP of Global Initiatives for HomeAway, about tips regarding rental vacation houses for families on a budget.

Many families are reducing or even eliminating their travel budgets this year.  What are the benefits of vacation rental properties for families?

With vacation rentals, the space is key for families:  Kids can run freely. Parents can enjoy their own room and don’t have to split the kids between two double beds and if you’re traveling with older kids you are saved the expense of booking multiple hotel rooms.   I personally find having a kitchen the best feature in vacation rentals.  Kitchens allow you to save a lot of money by avoiding the outrageous costs of mini bars, room service and eating out for every meal. Staying in for breakfast and letting the kids stay in their pajamas is just so much easier and more fun.  Plus, when you recall your favorite family vacations you never picture your family crammed into a hotel room.  But if you stay in a vacation rental, I bet you will have lasting memories of your family sitting around the table during a meal, talking, laughing and feeling a true sense of relaxation and contentment.

HomeAway offers these cost-cutting tips for that family vacation:

* Stay closer to home- drive instead of fly
* Stay in a vacation rental instead of a hotel
* Travel with extended family or another family to split costs and double the fun
* Save money and your sanity by preparing meals in your vacation rental instead of always going to a restaurant
* Check HomeAway.com for Special Offers and VacationRentals.com for deals and freebies

What are some of the most popular places for HomeAway vacation homes for families?

rent a vacation property in Hawaii (homeaway.com)Vacation rentals are always a better option in accommodations for traveling families because they get come with more privacy, amenities and multiple bedrooms. However, some of the most-popular destinations for family travel include: Destin and Orlando, FL (Disney is always tops for families), Hilton Head SC, Cape Cod MA, San Diego CA and Outer Banks, NC.  Here’s a list of vacation rentals that show the perks and variety of family-friendly vacation rentals on HomAway.

What are some tips or suggestions you’d give to first-time vacation home renters?

Here are a few helpful tips for first-time renters, but for a full breakdown of how to rent a vacation rental check out our how-to list.

* Book with a reputable site with a substantial inventory.  Using sites like HomeAway.com, VRBO.com or VacationRentals.com, travelers can easily find and compare thousands of properties from around the globe.  The more choices that are available, the more likely you’ll be able to find a property that has availability and meets your needs and budget.
* Talk to the homeowner—Once you find a home that you think may work, contact the property owner or manager directly to ask questions about the rental and the area to make sure its suitable for your group.  Having a conversation with the owner may enable you to negotiate a price that’s more within your budget, find out great local spots to check out while visiting, or if it turns out they’re booked, they may be able to refer you to another property nearby.
* Read reviews—Sites like HomeAway.com feature reviews from previous guests, which can come in handy for getting a first-hand account of the property
* Register your trip—All of the properties listed on the HomeAway sites are protected by the HomeAway Rental Guarantee.  Travelers who register for the free-guarantee are covered up to $5,000 in the event that the vacation rental book is determined to be not-legitimate.
* Get it in writing—Make sure you have a rental agreement that clearly states the homeowner’s rules and policies regarding check-in/out times, cancellations, etc.
* If possible, pay by credit card.

These are some valuable tips, Justin. Thank you for describing the advantages of renting vacation houses for family travel planners on a budget.

family vacations with rental homes (homeaway.com)

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July 3, 2009 | Filed Under Budget Travel, Family Travel 

Comments

16 Responses to “Renting Vacation Homes: Tips for Budget Family Travel Planners”

  1. Renting Vacation Homes: Tips for Budget Family Travel Planners « contact manager says:
    July 3, 2009 at

    [...] is the original post: Renting Vacation Homes: Tips for Budget Family Travel Planners 03 Jul 09 | [...]

  2. pligg.com says:
    July 3, 2009 at

    Renting Vacation Homes: Tips for Budget Family Travel Planners…

    An interview with a VP at HomeAway discusses the advantages to renting a vacation home for family travelers on a budget….

  3. danvilletim says:
    July 3, 2009 at

    If you want to get a huge discount on vacation rentals and you can travel in the next 3-4 weeks, checkout nextweekvacations.com. The site only has discounted last minute vacation rentals. Huge deals!

  4. Tumblemoose says:
    July 3, 2009 at

    A few years back I had to attend a conference in Orlando. I researched online and found a vacation rental home. It was clean and quiet, had a nice pool and cost us less than half of what a hotel would.

    We even got to sit back and watch hurricane “Floyd” come through!

    Highly recommended as the way to go!

    Cheers

    George

  5. Renting Vacation Homes: Tips for Budget Family Travel Planners says:
    July 3, 2009 at

    [...] post:  Renting Vacation Homes: Tips for Budget Family Travel Planners Share and [...]

  6. Kim says:
    July 3, 2009 at

    Funny, I’m packing to leave for our annual summer week on Balboa Island. We stay at the same place every year, some years we make a lot of use of the kitchen, others it is my goal never to turn on the stove, either way it’s nice to have the option to eat in or spend more money but less effort and eat out.

  7. Heather says:
    July 4, 2009 at

    Although sites such as Home Away are great for finding a wealth of properties, if planning a trip in a popular area, it is worth looking at the local listing and agency sites as well. For example, you are more likely to find a vacation rental in the waterfront cottage country area of Ontario from a site such as http://www.cottagelink.com that concentrates on properties in the area. Booking through an agency gives more confidence too as properties have usually been fully inspected by the agency who can vouch for the accuracy of description. In Ontario, rental agencies must also be travel agents and registered with TICO to operate legally, so have the benefit of being regulated.

  8. L. Diane Wolfe says:
    July 4, 2009 at

    Outer Banks, NC! I believe it – most of that stretch is just miles & miles of houses & hotels. Further south is a good spot too, on Topsail Island or near Wlimington at either Wrightsville or Carolina Beach.

    L. Diane Wolfe
    http://www.circleoffriendsbooks.blogspot.com
    http://www.spunkonastick.net
    http://www.thecircleoffriends.net

  9. Steve says:
    July 6, 2009 at

    I used a website named perfectfamilyvacation dot com that had some interesting family vacation rentals in Cabo and Puerto Vallarta.

  10. Vacation Rentals Orlando says:
    July 13, 2009 at

    Thanks for all of the great tips! I like to use vacation rentals as well, for the reasons listed and the privacy factor. There’s nothing worse than listening to kids running up and down the hallways while you’re trying to sleep in your little hotel room. The vacation rentals are so nice, and the owners are great with questions and offers.

  11. MEXICO BEACHES says:
    July 14, 2009 at

    The tips are great, very useful…next time will be great to extend the most popular places for HomeAway vacation homes for families to overseas countries

  12. Terri says:
    July 25, 2009 at

    My daughter (who smokes) and I were planning a mini vacation to Florida, she has to have a smoking room and I a non-smoking room. To our shock and surprise practially 99% of all hotels in Florida are 100% non-smoking, yet they allow pets which to me are worse as I am allergic to dogs and cats.

    And pets stain carpets, bring in fleas etc.

    It was extremely difficult to locate a hotel that was beachfront and offered smoking rooms.

    So point being we thought about the possibility of renting a condo or home but thought about having to pack and bring linens, towels etc would be way to much of a hassle.

    Bottom line is that to our delight we finally located a hotel were she wil have her smoking room and I non-smoking and it is beachfront with a view of the ocean.

    What’s happened in FL that they are discriminating against smokers and yet are complaining that the recession hurt their business…ahh no…its probably FL against smokers doing that to you!

  13. BEST TRAVEL GUIDE says:
    August 14, 2009 at

    There are so many ways to vacation these days! vacation homes are a great way to experience new places with a group.

    http://besttravelersguide.blogspot.com

  14. HouseTrip says:
    August 19, 2009 at

    Hello!

    Fully agree with you that vacation rentals by owner are an amazing way to travel. I have used Homeaway once to rent a place in Berlin and it is great. Right in the center and it only costed me about 120 Euro/night.

    In fact, we love it so much that we are about to launch a website in that space as well! We launch the website in September. Here is a link if you want to see a preview: http://bit.ly/5IedX

  15. Jorge says:
    September 9, 2009 at

    I started using vacation rentals for a few years now..It provides more options than hotels with some or all of the amenities and a fraction of the price.

  16. pps says:
    September 24, 2009 at

    Good tips! I also suggest to use a personal finance software with a cellphone or PDA phone. This makes recording and tracking expenses much easier. An Excel sheet on a PDA would do very well as a personal finance planner and it can be easily transferred to a PC for expenses tracking and archiving.

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