Consider moving -- temporarily -- into a vacation property versus a hotel to give your family trip a homey spin. You may even save some serious cash.
No matter the amenities -- from hot tubs to home theaters to outdoor pools -- when people who rent vacation houses start chatting away about their time away, they always end up talking abut the kitchen. Quite simply, there's no room that brings people together more than the place they grab their morning cereal and gather together to cook up big old feasts for the evening. It's that focus on together time that makes a vacation house rental worth considering for your next family vacation.
A three-generations-under-one-roof weeklong rental "down the shore," as they say in Jersey, has become standard practice for Jen Singer, a Kinnelon, New Jersey, mom of two and her family. "It's the highlight of our summer, for our family to get together away from all the craziness of our homes. To be with each other and laugh with each other," she says of the annual 8- to 10-person getaways. The Singers go with a house instead of a hotel to guarantee that their week away gives them ample time to connect. "When you go to a hotel room and your in-laws are in another room, that's their room and you don't want to bother them there," she says. "Hotel rooms separate people a little bit more, and vacation houses bring the group together."
Since kids are in the mix, Singer adds that the condo they rent provides the parents and grandparents with a chance to get some quality adult time. If they went the hotel route, the adults would have to stick close to their rooms after putting the kids to bed. In their summer condo, they tuck the young ones in and, within shouting distance of the kidlets, hang out in the living room for cocktails and late-night chatter. "It's safer, because we have our own little pod, our family's place," says Singer.
Renting a place also saves the Singers big bucks. Though they still go out for some dinners, they eat the bulk of their meals at the condo. (It also provides quite a bit of entertainment, as the women love to watch the men bond around the grill. "It cracks us up," says Singer.) But the savings can go far beyond the food budget. Overall, says Justin Halloran, vice president and managing director or
HomeAway's U.S. business, renting a house is generally 50 percent cheaper per square foot than staying at a hotel. While there are plenty of super-cushy rentals out there -- a 26-bedroom castle in Las Vegas anyone? -- the average price of a nine-day, three- or four-bedroom rental house in the U.S. through
HomeAway.com is just $1,400. "There's a misconception that rental homes are expensive," says Steve Trover, the president of Discover Vacation Homes.
Meet Your Needs
For some, part of the fun of renting a house is, well, finding the house. The Internet is loaded with
vacation rental sites, from ones posted by a single homeowner to show off their property to management companies that handle a hyundred or so homes to aggregators that list thousands of properties around the world.
Over the last five years, there was a boom in second-home purchases, notes Trover, also the CEO of Kissimmee, Florida-based
All Star Vacation Home Realty. And many of those homes are now being offered up as rentals. "It drives the owners crazy that they have places sitting empty when they're not using them," says HomeAway's Halloran, and renting them out helps defray the cost of maintaining a second home.
Halloran adds that, for families of six or more, it's important to reserve a place early. While a couple can usually pick up a house on the fly,you should give your family plenty of time to figure out the trip's logistics. He says that families of 6 to 9 people typically reserve 94 days in advance, while families of 10 or more -- reunions, etc. -- sign on the dotted line an average of 119 days in advance.
When you search for homes, keep the needs of your group in mind. First, figure out how many bedrooms and bathrooms you really need. "There have to be enough bedrooms so that people aren't sprawled out on the living room floor," says Singer. Then think about the way you're going to use the house. If you're planning some heavy days of sightseeing and don't think you'll do much hanging out, there's probably little need to search out homes with tennis courts, pools or other onsite activities.
Want the help of a concierge combined with the house experience? Rent a house through a management company. Many are starting to offer concierge services to assist travelers who are used to hotel life. They'll handle the grocery shopping for you, organize your local transportation, book attraction tickets or even find a chef to cook a celebratory family dinner at the house.
That's not to say that homeowner-managed properties don't have anything to offer. "Definitely take advantage of the owner's local knowledge -- they're telling you because they love it," says Halloran about their recommendations. From information about favorite local restaurants to the best markets to shop for those family dinners, homeowners are bubbling over with ideas for what to do, where to go, and how to get the most out of your stay.