Jenner

We use VRBO and HomeAway for vacation rentals in Europe at least twice a year. What you get is all about the owners, of course, but for lots of listings at your fingertips, both sites are great. The cost is always far less than hotels, and usually they are much nicer, especially if you are in a group of four or more.

I prefer HomeAway - more user friendly. Tripadvisor now has vacation rental listings, too, but their listings in Europe aren't as extensive as the others.

I prefer to use paypal - usually the owner absorbs the fees, but not always, so do watch out for that. Not many owners will have the ability to take credit cards unless vacation rentals are their business.

RainyDay09

Just FYI, this is not an endorsement: one more site to add is HouseTrip.com. They seem to have quite a selection of European rentals and are based in Switzerland.

tedgale

gabrielle: I am one of the people who recommends Rome Capital Apartments. We have rented 2 or 3 times with them and 2 Fodors friends (Anselm Adorne, lowcountryislander) have also rented through them with complete satisfaction.

Viajero2

I have rented European properties three (3) times using VRBO. All went fine; the only complaint on the property in Spain was that, while the property itself was spotless, the development it was located on had garbage pick-up issues. Every day, we will have to pass these horrendous piles of garbage which can certainly take away from relaxation mood. No way to ascertain that from the site, but reviews would had probably mentioned that. I typically never stayed anywhere I can't find a review for; my first "non-compliance" with this rule proved why I should never "skip" this rule again...

DinaMia

We rented an apartment in Florence (first time) with a lovely terrace and literally a stone's throw from the Duomo. It was lovely, just as depicted. All correspondences were prompt, helpful and professional. I agree with other posters, make sure they have reviews, etc.... I have recommended VRBO many times to others.

chapla

I checked out vrbo and then found niumba.com and homelidays.com had a bigger selection of apartments.I have used them for the past 7 years with no problems.

humptynumpty

" I have recommended VRBO many times to others"

Which is pointless.

Your great experience was a function of a diligent landlord not of VRBO. VRBO is simply a advertising lottery of good/bad landlords and it isn't possible to attribute good/ bad experiences to the use of the VRBO site.

jwood729

Thanks everyone for the site suggestions and tips. We are starting to nail down our locations, and I may come back to ask about specific rentals in more specific locations once we figure that out. Thanks!

gabrielle4cb

Have fun planning, jwood!

Tedgale: Thank you; that is good to hear your experiences have been positive. We will be in Rome in September. Can't wait!

Christina

There isn't even any way to characterize that renting through VRBO is cheaper, on average. There are cheap places on there and expensive places. Some agencies have rentals just as cheap as on VRBO, and some landlords on VRBO charge the same as an agency, they know the going market. You aren't always saving a lot just because they are renting themself. I've seen apts on VRBO that rent for the exact same amount on there as they do when on a private agency website (as some are listed in both places).

YOu just have to compare prices, as with anything. In theory, it should be cheaper if it were a perfect world and the people renting on VRBO priced their things a lot lower than the agency market, but they often don't, even though they aren't paying a commission fee. Although you can find agencies on VRBO, also (more or less, at least small groups of rentals).

clevelandbrown

We've had consistently good results with VRBO.com. There has always been a good selection, and the information, including reports from prior renters, has been sufficient to give me confidence that I am getting what is shown.

The owners we have dealt with often stay in the apartment itself for some time, and rent it out the rest of the time. Since they run a small operation, they probably don't qualify to take credit cards, and of course I cannot write a check in Euros on my US bank, so we have learned to get by with other methods; usually a deposit using paypal, and the rest in cash on arrival. Long ago, I sent a wire transfer for the deposit, but it was really expensive, so I don't do that any more.

To get enough cash from ATMs for the rental, I had my bank raise my daily ATM limit, and make multiple withdrawals at a convenient ATM (most ATMs have their own limit for a single transaction, but you can make multiple transactions).

xerenthar

i won't rent on vrbo/homeaway because the feedback is owner controlled. airbnb, although i have not used them yet, i will consider, as the owner-landlord cannot censor feedback.

sdtravels

You know how they say a picture is worth a 1000 words. Double for vrbo. Look closely at the photos. I never choose a place that doesn't have a photo of the bed. So far for me, the photos pretty much tell it all. I learned to look carefully at the photos because I rented some place with a crickety sway bed. Sure enough, I went back and looked at the photos and it was there if I had noticed.

jan47ete

We rented from VRBO and most recently with Homeaway and have been very successful with both. Only one issue we had with 1 VRBO rental in Venice. As we were going to be in Italy for 2 months brought out computer, the apt and I verified via email with the owner, had computer access. Sure, but only when the guy across the hall had his computer turned on. Then there was also some gizmo(husband is the computer savvy one)we needed and had to spend first AM in Venice trying to find what we needed. Did give us a chance to wander and fortunately we had 10 days in the city. Owner talked to the neighbor and would reimburse us for the gizmo, still annoying when I had checked and verified.

Balcony: is balcony actually a US style balcony you can go out on or is it a Romeo and Juliet type? With european apts converted from every type of building, is the balcony in an air shaft or a sit out on it type?

Churches: look up on google where they are in relation to apt as they do ring - early? Can't get away from them, but don't necessarily want them next door unless you are a sound sleeper?

Washer/dryer: we never get an apt without one as that is worth any price between 2 similar apts.

Meet and greet: hopefully there is no fee if you get in very early/very late in the day.

Bed: I too check the bed and prefer 2 singles to a double. If you normally sleep in a king at home a double will seem very tight. And you do want a good nights sleep, so if I'm very lucky go for at least a queen but that is a little unusual in Europe.

Master Bedroom: where is it in the apt? No pics in our Venice apt showed the absolutely straight up, narrow, no rail staircase to the MB. We kept everything downstairs and only went up and down once a day.

Condiments/ TP/laundry soap/DW detergent: what's provided and what's not?

Enjoy.