Any time that you set out to do something in life, you’re almost guaranteed to be more successful if you plan ahead. Choosing a vacation rental is no exception to the rule. Making an effort to put in the time to plan and find the perfect place will have a big payoff. However, before booking a vacation rental (or choosing any other option for that matter), do consider your travelling habits–what kind of a traveller are you? Do you like travelling to the same place again and again? Or do you like to visit one place only once?
If, for example, you like visiting Hawaii every Christmas, then a timeshare could prove to be better for you (Timeshare can allow you to buy the use of a holiday home for the same week or weeks every year). However, if you do not visit a place more than once, then investing in a timeshare could only prove to be a mistake as you might have to pay for the upkeep and maintenance even when you do not visit the place, thereby making you feel like opting out from the contract (perhaps with the help of timeshare exit companies). That is why, if you fall under the second category, then vacation rentals could prove to be more affordable options.
However, if you’re not sure what to look for in a vacation rental, it can be overwhelming making a decision. That is why it could be a good idea to take a look at some of the best tips for choosing a vacation rental.
Read Descriptions Carefully
When looking for the different options out there, it’s important that you read the description from top to bottom. Oftentimes, you may be so enamored with the way a place looks that you may miss something important.
Regardless of how gorgeous a place is on the outside, you may regret arriving and realizing the property has a broken air conditioner. Read carefully!
Make sure that you have a checklist of everything that you’d like your rental to include. If a place that you find doesn’t have most of what you’re looking for, then it’s time to look for another option.
Use Reputable Sites
Sometimes certain things are too good to be true. Vacation rentals are one of those cases that are full of too-good-to-be-true options. There are a lot of scams surrounding the vacation rental community, so it’s important that you only go through reputable sites.
While you may find that reputable sites have slightly higher prices than riskier ones, it’s well worth knowing that you are protected.
Always Check Location On a Map
Don’t always take vacation homeowners word for it on where they’re located. Oftentimes a listing will claim that it is centrally located, when in fact, it is a good distance away from town.
Ask to see the exact address, and look it up on a map. You should be within a reasonable distance from the parts of town that you’d like to spend time in. Although it may not seem like a big deal being far away from town initially, you’ll get tired of all the travel time between where you’re staying and the places you’d like to hang out.
Book In Advance
Regardless of where you’re going in the world, you’ll always find the best deals when you book ahead. It’s never too early when it comes to booking a vacation home since people are usually planning months in advance.
Making your bookings ahead of time won’t just save you money, but it will also increase your chances of availability. Websites like Booking.com have free cancellation policies so that booking far in advance doesn’t put you too much at risk if your plans change.
Start looking at options at least a year in advance from when you’d like to travel. It may seem unnecessary so far ahead of time, but you’ll thank yourself later. At the very least, it will give you something to be excited about!