My favorite travel site is VRBO.com (Vacation Rentals By Owner). You may recall from my previous references to this site here and here that this site is my travel Bible.
For you new readers, VRBO.com is a vacation rental site posted by owners across the world. You can rent homes, cabins, condos and even villas for nearly the same price as a hotel! What I love about these vacation rentals is that they usually come with kitchens, washer and dryers, and free internet. You’re even able to check rental prices, availability, and property photos on the easy-to-navigate site. When renting an apartment, you’ll deal directly with the owner. I can see how that may be a hit or miss, but I’ve always dealt with easy rental owners. If you’re lucky, they may even extend a discount to you if they’re desperate for a rental.
Experience:
International renting was pretty simple, in my experience. Two years ago, I rented a condo in Japan. The owner owned several units in an apartment building a couple minutes outside the busy part of Tokyo. He met us at the last train stop, walked us to the unit and showed us the procedures of the apartment. The internet was out for the week, so he gave us a cell phone to use during our trip; and, we ended up catching internet from his other apartment next door. The unit was clean, comfortable and fixed up with modern furniture. The whole cost for the rental for 6 nights came out to be $500 total (which was then split amongst 3 people). How cheap is that?
Here are some units I found on VRBO.com:
- New York (Sleeps 2-3) - East Side to Manhattan-Grand Central Station-$150/nt Jan & Feb
- Nice, France (Sleeps 8 ) - Luxury Riviera Villa with Air Con & Panoramic Views of the Med-$1575/nt Sept-Apr
- Koele, Lanai, Hawaii (Sleeps 4) - Lanai Luxury Home-$150/nt
holy crap, your japan apt was CHEAP!!! I also stayed in an apt in japan last year, and I recall it being cheap, but not THAT cheap! i’m gonna have to look into your link - my friend is going to japan in a few months, so maybe she can stay where you did!!