Vacation Rentals

Vacation rental is a term in the travel industry meaning renting out a furnished apartment or house on a temporary basis to tourists as an alternative to a hotel. A vacation rental is a fully furnished property, such as a condominium, townhome or single-family-style home. Many vacationers choose to rent a house in their vacation destination instead of staying in a hotel. For these vacationers, this is a worthwhile alternative as it gives the vacationer a more comfortable place to stay with features such as cooking facilities which are not normally offered in commercial hotels. Finding these vacation rentals may be significantly more difficult than simply making hotel reservations but many vacationers report this to be a worthwhile effort. However, a few care should be taken when renting a holiday house to ensure the quality of the house meets the expectations of the vacationers.

Finding Vacation Rentals

Finding a vacation rental property may obviously be much more difficult than just renting a hotel during the vacation. Naturally a few vacationers will be lucky and have a friend or family member who owns a house in a particular vacation destination and is willing to rent it out to others. Those who don’t have this type of fortunate situation have other alternatives for finding a holiday rental property.

Several householders in popular holiday destinations rent out their house during the peak season. These householders may allow a realtor to handle the transactions. Contacting realtors in the area of the holiday destination and inquiring about available rental properties in the area is one way to begin the search. The realtor will likely be able to assist you in finding a house for rent.

There are also many popular sites where houses for rent are listed directly by the owner of the house. Searching the Internet may lead you to a reliable source of houses for rent. These houses are normally divided into categories by region and will likely provide you instant access to available dates. It will likely give useful information such as whether or not pets are allowed, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms as well as the size of the house and the proximity to nearby attraction. The listing may also provide useful information regarding the furnishings of the house. Some rental properties may include items such as bedding and cookware while some may not.

Ask Questions before Renting a Vacation Home

Vacationers who want to rent a holiday house as opposed to spending their holiday in a hotel should exercise a definite amount of caution in choosing a property to rent. Being cautious won’t only enable the vacationer to ensure his rental property meets his expectations but will also aid to avoid potentially dangerous situations. One way to avoid these potential troubles is by asking a great deal of questions during the process.

Renting a holiday house through a rental agency is ideal for safety purposes. In these situations the agency handles the entire rental giving the tenant the security of knowing they’re not walking into a possibly dangerous situation. However, even in this situation the tenant should ask a few important questions. These questions will be explained in the subsequent paragraphs.

How old is the property? Potential tenants should ask questions about the age of the property and whether or not appliances, plumbing and electricity have been updated. This is important as this type of information may mean the difference between a comfortable stay in the property and dealing with troubles related to the age of the house.

What is included in the rental? While most rentals include the basic necessities, there are some rental agreements which only include the use of the house and furniture. Tenants perhaps required to bring along bedding, towels and even cookware.

How frequently is the property rented and how is it maintained? These two questions are inter-related as properties which are rented often see significantly more wear and tear than properties which are only rented a couple of times per year. Properties which are rented frequently should employ a maid service to clean the property thoroughly between each rental and maybe during longer rental periods.

What is the exact location of the property? Asking this question will enable the vacationer to determine whether or not the property is ideally situated for the purposes of the holiday. E.g. a vacationer on a ski trip would prefer to be located close to the mountains while a vacationer more interested in a cultural holiday might be interested in a downtown location which will likely be closer to museums and other locations of interest.