I am looking into places to stay when we bring our daughters to college this fall. One will be going to school in San francisco, one in Chicago (loyola). What do people know about Vacation rental by owner? Thinking it might be nice to have a little more space than a hotel room . I would need 3nights in each city at the end of August.
rbhm

VRBO is just a way to advertise. The units are rented and maintained by owners - so they vary greatly in quality etc. Any general statement about renting through VRBO may or may not apply to you; it's a crapshoot.

We do many of our college-kid visiting using Priceline. It's saved us a ton of money over the years.

You may not find places that will do only 3 nights, some have min. of week. They also often will charge cleaning fee on top of nightly rental, so be sure to consider that as well, when computing the costs.

As wliwl stated, each rental is privately owned, so one rental will have no bearing on any other.

Do you know you way around these cities? Do you know the areas well enough to know if a rental will be conveniently located?

Good luck,
Deb

Thanks for the feedback. DebitNM, No I don't know my way around the city that well. I too am concerned that the place be conveniently located to the college. Wliwl, on priceline can you put in the part of the city you want to stay in?
We need to be in the Rogers Park area. We may need to be running to stores for those "essentials" of dorm living.
I have sent one child off to school but she went to a college within a car ride away. I don't know yet if we will be driving to chicago (from RI) or flying.
If we fly in we obviously will need to rent a car and then find the nearest Bed& Bath and Beyond or Ikea or ? for all the dorm stuff.
rbhm

I've rented quite a few times via VRBO. Everything said above is true, but let's be honest. What guarantee is there than any hotel will be as advertised (one only needs to read a few reviews to see that some are unhappy with anywhere)? And don't you have to be just as cautious with locations of hotels. Sure -- you need to do some checking, not rent blindly.

You do need to do some research and make sure you understand the location and the actual place as listed. Before you send a deposit always register your rental with the homeaway link on the VRBO site which will pay you back if for some reason the ad was bogus (but I can't remember any VRBO reports where that happens -- as opposed to some other sites).
And it is true to look at cleaning fees and possibly booking fees, which could add up to $40 a night on a three night rental. But many eliminate hotel taxes which could be as much as 19% in some cities.

Hello. I rented at 30 Huron through VRBO about a year ago and was very pleased with the property. I will top my trip report for you. Location was great and the property though a bit worn was as described.

Depending on the location and local tax laws, hotel taxes may apply. That is what we found in CA when we rented a VRBO for a 1 week rental. The owners were obliged to charge Room tax just the same as a hotel. This was not true for a longer term stay which was considered a rental whereas short term stays were considered as hotel stays.

Patrick,

I agree that hotel stays can be risky too. But what you have going for you is that if a particular room is bad, the hotel may have other room options for you. Of course, if the entire place is a dump, well...

The other concern if a VRBO turns out poorly, you have usually prepaid in full and are there for out the $$.

Our 2 VRBO places were great. I talked on the phone to owner in both cases, it seemed to help to do that; get kind of a sense of the person.

What is that saying, you roll the dice, you take the chances?

rbhm, will you have a car or rely on public transportation? That might make a difference in choosing hotel over VRBO. The VRBO might be in a residential area vs. a hotel being in a more business area.

Deb

one thing about vrbo - they now offer their "homeaway" guarantee. It used to be much more of a crapshoot - sort of like craigslist. Now vrbo is just about as secure as any agency.

Many places you can get shorter vrbo rental periods - but in August in anyplace w/ any sort of tourism, they will more likely require full weeks

We will have a car, not sure at this point if we are going to drive from RI or fly and rent a car.

If you wait until the last minute, many VRBO will drop their minimum stay requirements.

I agree with NeoPatrick--if you do your research about location, and don't do anything silly like send cash for the deposit, I wouldn't worry too much about being ripped off.

For me, the real question is whether you will need the services a hotel provides: front desk staff or a concierge to answer questions, call cabs, get you tickets or reservations, room service, shoe or dry cleaning and laundry services. If you are a self-sufficient traveler, and feel confident using a laptop to look up, for example, where the nearest IKEA is, a VRBO rental would indeed give you more space and privacy for a lower price than a typical hotel.

Thanks for all the input. I will look into 30 HUron st cmcfong. It is always good to have a report from some one who stayed there.
This part will probably be the easiest, missing her the hardest!
rbhm

I've stated this before on here & I'll do it again. I have rented thru them over 50+ times. I have had one problem & I rec'v'd a full refund from the owner (problem being he misrepresented the property & left a lot of important info out). Go for it.

Something to consider: Parking in the city can be expensive and a pain. You might be better off renting the car for a day and getting all your errands done, then using public transportation the rest of the time. Loyola is right on the red line. Ikea is out in Schaumburg, about 25 miles from the school (avoid rush hour), and there are numerous Bed, Bath & Beyonds in the city.