judymo

Is vrotels.com legit?
Three ladies coming to NYC and trying to stay outside of Time Square...any ideas?

nytraveler

Renting an apartment in NYC short term - less than 30 days - is illegal except in very unusual circumstances. The chances are that these places are illegal (so if anything is wrong you have no recourse).

So are they legit - no.

Is it also a scam? - possibly - I don;t know. But there are a lot of listings that simply don't exist.

Based on the fact that a lot of these are at the same addresses it looks like it might be a failed co=op or condo - and the owner is trying to make up for lack of sales through illegal short-term rentals.

Especially disturbing is that they don't have actual addresses - so you can't even see what the building looks like. (I just called for fun and they don;t provide addresses until you actually get to NYC to meet someone. And the person answering the phone - sounds like a young girl - refused to give out any information until I provided all sorts of details).

I wouldn't touch this with a barge pole. You could easily end up put all of your money - and you have no idea where you are going to be staying.

nytraveler

Strongly suggest you let us know what your budget is and when you are coming. There are hotels in all price ranges in many different areas of the city - so no need to stay in Times Square at all.

Just give us some details and people can make specific recos.

And if you want a kitchen there are quite a few hotels that have suites or rooms with kitchenettes or basic cooking facilities available. And you will know where they are and that they're legitimate.

doug_stallings

There are plenty of hotels outside of Times Square, but short-term apartment rentals are illegal. So legit or not, I'd recommend avoiding this site.

judymo

OH! NO! What I didn't understand is "we" can help you find a hotel. Thanks for the good points. We were about to pay our deposit.
I've used vrbo before...are you saying they are not legit? When I've called and called and some places you can't call, it is a young girl who answers and just now before I read your note, she said, "WHO?...." when I asked for Ryan.
Good advise on sticking with a hotel that you have some recourse, if something goes wrong. Many thanks to all.

vjpblovesitaly

"I've used vrbo before...are you saying they are not legit?"

That was explained at the beginning of the the first response.

judymo

I'd asked about vrotels???

nyer

well,what do you mean by "legit"?
They, like VRBO and Craigslist, are listing services. They include rentals that are most likely not legal. (There are dozens of discussions on this board about how most apt rentals in NYC of less than 30 days are illegal)

Does that mean everything VROTELS does is illegal? Who knows.
If you google the phone number given you'll see they also operate under other business names, not just vrotels. There seem to be the usual amount of complaints online about their services, and that doesn't even count the "generally illegal" aspect of the NYC rentals .

SusieQQ

As stated most apartment rentals under 30 days are illegal, so don't take a chance. An apartment/hotel will be your best bet. Try the Affinia apartments, Radio City Apartments, etc.

SusieQQ

Other Apartment/Hotels for you to check out:

DoubleTree Suites
The Blakely
Salisbury
San Carlos

nytraveler

Yes, but while VRBO are illegal in NYC they often actually do exist. And you can get detailed information from them - specific address of the property, references of previous renters, can buy insurance and can often pay with credit cards.

This vrotels.com has several problems:

The phone is answered - after many rings - by a young girl saying huh?

There is practically no information about the apartments on the site and based on photos many seem to be sparsely furnished

Some that claim to have a bedroom actually have a loft instead based on the floor plan and photo

There are no addresses provided - just an intersection. When I asked about this I was told the landlords had to "protect their privacy" - as in hide who they are - and specific addresses are not provided until the renter GETS TO NEW YORK(!!!!)

There are no prices provided for the apartments

There are no references provided

Basically the web site is a lot of fluff - no content - except a lot of floorplans (could come from the NY Times web site for all we know) and photos (which are repetitive for different apartments).

They do not seem to take credit cards or paypal - but it's hard to determine since the web site is so sparse the the HUH? girl would not provide any answers.

IMHO this one may well be a scam - since based on the web site they are not promising you any specific apartment. Don't know how you would collect if you were put in a dump - even if you could track them down.

For apartments away from Times Square look at the Beacon on the upper west side. A great, primarily residential area that is busy without being frantic and right nest Central park - and the subway to get you anywhere.

judymo

Again - thanks...I agree with what has been said...will start looking at hotels - maybe some with kitchenettes.

Anne_DeManser

Im staying in NYC for Christmas. Got a good deal with Affinia Dumont & the room has a kitchen

doug_stallings

Most Affinia hotels have full one-bedroom suites with kitchens; none is in Times Square, so that's an option for you. But some of the hotels are pretty expensive. The one that you may want to consider is the Eastgate Tower, which is an older property that needs work but has some very large full apartments (some with multiple bedrooms and bathrooms). It's ideal for a group of people and fairly close to transit and good restaurants on the northernmost edge of a nice residential area.