Summertime Savings: Home Away from Home

If you haven’t heard, our economy is hibernating. According to some, it just may peep it’s head out this summer for a visit. If it does, it may have some looking to resume their travels this summer, taking the family for a vacation or treating themselves to that European getaway. In fact, some airlines are predicting fares will begin rising this month due to demand and increased fees. Like most, your probably looking to save a bit more this year by staying with friends, traveling by car, or stuffing five people into a two-person hotel room. Eh hem.

If your anything like me, no matter how romantic the city, pristine the beach, or beautiful the scenery, where you rest your head at night matters. The problem is of course, nice hotels cost more. Duh. The challenge is always finding a nice enough place where you can negotiate the price or a hotel off the beaten path, all in the name of value. As a travel connoisseur myself, I’m always looking out for new ways to travel better, but cheaper. I’ve found one.

Do you ever wonder what people do with their vacation homes or apartments when they aren’t vacationing? Yea, me neither, exactly why I didn’t think of VacationRentals.com. Here, folks around the world list their vacation homes, apartments, cottages, and mansions for rent while they aren’t around, giving you the chance to stay somewhere out of the ordinary. The benefits, are tremendous.

First of all, many of the places listed on VacationRentals.com are unique and in premium locations, allowing you to stay in neighborhoods or districts whose only hotel is tremendously expensive, if you can even get a room. The key however, is the cost. Accommodations are down-right reasonable when you compare them to hotel prices. This can be attributed to property owner’s low overhead. Owners don’t typically have an astronomical mortgage on a fifteen story building, sixty employees, and an electricity bill that keeps coming even when the guests don’t (i.e. hotels).

If you look closer, there are even more benefits to renting a home or apartment. You typically get a lot more space. Hotel rooms are small and uncomfortable, especially if you’ve got a few kids. Vacation rentals offer a ton of space and some even backyards, jacuzzis, and pools. While some like the “buzz” of a hundred thousand people crammed into one hotel, vacation homes typically offer increased privacy as well, not to mention leniency. Hotels are strict regarding check-in and check-out times. They also highly regulate noise and don’t like you playing sports in the hotel corridors (a real shame). In a private residence, owners are typically more lenient with regards to scheduling and could care less about noise because they don’t live on the second floor. Last but not least, 99.9% of apartments and homes have kitchens. Cooking a meal here and there can save you some serious cash, especially if you’ve got a family.

It all sounds too good to be true doesn’t it? To be honest, I haven’t discovered a single down-side to the method, it’s brilliant! While VacationRentals.com includes reviews from past renters, a ton of information and photos of the properties available, do a few online searches too. I’ve found a wealth of phenomenal properties listed with various agencies or on their own private websites. Do proceed with a healthy dose of caution however when dealing with individuals unassociated with agencies or sites like VacationRentals, you can never be too careful.

Well, this is the first of many summertime tips I’ll be posting over the next few months. If any of you have had experience with the method described above, we’d love to hear from you. For now, Happy Summer and safe travels from Payoff.com.