Spending 100s of your hard earned dollars on a vacation is scary. Trying to find the perfect vacation house for your next get away can be stressful. Have you ever searched for hours to find a rental house just to show up and be totally disappointed? Yes, the internet is really good at disguising that horrible smell or the closeness of the neighbors or the sound of construction. All too many times I have shown up at a much anticipated house to find that it is not as pictured on the net. And let’s face it, how many time has your rental really come with that perfectly placed bowl of fruit on the table? Since I can not always wonder around a city until I find the perfect vacation rental with all the amenities I want without the outrageous price I have come up with these five steps I personally use when looking for the perfect place to rest my head. First brows your options to find your top 3 favorite listings. Then follow these steps before clicking book:
- Read the fine print. Just because the fun little picture says there is breakfast, if there is no mention of it in the owner’s notes or reviews breakfast is probably not included. The owner/property usually gives a short but accurate description. Words can get turned around easily. Breakfast provided doesn’t mean included.
- Read the Reviews. Guests have been in your shoes, they know how it really is. They also may not be on vacation anymore and do not have all the time in the world to write a review. If they say there is construction it means it bothered them enough to write a review about it. They may say something polity so be sure to listen to what they are really saying. If they are complaining about ants in the middle of the rain-forest you can expect ants, but really you are in the rain-forest, of course there are ants. Is it life threatening? Is it annoying?
- Closely look at the pictures. The pictures really can’t lie, but they can be taken at a good angle. Look at the little details. Look for clues to match the description and reviews. Sometimes you can see how big a place is by the other objects in the picture. After you get some idea of what the place looks like use Google to get more clues. Find restaurants close by and look in the pictures to see how close you are to the road, or construction.
- Ask a question. Sites like AirBnB allow you to contact the host before booking. If you really want a pool or hot water and there is not enough info/pictures, ask! The old saying, ‘There are no stupid questions.’ comes into play here.
- Look at Google Maps. If there is an address or name put it in Waze or Google. I use Waze to find the exact location then Google to look at the real life picture. If the description says beachfront but the map shows there is a road in between chances are it’s not beachfront, and other descriptions may be skewed as well.
After you have narrowed down to your final pick you can feel confident to click book! Read the confirmation, directions, emails from host right away. Many times you can do step five after you get the confirmation and still cancel if you do not like your pick. AirBnB allows you to cancel your booking right away. Even if you get there and don’t like your pick you can cancel, but when you follow these steps you won’t have to worry about the cancellation policy.
