Even giants can fall if they grow too big. The problems with Airbnb are legion, and not getting much better.
Many travelers want to find a new method for finding vacation rentals. People are weary of fighting the platform’s shortcomings, crazy fees, and dirty surprises, but they feel trapped by it. The app’s inventory is so huge, and the majority of vacation rental properties seem to place their listings on it—so how can a traveler escape it?
It turns out the new method for finding home rentals is really just the old method. Before Airbnb became a million-roomed monster dominating the field, smaller boutique agencies handled home rentals in their own communities—and those businesses still exist. These are often the same companies that use Airbnb as a method for listing their inventory, but you don’t necessarily have to use Airbnb to rent them.
If you simply know how to look for those agencies (and which questions to ask in order to ascertain quality), then you can find sensibly priced vacation rentals that are properly looked after by people who aren’t trying to grift you.
Here’s how to remove Airbnb from your vacationing life without sacrificing quality accommodation. The secret is finding trustworthy rental agencies (not individual homeowners) that will serve as a protective third party to handle your transaction and meet your satisfaction.
Book directly—it’s easier than you think.
The co-founder of the vacation rental platform HomeAway, which later became part of Vrbo, says he has abandoned the big sites and now simply moves to “book directly with the property manager.”
He does this by beginning his searches on Vrbo, where it’s easier to determine the rental company for a property. But he only uses that platform to locate places he’s interested in. Then he simply looks up the manager of that property in a search engine and deals with the manager away from the major booking sites, which pad prices with extra fees that you won’t pay if you deal with managers directly.
Frommer’s explained this tactic in more detail in a recent post.
Find vacation rental agencies by targeted search.
Doing this can be as simple as searching “vacation rentals” and your destination, then compiling a list of local rental organizations that way.
Once you have the name of a local home rental agent, you’ll want to verify a few things.
- Does the rental agency inspect each property it represents?
- Does it have a list of standards that every property owner must meet?
- Does it accept payments by credit card? (Never pay cash or wire money for a home rental you find online; credit cards provide purchase protections.)
- Are all properties licensed and bonded by the local government? (This one isn’t always possible, depending on the destination, but it’s good to have.)
- Does the host or property manager meet arriving guests in person for check-in, and is a manager available throughout your stay in case of problems?
Just like vacationers, homeowners with property to rent also frequently use social media platforms to ask their neighbors for recommendations of trustworthy agencies and managers. Eavesdrop on those discussions in destination-specific Facebook groups, Reddit groups, or community sites like Nextdoor.
As always, when you find the name of a promising business, check its reputation through other sources, such as the Better Business Bureau and Trustpilot.
And make sure you read our advice about how to detect a bogus vacation rental scam.
Find a vacation rental business through a professional association.
For more than four decades, a group called the Vacation Rental Management Association (www.vrma.org) has provided membership and support to hosts and managing companies across the United States. The organization doesn’t have a public portal with members’ listings, although a representative told Frommer’s the group will answer emails from travelers requesting the names of its members in specific destinations.
But there are local groups you could check. Some popular tourist destinations organize their own professional associations that advocate for businesses that rent vacation homes. For example, there’s the Florida Alliance for Vacation Rentals (floridaavr.org). Palm Springs, California, has the Vacation Rental Owners and Neighbors of Palm Springs (home.vronps.org). Renters in Myrtle Beach might belong to the South Carolina Vacation Rental Management Association (southcarolinavrma.com). There are countless others, so search the Web for your destination and “vacation rental association” to see if there’s a relevant organization for where you’re going.
Every group has its own membership standards, so just because a managing agent is a member of a local organization doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do your due diligence to make sure the agent meets your safety and quality standards. Nevertheless, these organizations can be good sources to find the names and websites of the major local players. These groups can also give you a good local resource to turn to if a rental from one of its members goes south.
Sometimes, local tourist boards also post reference lists of vacation rental businesses. For example, here’s the page for Orlando’s official, tax-supported visitors bureau that informs vacationers about various rental companies in the area. Search the internet for your destination and the official tourism office, and then check that site for any listings for vacation rental companies.
Bear in mind that associations and tourism offices alike might require rental agencies to pay a fee to be listed (it depends on the group and the destination), so some perfectly good local rental agencies may not be included. But if an agency is listed on the official tourism site, it’s a good sign that the renters have at least been operating for a while and that they seek to meet certain community standards.
Use a system that connects you with rentals from your friend group.
Where there’s social connection, there’s more responsibility and better behavior. Last June, we told you about a new platform called Trustr, where homeowners can create a free listing that they can send only to members of their friend group.
That limits the inventory of what you’ll find, but both you and your host will enjoy stronger accountability because of your social connections.
After a successful stay with Airbnb or Vrbo, ask the owner if they’d be open to direct contact in the future.
As long as you have established trust with that host, renting without using the online platforms will remove the fees and hassles. However, going that route will also remove the financial protection of paying through a third party, so you and the host have to make sure you trust each other.
That’s why this tip works best when you ask a trusted host for contact details and not the other way around—and not until you have already safely completed a stay with the host. When a host tries to make the first move to coax you away from Airbnb, especially during the initial booking process, alarm bells should ring. Sometimes that’s a sign that someone wants to take your cash without the safety net of a third party.
Get a Frommer’s guidebook.
Many of our guidebooks include a section on reliable home rental agencies. It’s usually found near the end of the chapter about accommodations. I personally write the Frommer’s guides for London and Orlando, and for each one, I note the companies that ensure their offerings meet a high standard and which ones have long reputations.
Use these tips and you can delete Airbnb and deal directly with a boutique, family-run agency that wants to make you happy for a good price.