For years, we’ve been using VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) to book houses and condos during vacations. During my years of business travel, the last thing I really wanted to do on vacation was to stay in another hotel. The beauty of VRBO was that once we picked a city destination, like Livingston, MT, VRBO.com became our first stop to see the housing choices that were available to us. It takes a bit of planning ahead to get the prime houses or condos that will fit our space requirements and budget. In some cases, a six to nine month lead time to secure the perfect property in very popular places and high-demand times will be required.
For our recent Montana, trip we booked the house VRBO listed house eight months ahead of time. For the first time, we repeated the same vacation location and house that we booked three years ago. The house was bigger than we needed for this recent trip, but timing and circumstances played into our favor.
We have had fantastic experiences with all of the VRBO properties that we have rented. Our experience with VRBO goes back to the early 2000s when a friend recommended it to us. It was a luxury to have more space than a hotel room with our two young kids back then.
Bottom Line #1. VRBO is great for booking out a whole week or even an entire month or more as they specialize in entire homes or condos.
Bottom Line #2. Sometimes the room/property will be listed on multiple sites. For instance, we found one listing on VRBO and Airbnb with the same price.
Also, it provides you with another set of reviews of the host and the property. Use your judgment and experience when reading the reviews to filter out the properties that may not meet your tastes or lifestyle. We’ve found the difference is that on Airbnb you must pay the full amount at the time of booking. With VRBO, usually, you can pay 50% or less for the deposit.
We already had a history with VRBO and wanted to establish credibility with Airbnb.
Airbnb specializes in home sharing and is typically used for short-term stays. Many listings are a private room in someone’s home. For the solo traveler who likes to socialize, this may be ideal as many of the hosts enjoy conversing with their guests.
A feature on Airbnb it that it allows you to filter your selections to include only an entire house or condo if that’s what you prefer.
Before one can book on Airbnb, one has to set up an account and profile. Part of the profile process set up is to provide a photo scan of your Driver’s License. Airbnb does a thorough background check on its guests (and hosts). They set up the guest profile for the hosts to access and review prospective guests before accepting your booking.
Airbnb takes safety very seriously as part of its business model. It depends on this as the cornerstone of a growing and viable business.
Setting up the profile was a simple process and we felt very confident about the due diligence for everyone’s safety and security.
Before the booking, you can send messages to the host letting them know you are interested in staying at their home. In all of our bookings, the hosts responded very quickly to our inquiry. In the message, we also tell the host a little bit about ourselves and where our travels are taking us to build rapport right from the start. The booking process is fast and easy and provides a breakdown of each of the costs and fees.
Bottom Line #3
We recommend that you supply some information to the host about yourself, why you are traveling, and why their listing is appealing to you.
Use complete sentences, correct spelling, and punctuation.
Yes, fees. There’s the cost of the room, an Airbnb fee, sometimes a cleaning fee, and sometimes local tax. Most times for us, it’s still significantly less than the price of a Hilton Garden Inn or Hampton Inn which is the caliber of places we usually stay while we travel. Super 8 or Motel 6 is usually cheaper, but these places are not for us unless we are desperate for an 8-hour overnight pit stop.
After you’ve completed the booking process, the ball is in the host’s court to decide if they want to rent to you. If they approve, they send you a confirmation and an email in the Airbnb system with instructions on where to park, which entrance to use and any access codes to enter the home. Your credit card is also charged at this time. Each host does specify their cancellation policy in their listing.
Our first Airbnb booking was also important for us since it would provide our first feedback and comments from the host. It was also our first rating in the Airbnb system to demonstrate that we are indeed good guests to have in their homes.
We experimented with Airbnb during our road trip out to Livingston, Montana by booking a bedroom in a small bungalow house from a couple in Fargo. Ya, Fargo, North Dakota! If you saw the movie, what could go wrong in Fargo, in July?
(Yes, we saw the “Wood Chipper” from the movie which was front and center in the Fargo visitors center.)
This was our first Airbnb reservation and we were a bit nervous about renting just one bedroom, a shared bath, and having the hosts around.
The hosting couple were the same age as us and were also empty nesters. Turns out, we shared the exact wedding year and date on a 99-degree day. They were a delightful pair and we spent time in their living room chatting about life in North Dakota. The accommodations suited us very well and they even provided a small refrigerator and water in the room. For around $55.00 for the night, the price can’t be beat. In the morning, we had coffee, homemade granola, and fresh fruit before we departed. We had a delightful stay and if we ever take the Fargo, ND shortcut, we would book this room again.
Our second Airbnb was a stop in Miles City, Montana, as we got closer to Livingston. This place was a real gem in the middle of nowhere. It was a working winery with a vineyard that grew freeze-tolerant grape vines. The bedroom was spacious and shared a bathroom with another guest bedroom. They were in fact “Mother-In-Law” suites that the owner built for their mothers years ago. It was a great layout and sharing the bathroom was never an issue. We had access to the kitchen, living room, dining area, and sunroom.
After we settled in, we met the host in the tasting room and tasted over 10 different wines that they produce. It’s not the California wines that we are accustomed to, yet they were surprisingly good for grapes grown in Eastern Montana. We ended up buying 12 bottles of different kinds to take to the rental house in Montana.
Before breakfast the next day, I did 45 minutes of yoga in the vineyard. It was the most interesting and unique place for me to practice my yoga.
For breakfast, the host put out quite the breakfast spread that exceeded our expectations.
On the way back from Montana we chose to go through South Dakota. We had a great time seeing all that the area has to offer. What’s unique about South Dakota is that there is so much to see in a compact area. It is convenient to visit Devils Tower, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial (careful, I thought it was a tourist trap), Sturgis, Custer State Park, The Badlands, and of course Wall Drug.
We booked an Airbnb in Wall, SD. This was our third Airbnb but the most basic, very basic. It was a nice house two blocks away from Wall Drug. We had a bedroom with a queen bed and our bathroom with scruffy towels. The host did not provide internet access nor coffee. He suggested we walk over to Wall Drug for their 5-cent coffee which is what he does. He also didn’t have ice to cool off the water when I filled our water bottles. He was a nice man, divorced, and we can tell he was not very comfortable with the basic hosting aspects of opening up his home. However, it was comfortable and very close to the Badlands National Park when we were finished with the sights and trails. It served our purpose of a comfortable and safe place to sleep during our drive home.
Things to do during your own Airbnb selection & “screening” process:
1. Read the room/property descriptions carefully and study the photos that they post.
a. We avoid listings that have very few photos.
b. We avoid listings that contain “broken English” and fragmented sentences.
c. Take note of pets that are in the house and your own specific allergies to them.
d. Do they indicate that they have weapons in the home? You have to expect that in the Southern States. If it bothers you, move on.
e. We avoid listings that mention anything about religion or political references in their description. ‘Nuff said on that topic.
2. Read the reviews on the property to determine if someone else’s experiences will help manage your expectations.
3. Look at the general location on Google Earth to make sure it’s in an area that you want to be in.
a. We found a great house with a great price on a river in Montana, but Google Earth showed that you had to walk/drive under the highway overpass to get to it. No thanks. Next! Too close to the highway, and it’s not really on the river.
4. Ask the host about parking. Some have designated spaces available, others are on the street.
Bottom Line #5.
mrsfromthebachrow has a referral link on your first Airbnb booking. If you sign up for Airbnb with her link, you’ll get $40.00 off your first trip.
Go to my Contact Page and send me an email and I’ll respond to you with a link to the Airbnb referral program.
***This is a limited-time offer and only available to the first ten friends that read my blog.
In the book, Turn Your Space Into Serious Cash, it states that millions of travelers from around the world are now choosing to rent a room in a privately owned property. Airbnb has more rooms available on any one night than the two biggest hotel chains combined. This has become a $37 billion industry.
While we use VRBO and Airbnb the most, other brands offer the same service for available rental spaces. They may serve different host markets and offer different terms for both the guest and the host. There are plenty of choices to fit your travel plans, tastes, and budget.
Check out the other brands and see if they meet your needs and terms.
Booking.com (The largest booking site online)
HomeAway (Owns VRBO)
VacationRentals.com
FlipKey
Holidaylettings
HouseTrip
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