For a trip with my kids and grandchildren to Barcelona in June 2010, I have been looking online at rental apartments near the beach. (We need 4 bedrooms.) The best apartments, in terms of both size and location, seem to be listed with www.vrbo.com. Has anyone rented through them? Is this a reliable web site? I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who's had experience -- good and/or bad! -- dealing with rentals through vrbo.com, particularly (although not necessarily exclusively) in Spain.

Keep in mind that vrbo.com is composed of ads from thousands of individual owners or agents. So someone's experience with one apartment rental on VRBO will not tell you anything about your experience, because you will be dealing with separate owners. The ads are only as reliable as the owner/agent, so again it doesn't make sense to talk about the reliability of the site as a whole.

This next vacation, we will be using VRBO for the third time.
We used them in three different countries and have had positive experiences so far. I cannot tell you about this next one, of course.
But, like WillTravel says, each rental is with a different owner. So, it may take a leap of faith on your part.
Good Luck.

Just to reiterate, VRBO listings are from individual owners and private rental agencies. Some VRBO listings have guest comments, so I tend to prefer those.

We rented two places this summer in Montana using VRBO. As everyone has said, the site is only as reliable as the individual owners. But there are some things you can do to help you decide if you are dealing with a reliable owner. 1) Talk to the owner, preferably by phone as opposed to by e-mail. Ask a lot of specific questions and see how they respond. I got a lot of good information and good "vibes" from the owners I talked to and ended up being very happy with their properties. 2) Look for rental properties with lots of pictures on the site. 3) Look for rental properties that have a lot of guest comments.

I have rented twice thru this website and was entirely satisfied. Am now renting for a third time in October. All different owners.

When looking at VRBO, I always check the "guest comments" as well as the calendar. If the flat is frequently occupied, I take that as a good sign. Sometimes you can get more info (like specific location) in the comments; be sure check the date to see if they are recent. Also, make sure you see pictures of the majority of the space... kitchen, bathroom. You can always ask for more if they are not posted. Good luck!

I have rented through VRBO several times and had good experiences till this year. With the economy bad I think there are more desperate owners. My biggest problem is with their comment section. The comments are sent to the owner and he/she decides what is posted.
I rented a home in Aptos that was filthy. When I got in I found none of the beds had clean sheets. When I called the owner, she made up a story about the sheets being a high count and only looked like they had been slept in. If I didn't like it I could wash them. She assured me the clean up crew had washed all the sheets. On removing the sheets my wife found mens underwear between the sheets.She was furious. I called the owner again to tell her what I found and she still denied that her crew would lie to her. The dishwasher was full of dirty dishes. The carpets were dirty. There were spider webs in all the windows. My wife remade all The beds after washing all the sheets . I vacuumed the floors. We washed all the dishes in the dishwasher and then washed all the dishes in the cabinets. We wasted one whole day of our vacation. When we left the home was much cleaner than when we found it. I told the owner since the home was not clean when we arrived we would appreciate not being charged a cleaning fee of $75. She said no, and would send the rest of our deposit in 21 days as agreed in the contract. It has been 40 days and when we contacted her she said she sent the check and it had already cleared her bank. We told her she should recheck because WE did not receive a check. She then said she had sent it registered mail. Now we know we are dealing with a nut case.
We told her she should check her records and send us our deposit or the documentation from the registered mail. I do not expect to get any deposit. I just wish there was a way to warn other VRBO travelers before they get scammed by this woman. There is much more to the story but I am hoping to get VRBO to investigate and remove this owner from their site. Be warned. If there are no comments it is because there are NO GOOD comments. We have always written a good report after all our good experiences on VRBO.

In Sep 2009, we rented an apartment through friendly rentals in barcelona and were very happy with the aparmtent and their customer service. The agency that checked us in was very professional and quick in processing the paperwork (taxi was waiting outside) we had a problem wih power outage and they sent some within an hour to fix the problem. Apartment was very clean, sheet and towels fairly new and very clean. I would suggest renting an apartment that is managed by an agency. we also paid the whole fee by AMEX and they returned the 200 euros deposit to my CC within 4 days.

gltbiter: I'm guessing that, as long as your complaint isn't an isolated incident, that listing will probably be removed. That's why I would try to look for someone who has been listed with VRBO for at least one year, and preferably longer--so there will be some history to go on.

When you deal with a VRBO listing, it's a little bit of a crapshoot, but I think that you can reduce your chances of having a bad experience by being a little bit choosy and getting a feel for whether or not something is too good to be true. If an offer is out of step with the market, doesn't have pictures, and doesn't have comments, think twice. Multiple property owners also tend to have a stake in having you have a pleasant rental experience.

I have rented from vrbo with no problems so far. Per my personal experience, renting directly from owner seems to work to the advantage of the customer as any problems/complains seems to be taken care of much more expeditously. Also any claims on price, undelivered services, are better handled if dealing directly with owner, who is vested to take desicions on the spot. I recently stayed at an apt in Rome and the owner was extremely gracious in disregarding a couple of quick phone calls to the US and getting a service person to look into an appliance. I cannot even imagine a rental agency employee having the authority to waive any charges or take property desicions as easy as the owner did.

gltbiter-- what vrbo listing you are referring to? Sounds awful!

The criteria I follow is ONLY rent with positive comments and and have pictures. Even if a place looks heavenly, if I cannot find positive comments on it, I do NOT even email the owner.

You are not renting FROM VRBO - you are renting THROUGH them; they're merely a service for owners of properties. So- you need to do all the background work on the specific property you plan on renting - make sure you have contacted the owner several times, understand all their caveats and specifications and DO NOT ASSUME anything. Get it all in writing and with references.

That said, VRBO will drop a property if there are significant complaints - but it you're stuck with a new place that's a dud there's nothing they can do for you on the spot.

nytraeler wrote >>it you're stuck with a new place that's a dud there's nothing they can do for you on the spot.<< Nonsense.

Too general of a statement, and hence, totally wrong. The owner of the apt I rented in Rome owned about 5-6 other apartments (Campo de Fiori, Spanish Steps). He kindly offered I could choose from the others available if I was not happy with my first choice. I was very happy with my first choice, but was even happier to know how many choices I had "on the spot".

Again, to think every VRBO listing is great is nonsense as well. To think you are left stranded by every owner is as well.

My husband and I have rented through VRBO.com several times with great places and success with no problems until July. We rented an apartment in Brussels that wasn't what it appeared to be. It was noisy, uncomfortable and not what it appeared to be from the many pictures that we saw. Reviews were good on the property.

We stayed just one night, forfeiting well over a week's rental. We gladly ate the rental as a lesson learned, but eating the deposit is hard to take. We haven't been able to get the deposit back from the landlord, he won't acknowledge our emails. If there is a problem it's hard to fix. The property is in Europe and there is no way to complain with VRBO that we have been able to find.

I'd advise you to be very careful as negative feedback is not listed on VRBO. We paid by Paypal, so it's not like we can just fight it out with our credit card company. Getting taken makes you think twice about renting with anyone on VRBO.

I have rented from owners who listed their properties in VRBO and have had good experiences.

But - to say it one more time - the way you phrased the question makes as much sense as asking: "Are the items for sale in the Washington Post classifieds reliable?"

In addition to the comments, when we have rented from private owners, we have asked them to provide email addresses of former guests who we can contact directly. Obviously they'll give you the addresses of people who have been happy, but it's still a useful check I think.

while browsing VRBO.com I found on the top menu bar 'Rental Guarantee' - the link took me here: http://guarantee.homeaway.com - I think that might give you some piece of mind!