Vrbo rentals

[dismom115]

Those that have rented from VRBO how do you verify that you are renting from a trustworthy person and you will have a place to stay on vacation?

TIA!

 

[ParkHopperFan]

Those that have rented from VRBO how do you verify that you are renting from a trustworthy person and you will have a place to stay on vacation?

TIA!

VRBO and Homeaway both have guest review capabilities for their listings. You can enter your dates and then sort available properties by reviews.

 

[MichelleVW]

I always pick one with good reviews.....I've been lucky and had great experiences every time.

 

[EvangelineG]

Yup, I looked for ones with lots of reviews on homeaway and vrbo, as well as tripadvisor (a lot of the properties are cross posted). Then I contacted a short list of the well-reviewed villas that met our group's criteria. From there I chose the ones where the owners had the best communication and that I felt most comfortable with.

 

[MichelleVW]

Word of advice....when you find one that you feel comfortable with...owner/location/price etc. STOP LOOKING or you will drive yourself a little crazy. There are so many out there and you will go mad comparing them.

 

[Art 1]

Those that have rented from VRBO how do you verify that you are renting from a trustworthy person and you will have a place to stay on vacation?

TIA!

I read the reviews and have not had a problem. The ones I used only take cash. Maybe thats the way with all of them but I don't know.

 

[MichelleVW]

I read the reviews and have not had a problem. The ones I used only take cash. Maybe thats the way with all of them but I don't know.

I've paid with paypal before on a few of them.

 

[doclegler]

Word of advice....when you find one that you feel comfortable with...owner/location/price etc. STOP LOOKING or you will drive yourself a little crazy. There are so many out there and you will go mad comparing them.

I agree with this!
That said, we have been "burned" twice on some not-so-nice rentals through websites other than VRBO. I've learned to look at reviews (make sure they are recent) and be sure to talk with the owner frequently.

 

[upon-a-star]

We had one really bad experience, when the owner defaulted on her mortgage and didn't let us know until the week we were all supposed to be arriving. We had booked the house a year in advance for my dad's 75th birthday, and all my siblings were scheduled to arrive when we were notified that the house was in foreclosure and we would get our money back....eventually. And the owner was in England, so it was tough to even get a response from her!

I don't know how we could have avoided this. We rent villas all the time, and this was the only bad experience.