Author Topic: Share your Air BnB or VRBO finds with us  (Read 5671 times)

MMMdude

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Share your Air BnB or VRBO finds with us
« on: January 12, 2014, 03:06:02 PM »
A large part of our travel plans going forward will be through Airbnb and VRBO.  Seemingly the deals are better than hotels.  I'd love to hear from others about some of the places they've found that are a good deal/excellent location spots.  Always good to get ideas on new places to travel to. 


rockstache

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Re: Share your Air BnB or VRBO finds with us
« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2014, 08:22:12 AM »
I have rented a few places through VRBO but I've never used Air BNB. We stayed in Jerusalem, Charleston SC, and Marshfield MA, and they were all really wonderful places, accurately described, with far better prices than I could find for hotels in the area. My caveat is that I only have rented from places that have a couple of reviews. I don't want to be the first one staying there, although I do realize that if everyone did that, no one would ever get rented from. In future travels, I fully intend to continue using VRBO.

rubybeth

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Re: Share your Air BnB or VRBO finds with us
« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2014, 08:36:15 AM »
I can let you know in August 2014 after we've spent a week at an apartment in Paris we booked via AirBnB. :)

Emg03063

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Re: Share your Air BnB or VRBO finds with us
« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2014, 02:02:17 PM »
I tried to stay here, but it was unavailable at the time I was in town (it's north shore, Boston area).  Looked like fun to me, tho.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/359997?s=loOS

KS

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Re: Share your Air BnB or VRBO finds with us
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2014, 02:42:37 PM »
Great thread idea! We've been really happy doing rentals instead of hotels when possible. Not always, but often cheaper for the space/amenities you get and location. Also check out FlipKey for more options, although we did find that site wasn't as good at keeping the availability calendars updated so often we'd inquire about a place and find it was booked even though it showed availability on our dates. This was our all-time favorite apartment we've stayed in so far, even though Florence wasn't necessarily our favorite of the cities we visited on our Italy trip:

http://www.vrbo.com/362797

Hopefully the owner doesn't catch on to how great his place is and increase the price... In addition to being the nicest, I think it was also the cheapest place we found at something like 85 Euros a night if I remember right.

geekette

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Re: Share your Air BnB or VRBO finds with us
« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2014, 03:53:37 PM »
We stayed here in Prague last summer.  Nice place, but that skylight seemed a better idea when we got there at midnight than it did when the sun came up at 4AM...

Mazzinator

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Re: Share your Air BnB or VRBO finds with us
« Reply #6 on: January 15, 2014, 01:28:31 AM »
We just came back from Maui, we live on Oahu. It was a great place, friendly owners and big enough for all 5 of us. Once you get here, hawaii is only expensive as you make it. You can swim right next to sea turtles, whale watch and holy shit, the sunsets!! All for free. There are plenty of high quality food trucks and you can take the bus or rent a bike for very cheap. Don't get me wrong, you can easily drop thousands here, but i doubt anyone in search of high end luxury is reading this ;)

http://www.vrbo.com/103195

mushroom

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Re: Share your Air BnB or VRBO finds with us
« Reply #7 on: January 15, 2014, 06:30:00 AM »
http://purplmarsh.wordpress.com/2012/12/10/our-ten-favorite-vacation-rentals/

Prices are from 2012 so they may have gone up since then.

I think some of the best deals were at places that hadn't gotten many reviews yet and then went up significantly afterwards after it became more established. I couldn't believe the place we got near Bruges for $29 a night. So do realize you pay a premium to be able to read reviews. Definitely riskier to go in without reviews, but you can really find some fantastic deals that way and at least first feel a place out by how responsive the owner is and whether they have any other properties for which you can see reviews.

simonsez

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Re: Share your Air BnB or VRBO finds with us
« Reply #8 on: January 15, 2014, 07:17:07 AM »
Montreal - downtown in the Village just off Ste. Catherine.  Few blocks from Berri/UQAM station and 747 bus station.  4 of us stayed there for 100/night.  New place, very happy with it.  Very nice owner who even shoveled the snow around our rental car for us.
http://www.vrbo.com/199482

Shenandoah Valley of Virginia - just off I-81 and US 11, 90 minutes from DC.  Have stayed there twice.  First time was 10 people (+3 dogs) and $400 total for 2 nights.  Second time was 12 people (+3 dogs) and $750 for 3 nights.  Attached garage has been turned into game room which is a great place to hangout whether you have kids or a bunch of adults who want a room to hangout in without worrying too much about spilling a drop of beer on carpet or something.  Pets cost extra.  Very nice place but only 2 true bedrooms that have 1 bed in them.  Other rooms have multiple beds or futons.
http://www.vrbo.com/308095

near Luray, VA (north of I-64, east of I-81, south of I-66, ~hour from DC) - group of 8 (+2 dogs), decent place with barn that has been converted into cool game room.  Cute place but a little smaller overall (better like who you are traveling with!), good living room to hangout in.  Cost was $600 total for 3 nights.  Pets cost extra.

Dont' forget!  Time of year matters!

I've stayed in other VRBO's but I think mentioning that they aren't (as) good would give too much of a negative impression.  Even a mediocre rental is still a great weekend with friends and family in my book.  The ones above were all very good stays and I couldn't have been happier with the owners as well.  Gift baskets upon arrival, replacement of a propane tank in under a half hour, shoveling snow around your car, giving advice about museums and other attractions, clear directions, and other small niceties are the little things that I love so much about renting directly with an owner, as well as what sets apart some owners from others...

acroy

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Re: Share your Air BnB or VRBO finds with us
« Reply #9 on: January 15, 2014, 07:27:05 AM »
We just came back from Maui, we live on Oahu. It was a great place, friendly owners and big enough for all 5 of us. Once you get here, hawaii is only expensive as you make it. You can swim right next to sea turtles, whale watch and holy shit, the sunsets!! All for free. There are plenty of high quality food trucks and you can take the bus or rent a bike for very cheap. Don't get me wrong, you can easily drop thousands here, but i doubt anyone in search of high end luxury is reading this ;)

http://www.vrbo.com/103195

Sweet! We stayed in a condo just north of there also from VRBO. Not tried Air Bnb, but VRBO has been excellent!

CanuckStache

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Re: Share your Air BnB or VRBO finds with us
« Reply #10 on: January 15, 2014, 11:47:34 AM »
I rent out my condo in Victoria BC Canada when I'm on vacation. PM me for pics and info, and I'm happy to discount the rate for MMM people!

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!