renting a house in Sedona
 

Has anyone here ever done this for a week? I usually stay in hotels or in a friend's place at Junipine, but this Christmas we want to rent a house 93br, 2 bath, hot tub and views. What agency did you go through, or did you rent from an individual? What area of Sedona did you choose? Since we are going around chirstmas I want to avoid the area close to Tlaquepaque since it will be very crowded w/the Red Rock light display and heavy shopping. Thinking of the Village of Oak Creek or west Sedona.
Any experience w/this to share?
Thanks in advnace.

hahaha, not 93 bedrooms, just 3!

Hi emd,

I haven't used them for Sedona, but have you looked at the rentals on www.vrbo.com ?

I haven't used vrbo.com for Sedona but have used it extensively for other areas. In most cases you are renting directly from the owner, cutting out the middleman prices.

I did check out Sedona rentals on vrbo for this summer but I am only there a couple of days and most required a minimum stay of 7 nts.

BTW, emd- I'm still on the condo hunt but have opened the search to Anthem and Gold Canyon as well as Fountain Hills due to price and availability. I've found I can get a newer house in GC for the same price as I can get an older townhouse (with no garage) in FH. And GC is near the Superstition Mtns, good for hiking and biking. I plan to check out the Village of Oak (I'm blanking...) Canyon? Creek? that you like on our way up to Sedona.

We have used www.vrbo.com for condo rentals on Sanibel Island, FL, and have been very pleased. Last summer/fall I did some research on rental homes in Sedona area, and came across www.escapetoSedona.com. It listed a number of houses,and presented very good and promising options, but when I looked it up today, they had only a few. Maybe you can keep checking that site for new listings. Some rentals may be available only for certain times or seasons.
Good Luck !

Hi Jocelyn, long time no talk to, haha, and you too amwosu. Thanks everyone. Jenny, it is funny you mentioned escapetosedona.com, because there is a woman on this board (Grethcen, can't think of her screen name now- oh yes, it is cactushugger) who was going to rent an amazing house from them last fall for for the month of March 2005, and that led me to look at their houses a few days ago but like you I only saw three houses there now, and the ones she ravied about are gone. I'm going to call them as maybe they just don't have all the hosues up on the site.
amwosu, that sounds great about your condo hunting- how exciting. GC sounds good. Tell me how you like Village of Oak Creek when you get there. I am tied btwn a house there (3br, 3 bath, nice w/good views of red rocks out back, hot tub, etc.) and a house in west Sedona on vrbo that has hiking almost out the front door. Probably west Sedona is better, then we won't have to go through the "Y' traffic to hike (and I like the hiking out west). I am also trying to get hold of Red Rock Realty but they aren't answering my messages.
I'll let you guys know where I end up in case you ever end up renting there. There isn't a great abundance of house rentals like you see in most other resort areas. I guess alot of the houses are owned by peopel who live there and by Phoenix-ites (what are they called, amwosu, since you will be one soon?) who don't rent them out.

FYI- I just cruised thru Barnes and Noble and picked up "How a Second Home Can Be Your Best Investment" which has tips for both investment and vacation home purchases. So far, so good.

I also picked up a book on Day Hikes in Phoenix which looks pretty good. Do you ever hike in Phoenix area? I've only done Camelback and Pinnacle Peak. Closer to my trip I'm going to pick your brain on Sedona hikes. I'm only staying at Desert Quail Inn two nights then its back to Scottsdale. Good luck on the rental hunt. I'm doing the same thing for Aspen at Christmas.

amwosu: Just saw your last post. I look forward to having my brain picked on Sedona hikes. I love thinking and talking and writing about it, it is one of my favorite things to think about and do.
Yes, I have hiked in Phoenix, at Camelback and more recently at South Mountain in the evenings last fall and again recently at end of Feb. I work w/someone who has a home office in Chandler so I just hop over to South Mountain when we are done w/working together. Lovely little hikes. A few people out on them in the evenings, but not so much that you can't enjoy it, and enough to feel safe. It's funny because when I hike in Sedona I like to go for hours without seeing anyone and I still feel safe, but in Phoneix I like to have a few more people around.
Ok, i am going back to looking for a house in West Sedona now....

amwosu: Just saw your last post. I look forward to having my brain picked on Sedona hikes. I love thinking and talking and writing about it, it is one of my favorite things to think about and do.
Yes, I have hiked in Phoenix, at Camelback and more recently at South Mountain in the evenings last fall and again recently at end of Feb. I work w/someone who has a home office in Chandler so I just hop over to South Mountain when we are done w/working together. Lovely little hikes. A few people out on them in the evenings, but not so much that you can't enjoy it, and enough to feel safe. It's funny because when I hike in Sedona I like to go for hours without seeing anyone and I still feel safe, but in Phoneix I like to have a few more people around.
BTW- when you book at Desert Quail ask for one of the few rooms w/a view. Because of the way the hotel is situated, only a few rooms have a bit of view. I think it is like 307,308,407,408 that have the view out the front window. Those are also further off of the hwy and are better for less hwy noise (which isn't really a problem if you have the fan/air on in the room...)
Ok, i am going back to looking for a house in West Sedona now....