How Vacation Rentals work
What Vacation Rentals are:
The travel industry defines ‘vacation rental’ to mean renting out a furnished apartment or house on a temporary basis to tourists as an alternative to a hotel. For quite a while now, vacation rentals have been a popular travel option in Europe (especially in the UK) as well as in Canada.
Often people only have top locations like in mind, but you can find these rentals all over. Throughout the world, its popularity is increasing. You could really think of them as self-catering rentals or villa rentals. Take Barcelona vacation rentals as an example. In cities like Barcelona, local authorities determined that vacation rentals were becoming a threat to the hotel industry and passed some legislation placing regulations and limits on the industry, while in others, such as England, Ireland, and France, the government promotes and certifies holiday rentals, even offering its own program of holiday/vacation rentals.
Vacation rentals are fully furnished properties, such as a condominium, townhome or single-family-style home, often referred to as villa rentals in Europe. The client/traveler arranges to rent the vacation rental property for a specific period of time.
Some may rent on a nightly basis similar to hotel rooms, although the more common practice is weekly rentals. A true vacation rental is not for sale to the guest; rather, the owner simply allows the guest to rent the property for a set duration.
Vacation rentals are generally houses or apartments in popular tourist destinations that are generally leased to leisure travelers. The guests typically have full use of the residence, including utilities but not servicing or meals.
This approach can be cheaper than booking a hotel room or in some cases several hotel rooms for the same length of time, especially if traveling with a family or other sizable group of people. They often come with a variety of amenities to make your stay more enjoyable, including a private hot tub or pool (without the noisy neighbors), a full size kitchen (so you don’t have to dine out for every meal), laundry facilities (so you can pack light).
- Vacation rentals offer the comfort and privacy of a home so you can have a more relaxing, enjoyable vacation.
- As mentioned earlier, a vacation rental is often cheaper than a hotel room and is perfect for families or large groups who would normally have to pay for multiple hotel rooms.
- Generally, a hotel room is going to be about 400 square feet (37 sq. meters); but the typical vacation rental is akin to a 2,000 square foot house (186 sq. meters).
