Jojolia

Hi all:

What have your expereinces been in renting apartments through VRBO in Paris?

Are the payment processes pretty good?

Are the selection of vacation rental pretty top notch?

jojolia

janisj

you need to understand what vrbo is and isn't.

It is not a rental agency and you don't make payments to or through vrbo.

It is merely a site where owners can advertise their properties. You will deal directly w/ the individual landlord. So your experience will depend almost entirely on that owner.

One advantage - vrbo does have a sort of insurance/guarantee that the property actually exists. This is a fairly recent improvement, and I have no problems using vrbo because of it. IMO, vrbo is much more reliable than craig's list. But it is not a rental agency . . . .

sf7307

To add to what Janis said (and I have used vrbo successfully in Park City and Hawaii), since you do deal directly with the owner, the owner(s) expect to be contacted and discuss the apartment, the payment policies, etc. I have spoken to most of the people in whose listings we have been interested in by both email and telephone. The telephone "interview" gives you a chance to "hear" their body language and get a feel for the type of person they are, honesty, etc. Of course, there are good actors, so it won't be true in all cases, but it has worked for us.

LuckyLuc

I agree with both previous posts. We often rented from VRBO, we do not like to pay extra agency fees, and prefer to use that money for a nice meal instead !

We always talk on the phone with the owners and we always been very satisfied.

Mimar

About VRBO's guarantee: they will reimburse you afterwards if the rental is not as advertised. Or maybe doesn't exist. But what about your vacation? You'll have to put up with possibly crappy apartment in a possibly inconvenient location. Or give up and go find a hotel.

I'm sticking to agencies. My vacations are precious to me.

There is a long thread here on Paris apartments, and there are some reviews of VRBO places on www.slowtrav.com. Now a good review from those sources could change my mind. If I trusted the reviewer.

MelJ

I've had no problems renting from VRBO in both Paris and Rome. However, when I find an apartment I like I cross-check it to see if it's listed on other rental web sites and, if it is, I read reviews there, as well.

Whether you rent from VRBO or another site, make sure the descdription includes square footage, street address, the floor (and whether there is an elevator), cleaning fees, utility charges and form of payment. I've noticed more and more are requesting cash in euros upon arrival and that can be a bit of a hassle.

vedette

If you only need a place for two people, I can recommend VRBO #133080. We stayed there a month ago and loved it. Review posted on the 133080 site.

kevlynne

I have used VRBO in Canada, Mexico, and lots of places in the US. So while no experience in Paris, it has been sucessful everywhere else.

Make sure to look at the pictures carefully. You can spot small places being made to look bigger, and views that are only visible off to a side.

Finally, as there are usually multiple places, email a number of them and compare them based on responses. We have had several responses that seemed almost like stalkers (we chose a different place and one owner contacted us several times after being told no!)

Nikki

I have rented a couple of apartments through VRBO in Paris, but I have been directed to them by reviews of people who stayed in those particular apartments. If I read about a particular apartment with which someone has had a good experience, that is a very good indication that you should also have a good experience.

Payment process vary from owner to owner.

polo00

We rented apartment called - "Heart" of Covent Garden, London's Theatre District" http://www.vrbo.com/168792 from JULY 2010 ,four months in advance and got the owner approval for the date.


30 days before arrival we completed the full payment.


Two weeks before we arrived to UK we got e-mail from the owner that due to double booking we can't get the apartment that was ordered.


This e-mail shock us, It was on the highest season .


We sent more than 50 e-mails for apartment owners and hotels and couldn't find any other place since we are family with three children.


After few nerve-racking days the owner offer us other apartment , 15 mints walk from the first one , longer distance to the tube, in very noisy street but since we didn't have any other option we took his offer.


I don't know if it was innocent double booking mistake or the owner got higher price for our date.


The owner was willing to compensate us for only 10% for all the troubles he cause us. It was much lower for all the trouble he cause us.


I am highly recommend to reconsider renting this apartment."


VRBO didn't approve to pablish this review.


I will not use VRBO web site in the future!!!!!

lavandula

We used VRBO in London in November 2007. The apartment was great, as advertised, but we ended up using a booking service which the owner uses. This didn't bother us, but maybe other people who are expecting to deal directly with the owner might be a little put off. Because we had a really positive experience I'd be happy to use VRBO again.

Lavandula

cocofromdijon

Polo I'm sorry you had such bad luck with that rental. As a private owner I also have an ad on VRBO (thanks to tucsonbabe who suggested it to me)I was surprised to see that this website has so much success compared to others and I always wondered why!
If the property has a name why not make a search on google? You may find it is rated and also on a tourist office website which is reassuring or you may find some bad postings from people who've been scammed. It is not only valid for VRBO but for any website where rentals advertise on. This is what I personnally do, so no bad surprise!

Christina

I think you can have problems with apts not being available from both private owners and agencies. I myself don't like renting from private owners solo and have never done it, I prefer an agency, but some people have had problems with them. Trying to find some references obviously is the way to go in both cases.

I think the reason VRBO has success is just because it is very well known, that's all.

I think the OP from the quesiton really does not understand that VRBO is just a website where people can advertise, it isn't any kind of agency in any way. It's no different from a newspaper ad or any other medium.

janisj

Ho does a first time poster even find a thread this old to post their 'hit and run'?

habryshuk

We've recently stayed at one of the properties #242156 using VRBO and it was horrible, but VRBO does everything to avoid negative reviews and make it extremely difficult for you to post one. First, they asked me to prove that I stayed there and present rental contract, even though i've sent them all the email correspondence with the owner and emails with paypal payments. They kept insisting on the rental contract, which almost no owner on VRBO uses. Only when I explained to them that email is a legally binding contract, they finally agree to post my review.

BUT here is the caveat, from their email:
"Thank you for providing the requested information in such a timely manner. We have removed the hold on your review for listing #242156. Please note that the property owner does have some time to add an owner response before your review will be published online. Please understand that if the owner chooses to do so, they can opt out of ALL reviews for the listing. This means that your review would not display, but all of the other reviews for the property would not display either. If the owner opts back into reviews in the future, your review will display."

So basically, after all that I went through writing the review, proving that i stayed there countless times, wasting a lot of my time, now they are telling me that the owner has the power to opt out of all reviews???? that's already beyond being ridiculous. That's just deceptive marketing. Any owner given a bad review will just opt out, so only positive reviews stay. Fantastic! way to go! Now I know why I'm yet to find a property with a negative review.

If you use VRBO, you are playing a game of chance and never know what you get.

Stay away if you don't want your vacation ruined.

TPAYT

We haven't rented from VRBO in Paris, but have rented through them in other parts of the world and the Caribbean with great success.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience.

Christina

I believe the answer to Janis' question (who seems to doubt a lot of complaints on Fodors, I don't, as when you are mad you want to complain) is that FOdors threads now show up on Google very easily. So if you have a bad experience and Google something related, a Fodors thread will appear and you may go read what it's about and voila, you want the world to read what you have to say. For example, if you are mad at VRBO, you might google that plus reviews or something and this thread would pop up.

CaliNurse

http://www.vrbo.com/15502

avoid this one in the Marais. Gets 99% great reviews on VRBO which i dont understand.We are not hard to please, but this place ...well, did not leave us with that "we love it" vibe . We were there 2 yrs ago, so unless it has changed, avoid.
Bedrooms were nice, and bathroom was large(if dark--black tile!!)and had loads of towels.
Old dusty tv was broken and never did work while we were there. Washing machine was broken and leaking upon arrival, but did get fixed. The living room looked nothing like the photo. David is a very nice person indeed, but i got the feeling this is just a money maker for him, as he inherited the place from his grandparents, and he does the least necessary to keep the place rented out--it needs TLC and better cleaning service!

Some places list on both--eg Paris Perfect has its own agency, and lists on VRBO.

jhaskell

I have had great luck with my VRBO rentals. I will be staying in my 5th property in Paris over the Christmas holidays and have rented several properties in Europe and the US. As with any rental do your "due diligence" with questions, read about the area if you are not firmiliar where the apartment is located, do a google earth search if you want to take a look yourself. I have always found the owner to be very open and helpful to questions.
Hope you enjoy the selection process....and your time in Paris.

janisj

jhaskell: "<i>Hope you enjoy the selection process....and your time in Paris.</i>"

Jojolla posted this 2 years ago, their trip to Paris was back on '09.

(It was topped - twice actually in Aug and Oct - by folks registering just to complain about vrbo. They sign up on all sorts of websites, post their rants and then never contribute again. I'm not defending vrbo -- sure there can be problems. But hit-and-run kvetching has very little credibility IMO)