By Mihran Kalaydjian, CHA
Consultant, Strategist, and Writer
One of the worst things about traveling is the hotels and how expensive they can be. Not to mention the “fresh” hotel smell, dealing with magnetized keycards, and special room fees for when you accidentally eat a $10 bag of M&Ms. There is a much better way to vacation than relying on the normal run of the mill hotelsmill hotels
, or even the overpriced resorts: rent a sweet house.Finding a decked out house, in the past was no easy task. Matter of fact, I would have never considered renting a house on vacation because it would have been a ton of hassle. Recently, I just took a vacation to Palm Springs and stayed in a vacation home for the first time in my life, and it couldn’t have been any easier to find! My wife and I ended up vacationing with another couple, so instead of getting two hotel rooms, we decided we wanted to stay in a house with a private pool. Of course it sounded great, but I figured the house with a pool would also come with a great cost, but it didn’t!
My friend introduced me to AirBnB.com, a marketplace for rental homes, rooms, and even shared rooms (not sure I’d risk that, but it is there). It is extremely simple to use. You put in the dates and location of where you want to stay, and then a list of available homes, with photos, and reviews pop up for you to check out!
After an incredible experience renting an awesome, large home, with a hot tub, pool, and decked out kitchen, I came to three realizations about AirBnB.com.
1. You get WAY more for your money.
We got way more value for our money when renting a home as opposed to a hotel room in Palm Springs. Everything from the privacy, to the private pool, hot tub, and even the cool decor is something that would have cost 5x as much to get a penthouse in a hotel. When it comes to getting the most value your for your money on vacation, it’s hard to beat AirBnB.com
2. It is easy to deal with the homeowner.
When renting someone’s home, one might think the process could get difficult or even awkward. Dealing with the homeowner and payment is done all online. You can interact with them as much or as little as you want. In our case we were left with a set of instructions on to use everything in the house (connecting to Wi-Fi, adjusting the hot tub, etc.) as well as a cell phone number to contact if we had any questions. The homeowner doesn’t just want your money;they also want a great review from you left on their property so they can rent it to the next person. Because of that, you will find them go above on beyond in terms of accommodations and what you might expect from a rental homerental home
.3. Vacationing will never be the same.
After an awesome Palm Springs rental house vacation, I cannot wait for the next trip we go on, because it won’t be in a hotel. Staying in a local home adds to the experience, more than staying in a semi-cookie cutter hotel. Sure, there are some great hotels out there, but you’ll pay a ton to stay in them, and that’s no fun. Personally, I’d rather vacation in a special house that becomes a memorable part of the experience, not just another hotel to forget.
Even if you’re taking a short trip somewhere, it is worth checking out AirBNB.com to rent a house. You’ll be surprised what you find out there, and if you look consistently enough, you will find a great deal. Just don’t blame me when you refuse to stay in hotels fromhotels from
here on out.