On a recent trip to London and Paris, I turned to private vacation rentals hoping to find an accommodation suitable for a family of 5. I had heard that European hotel rooms were small and I was looking for a bit more space for us to spread out. I turned to VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) and AirBnB. I actually found AirBnB to be quite expensive, and I quickly focused my search exclusively on VRBO.
While I did use VRBO for accommodations in Paris and London, I would strongly advise travellers to use caution when booking private vacation rentals. There are many hotel services and features that a private rental simply cannot offer.
Lack of flexible check-in times
Booking a vacation rental often means inflexible check in times. In my case, we arrived at London Heathrow at 8:00 a.m with an overnight redeye flight from New York. We were tired, but could not check in early nor drop our bags off. Instead, we found ourselves searching for some benches to sleep on at Heathrow airport for a few hours. The first day of our vacation was a total write-off. Had we been able to check in early (or at least drop our bags off), it would have made for a much more comfortable stay.
Similarly, late check-ins are also a problem. Most vacation rentals will charge a $50 fee or more for check-ins after 7 or 8 pm, and it is very difficult to get a check-in after midnight. Worse, because there is no hotel reception, guests usually need to call the owner/manager at a local number to let them know you have arrived. In my case, we arrived in Paris at midnight. Our phones were not working and we could not find a payphone. Fortunately, a local Parisian offered to help us by letting us borrow his phone. We were able to contact the owner and eventually get into our rental.
Property owners may not refund damage deposit
Our vacation rental in Paris included a 50 euro cleaning fee and a 100 euro damage deposit. When we checked-out of our apartment in Paris, we did not clean the unit because we had paid a 50 euro cleaning fee. The owner, however, refused to refund our 100 euro damage deposit, citing the unit was messy and needed cleaning.
I agree that the unit needed cleaning. However, that is what the 50 euro cleaning fee was. There was no damage, and yet he refused to give the damage deposit back to me. In other words, he was using the damage deposit for non-damage purposes at his sole discretion.
I raised this issue with VRBO, and to my surprise, they essentially did nothing. Their “Trust and Security Department” created a “case number” and forwarded my complaint to the owner, but there was absolutely nothing they could do to force the owner to refund the damage deposit despite there being no damage. The owner was free to keep the deposit at his discretion.
According to a VRBO statement, “Our procedure is to note both sides of the situation. Per our Terms of Use, we are an online marketplace that brings owners and travelers together. We are not involved in the rental transaction or management of a property; therefore, we are not able to mediate disputes between owners and travelers.”
This came as a surprise to me. I made a payment on the VRBO website using my credit card. The payment was charged to VRBO, but now they say the had nothing to do with it? This is scary.
Frequent owner cancelations
I had made 2 property reservations and both owners cancelled on me, leaving me scrambling to find alternative accommodations. While talking to some industry experts, I learned that this is a very common phenomenon. Property owners typically offer a low price on one website (say VRBO.com) to get people to book their rental units. Once it is rented, they will try to get a better rate on a different site (say AirBnB). If the unit gets booked on AirBnB at a higher rate, they cancel the reservation on VRBO. Owners/managers can repeat this process without any reprimand, penalty, or negative review.
Having a reservation cancelled by the owner is a major hassle too. In my case, I had spent many hours researching the area, trying to figure out public transportation, local shops and attractions, etc. All this effort is wasted when the rental is cancelled.
Even worse than the hassle is that fact that most times you will likely have paid a deposit, and it may be difficult to get a refund. Neither VRBO nor AirBnB can do anything to force the owner to refund the deposit, even if the owner cancels the reservation. They do not mediate disputes and their “buyer protection” does not cover this. The only recourse travellers have is through their credit card company. Pay through other means (debit, PayPal) and you are completely out of luck if the owner wants to keep your deposit.
When I learned that I was beholden to the owner for a refund of my deposit, I was very nervous. Although I did get my deposit back eventually, the owner took 5 days before he refunded the money.
Conclusion – Avoid Private Vacation Rentals Like VRBO and AirBnB
My experience with private vacation rentals was not great. I was not able to get an early check-in when I needed to, and I had to pay extra for a late check-in when needed. The owner at one of the rentals chose to keep my damage deposit even though there was no damage to the apartment, and there was no recourse through VRBO. And finally, I had multiple rentals cancelled; this a major inconvenience and there is a risk of not getting your deposit refunded.
Overall, renting a private vacation rental was a major inconvenience and I would be very reluctant to use this type of service again in the future. As an alternative, I would recommend using opaque booking sites like Hotwire or Priceline. Although there are disadvantages to using Hotwire or Priceline, these sites offer better than retail rates, at the same time giving travellers the benefits of a full-service hotel.