We’ve put together a list of some of the best vacation rental websites where you can book your dream holiday home, cabin, apartment, cottage, or villa. If you are looking for a self-catering stay for your next trip, we have you covered.
Vacation rentals are a great option for travelers who want to have the conveniences of home at their travel destination. They offer more privacy than a hotel or bed-and-breakfast and can often be a less expensive lodging option, particularly for families and larger groups. Vacation rentals often offer travelers the option to cook their own food and do their own laundry, which can also help travelers save money.
Vacation rentals come in all kinds of forms and can work for almost any budget and travel style, from budget backpackers looking for a bargain to family travelers looking for a good value stay to luxury travelers looking for 5-star amenities. Vacation rentals can include city apartments, yurts, Airstream trailers, country cottages, houseboats, resort villas, and even private islands and castles!
The Internet has made it easier than ever to book a vacation rental, and there are thousands of vacation rental companies competing for your business. Just know that vacation rental companies are not all the same and there are differences in how each operates. Some are peer-to-peer rentals like Airbnb, Vrbo, and The Plum Guide, whereas others offer a portfolio of carefully curated and fully managed properties like Sonder and Blueground.
Some vacation rental companies offer accommodation for any budget, whereas others focus on the luxury market like Top Villas and Oliver’s Travels. Some are focused on a specific geographical region whereas others offer vacation rentals worldwide, and some focus on city travelers whereas others focus on country retreats. Knowing this can help you find the best vacation rental websites for you and your trip.
We regularly book vacation rentals when we travel and have booked properties around the world using lots of different websites. We particularly like to stay at a vacation rental over a hotel when spending a week or more in the same place.
To help you find your perfect holiday home or apartment for your next trip, we list the largest, best-reviewed, and most popular vacation rental websites out there. We give you details of each vacation rental company and then we give you tips on booking vacation homes online.
Table of Contents:
12 Best Vacation Rental Websites
Ready to book a vacation rental for your next travel adventure? Here is a list of some of the best vacation rental websites:
1. Vrbo
Vrbo, which stands for Vacation Rentals By Owner, was one of the first major vacation rental websites to connect property owners with travelers. The website was launched back in 1995, and the company has grown to be one of the best-known vacation rental websites worldwide.
Vrbo offers over 2 million properties in 190 countries. It offers properties worldwide with a particularly large concentration of properties in Europe and North America.
Vrbo offers vacation villas, cabins, condos, cottages, apartments, beach houses, and other properties to rent. While sites like Airbnb list homestays, rooms for rent, yurts, shared properties, and such, Vrbo focuses almost exclusively on private and self-catering vacation rental properties.
Vrbo offers properties across a range of budgets from rustic budget stays at cabins to luxury villas. I would say the majority of properties fall in the middle with lots of good value and mid-range vacation rental prices offered on the website.
Vrbo has grown a lot in recent years as it was acquired by Expedia. All the Expedia vacation rental bookings and those from the HomeAway brand have been consolidated into the Vrbo website.
Vrbo was the first vacation rental website I ever used to book an apartment in France for a week. We have always had a good experience with Vrbo and have particularly liked using it for longer stays.
Company Headquarters: Austin, Texas, United States
Number of Listings: over 2 million
Geographical Availability: Worldwide, 190 countries
Pricing: Budget to Luxury
Book Vacation Rentals Online: Book here
2. Booking.com
Booking.com has become in recent years the main website we use for booking hotels when we travel. However, the website also lists vacation rental properties, including apartments, cabins, and villas, in over 220 countries.
Booking.com lists over 28 million accommodation listings, with about 6 million of those being homes, apartments, and other unique places to stay. This includes over 750,000 apartments and over 400,000 holiday homes. They have listings available in 225 countries and territories.
The Booking.com website provides listings for all budgets and traveler types. You can search the Booking.com website by type of property such as for holiday homes only or for apartments only.
We have been using Booking.com for years, and although we mainly book hotels and B&Bs, we also use it for apartments and holiday homes. We have never had an issue so far with Booking.com and we like that many of the properties offer free cancelation.
We also save money on some of our bookings by being a regular user and a member of the Genius loyalty program which gives you discounts and perks (free breakfast, free upgrades, free cancelation) on certain bookings. We definitely recommend signing up if you are a regular user.
Company Headquarters: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Number of Listings: over 1 million
Geographical Availability: Worldwide
Pricing: Budget to Luxury
Website to Book Vacation Rentals: Book here
3. Agoda Homes
Agoda is a website that is particularly known for offering a great selection of hotels, guesthouses, hostels, and homestays in Asia, but they also offer a growing selection of vacation rentals as well. Agoda started as a start-up in Thailand in 2003 and has focused primarily on Asian accommodation bookings.
Agoda offers around 2 million different accommodation properties on its website in 200 countries, ranging from homestays to hotels to apartments. Among those, over 700,000 of them are vacation rentals such as cottages, apartments, and villas. Agoda Homes offers vacation rentals in over 50 countries and has a particularly large presence in Asia.
Although Agoda is not usually our first place to check for vacation rentals, it is often our first place to check when traveling to Asia as they often have more selection, especially in smaller cities and towns. But you can also find good deals in major cities around the world and we recently used it to book a place in the UK.
Company Headquarters: Singapore
Number of Listings: over 700,000
Geographical Availability: Worldwide, focus on Asia
Pricing: Budget to Luxury, with a lot of properties in the budget and mid-range categories
Book Vacation Rentals Online: Book here
4. The Plum Guide
The Plum Guide focuses on listing only the best-reviewed properties and staff members personally vet each property to make sure it meets a high level of standards. The Plum Guide is based in London and launched in 2016.
The Plum Guide started only with short-term London flat rentals, but has expanded into several other countries. It currently lists over 12,000 properties in over 15 countries, including the United Kingdom, France, United States, Italy, Israel, Portugal, Mexico, Malta, Spain, and Turkey. Most of its properties are currently located in major cities like Paris, Rome, Los Angeles, New York City, and London. However, more recently, they have added more properties located in smaller towns and rural areas as well.
The Plum Guide is a bit different than the other peer-to-peer vacation rental websites on the list, as the properties go through a more stringent level of vetting. They send a staff member to meet the host and evaluate each property in person before deciding if it can be listed on the website. They list all kinds of vacation rental properties, including flats, houseboats, bungalows, and country villas.
The listings on The Plum Guide are really great, with lots of photos of every aspect of the vacation rental interior and a section pointing out the unique features and highlights of each property. A good website for city travelers who have discerning tastes.
A big difference about Plum Guide is that they currently do not publish the guest reviews of properties on their website. They believe that the peer review system is flawed and so they believe that an independent review by their staff is a better indicator of quality.
You can read our in-depth review of Plum Guide for our thoughts and experiences using this relatively new platform.
Company Headquarters: London, England, United Kingdom
Number of Listings: over 12,000
Geographical Availability: primarily Europe and North America
Pricing: Mid-range to Luxury
Book Vacation Rentals Online: Book here
5. Sonder
Sonder is a company that is focused on offering its guests modern and well-designed apartments in city center locations. The company has been around since 2012. Unlike companies like Airbnb and Vrbo, Sonder is not a peer-to-peer service; Sonder leases or owns each property and manages them directly.
Sonder focuses on apartments in major cities and currently offers over 8,500 properties in over 27 cities. Most of Sonder’s companies are currently in the United States and Canada, but they also have a number of properties in several major cities in Europe and the Middle East, including London, Rome, Dublin, Edinburgh, and Dubai.
Sonder offers modern and well-furnished apartments that offer a standard set of amenities and conveniences which include contactless check-in, WiFi, fresh towels and bedding, shower amenities, a fully-equipped kitchen, laundry facilities, and artisan coffee. They also offer 24/7 customer service and professional cleaning services.
Sonder offers both short-term and longer-term stays. Most of the properties on Sonder are available to rent by the day, week, month, or even for a year or more. You will also save more by staying longer, so Sonder is definitely a great option for those who want to base someplace for a longer period of time.
Company Headquarters: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Number of Listings: over 8,500
Geographical Availability: 20 major cities, primarily USA, London, & Canada
Pricing: Mid-range to Luxury
Book Vacation Rentals Online: Book here
6. Airbnb
Airbnb started in 2008 as a small start-up (called Airbed & Breakfast) with a handful of listings, and is today probably the best known of the vacation rental websites. It currently has over 7 million listings in over 100,000 cities in over 220 countries!
Airbnb offers a wide variety of accommodation options, from a room in someone’s home to apartments to beach villas to castles. Basically, anything that can be rented from a yurt in someone’s yard to a private island can be listed in Airbnb. The platform has also more recently begun listing more traditional lodging options like B&Bs, hostels, and hotel rooms.
Pricing on the platform runs from $10/night homestays to $20,000/night luxury villas, and everything in between. This makes Airbnb a great vacation rental website for travelers of all types, from budget backpackers to mid-range value seekers to luxury travelers.
The overwhelming amount of choice on Airbnb can also be frustrating since there are so many listings for popular destinations. You’ll want to be sure to use the Search Filter to narrow down your search to the types of places you want and that suit your budget.
We first started using Airbnb back in 2012, and overall we’ve had good experiences with Airbnb. We’ve stayed in dozens of properties in North America, Asia, Africa, and Europe over the years. Although we have had a few negative experiences, most have been positive. You can read more about our personal experiences and our review of Airbnb here.
Company Headquarters: San Francisco, California, United States
Number of Property Listings: over 7 million
Geographical Availability: Worldwide, 220+ countries
Pricing: Budget to Luxury
Book Vacation Rentals Online: Book here
7. Interhome
Interhome was founded in 1965 as a vacation rental company offering short-term holiday home rentals in Switzerland. Today, the company offers around 50,000 self-catering vacation rentals in over 25 countries and is one of the largest home rental businesses in Europe.
All kinds of vacation rentals are listed on Interhome, from budget-friendly studio apartments to luxury villas. They are rated on a star system from 1 star (simple furnishings) to 5 stars (luxury furnishings).
Most of their vacation rentals are in Europe, but they also have properties available in South Africa, the United States, Oman, and Mauritius. They have a particularly large number of vacation rentals in Switzerland since this is where they started. So if you are looking to rent a Swiss chalet, this is a good one to try first.
The listed properties are owned by local homeowners and then rented via Interhome. Some are managed by the owner and others are fully managed by Interhome. The company offers 24/7 customer service to its customers.
Company Headquarters: Zurich, Switzerland
Number of Listings: ~ 50,000
Geographical Availability: Worldwide, but primarily Europe
Pricing: Budget to Luxury
Book Vacation Rentals Online: Book here
8. Marriott Homes & Villas
Marriott is well known for its international hotel brand, with its first hotel opening back in 1957. In 2019, Marriott launched Homes & Villas to offer upscale and luxury vacation home rentals and villas. The company currently offers over 20,000 properties in over 200 destinations worldwide.
Marriott Homes & Villas specializes in premium and luxury vacation homes, villas, condos, and apartments. Marriott does not own or lease the properties; all properties are professionally managed by local professional management companies for the owners.
Guests are offered 24/7 local support and assistance, professional cleaning, and premium linens and amenities. Most homes provide high-speed Wi-Fi and family-friendly conveniences upon request.
Homes & Villas listed properties throughout North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Many of the Marriott properties are located in popular travel destinations in the United States, the Caribbean, Europe, and Mexico.
Peer reviews from past travelers are not currently available for the Homes & Villas listings. Please read each listing and the rules carefully as the cleaning fees, house rules, refund policies, etc. differ by property.
For those who are part of the Marriott loyalty program, Marriott Bonvoy members can earn and redeem points on homes and villas. So this may be a particularly attractive option to check out for those who already stay in Marriott hotels.
Company Headquarters: Bethesda, Maryland, United States
Number of Listings: over 20,000
Geographical Availability: Worldwide
Pricing: Mid-range to Luxury
Book Vacation Rentals Online: Book here
9. Blueground
Founded in 2014 in Athens, Greece, Blueground specializes in apartments that can be rented for 1 month and longer. They currently offer over 5,000 apartments in 18 major cities, including New York City, Paris, Athens, Istanbul, Chicago, London, San Francisco, Dubai, and Boston.
Blueground strives to offer long-term rentals that are comfortable, thoughtfully furnished, and feel like home. Apartments on Blueground are fully furnished and managed properties with all the basic amenities. Since the company caters primarily to business travelers and those moving to a new city, the apartments are set up for remote working and everyday living.
Blueground leases properties from owners and developers, and then they furnish, decorate, and manage the apartments. Blueground handles all bookings and customer service issues.
Although they cater to business travelers, Blueground can also be a great option for leisure travelers and digital nomads wanting to stay in a place for a longer amount of time. You can even rent some of the properties for 1 year or more for those wanting to spend months or even years abroad. They even have 6-month and 12-month pass options where you can move around to various Blueground properties in different cities under one master lease.
The company notes that the monthly rates for their apartment rentals are on average about 50% less than the rate of a hotel for an equivalent stay period. So if you are planning to spend 4 weeks or more in any city, this is one to check out.
Company Headquarters: New York City, New York, USA
Number of Listings: over 5,000
Geographical Availability: 18 major cities, primarily USA and Europe
Pricing: Mid-range to Luxury
Book Vacation Rentals Online: Book here
10. Sykes Holiday Cottages
Sykes Holiday Cottages was founded by Clive Sykes and his mom in Yorkshire as Cottage Holidays in 1985. At first, they were just renting out holiday homes in the Yorkshire Dales to themselves and their friends. Today, Sykes Holiday Cottages is the best-known vacation rental company in the UK, and have won multiple awards for their service and brand.
Sykes Holiday Cottages lists over 15,000 properties across the United Kingdom and Ireland. They have properties in all regions, including England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland.
Sykes Holiday Cottages offers self-catering properties in small towns, villages, islands, and rural areas throughout the UK and Ireland. They do have a few city properties, but the focus is primarily on holiday homes away from the city. They offer a full range of options from flats to glamping to country cottages and cater to travelers across all budgets.
The search interface makes it easy to look for certain property attributes and amenities. For instance, you can easily search by dog-friendly properties, those with open fires, those with a swimming pool, and those next to a beach. We recently booked with Sykes and stayed in a rural cottage in Cornwall for a week and had no issues and a great stay.
The listed properties are owned by local homeowners and then rented via Skyes Holiday Cottages. Most are managed by the owner themselves but some are fully managed by Sykes. The company offers 24/7 customer service to its customers.
Company Headquarters: Cheshire, England, UK
Number of Listings: over 15,000
Geographical Availability: UK and Ireland only
Pricing: Budget to Luxury
Book Vacation Rentals Online: Book here
11. Oliver’s Travels
Oliver’s Travels started in 2003 as a company that allowed travelers to book chateaux in France. It soon expanded to include luxury properties of all types and currently offers over 6,000 properties in over 20 countries on its vacation rental website.
There is a large concentration on holiday villas in warm and tropical coastal locations. For instance, there is a lot of properties in countries along the Mediterranean coast like France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Croatia, Malta, and Turkey as well as other warm destinations like Bali, Thailand, Florida, and the islands of the Caribbean. But they also have ski chalets in France and hundreds of properties in the UK and Ireland as well.
Oliver’s Travels focuses primarily on luxury villas and character properties like beach cottages, castles, stately homes, and country estates. The company notes that each property is carefully reviewed before it is selected and that staff regularly visit the regions and individual properties. There is a free concierge service (by phone or online) which you can speak to destination experts and ask questions and get advice on which properties may be the best fit for you.
They are definitely one to consider if you are looking for a more unique and more upscale property for your next trip. We find that they have a particularly good selection of properties in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Croatia.
The listed properties are owned by local homeowners and then booked via Oliver’s Travels website. Oliver’s Travels staff do not manage the properties directly, but the company offers 24/7 customer service to its customers.
Company Headquarters: London, England, UK
Number of Listings: over 6,000
Geographical Availability: Over 20 countries, concentrated in southern Europe, Thailand, Bali, and the Caribbean
Pricing: Upper Mid-range to Luxury
Book Vacation Rentals Online: Book here
12. Top Villas
Top Villas is a vacation rental website focused on luxury villas and vacation properties in Florida and the Caribbean. Top Villas started in 2010 as a Florida vacation rental company and has since expanded to include over 4,000 properties in over 50 destinations. The website offers condos, vacation homes, apartments, and resort villas.
The company specializes in luxury Florida vacation rentals, so it is a particularly good website for those traveling to Florida as they offer a lot of properties there. Their specialty is the Orlando area as that is where their USA headquarters is based. They also offer concierge services to guests such as car hire, airport transfers, excursion planning, catering, and more.
But Top Villas also have a large presence on some of the Caribbean islands. They do offer rentals in over 50 destinations and are working to expand their offerings in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere in the United States.
Company Headquarters: Orlando, Florida, United States
Number of Listings: over 4,000
Geographical Availability: 50 destinations, primarily USA (Florida) & Caribbean
Pricing: Luxury
Book Vacation Rentals Online: Book here
Tips for Booking a Vacation Rental Online
Now that you know where you can book vacation rentals online and have a list of some of the best vacation rental websites, you need to start searching and booking your holiday home or apartment. Here are some tips to help you, especially if you are new to booking vacation rentals online.
- Make a checklist before you start searching for what your must-haves are for the property in terms of amenities, number of bedrooms, location, etc.
- Use the filter in your search results to narrow down the search to properties that fit the kind of property you are looking for. For instance, if the property has to be dog-friendly, be located in the city center, offer laundry facilities, or have a swimming pool, you can usually narrow your property search to ones that fit those specific criteria. This can help save you time and make sure you get all the things you need in a vacation rental.
- Read property descriptions thoroughly. Make sure you read through all the information provided about the property, what is included, and the property’s guest policies.
- If you are traveling with pets, you want to make sure that the property welcomes them. Many properties do not allow dogs, whereas others may charge an extra cleaning fee or require you to get in touch in advance to get approval to bring a pet.
- If you are traveling with kids, especially young children, make sure that you are booking a family-friendly vacation rental. Some properties, especially resorts and luxury villas, may also have age requirements and may not allow young children.
- Make sure you have a way to get to the property. Can you reach it by public transport, taxi, or car? Is there a bus stop within walking distance? If you are planning to drive, is there parking nearby? Is parking free?
- Look at all the provided vacation rental photos. You will want to look through the photos and make sure they match up with the property description. Photos for properties are often shot at the most attractive angles and edited to highlight the most photogenic qualities of the vacation rental. If you don’t like the look of the photos, I’d find another property.
- Pay close attention to reviews from prior guests. We recommend only booking properties that have high overall ratings and good reviews. A few negative reviews are to be expected, especially for popular properties, but check to see what the guests were unhappy about. If you see a lot of complaints about the same issue and that issue is important to you, I’d move on to another property.
- We recommend avoiding properties that have no reviews (on platforms that allow peer reviews) or seem too cheap to believe. Although you may get a good deal on a newly listed property, you may also end up with a bad vacation rental experience. We have been in both situations, and in general, we recommend avoiding properties that have no reviews. Fraudulent and illegal listings are more likely to have no or few reviews and be listed at very attractive prices.
- Check to see if there are any additional fees that may be charged in addition to the booking price. For instance are there additional pet fees, tourist taxes, resort fees, or cleaning fees that may be charged on arrival or after your stay?
- Check cancelation and refund policies before you book. What happens if you need to cancel your booking or change your booking date? Is there a date that you must cancel beforehand to be eligible for a refund?
- Compare prices across vacation rental websites before making your booking. If the price is important to you, we’d recommend checking across a few websites first as you might find a better deal on another website. We list lots of options above. Although you want to be sure to also compare the cancelation policies, fees, etc. across booking sites as sometimes it is worth paying a little more to have a more flexible cancelation policy.
- If you have any important questions about the property, ask them before booking. For instance, if you know that you need to have a later check-in time than the time frame listed, make sure you ask to see if this is possible BEFORE booking. Never assume that changes to the policies will or can be altered after you have agreed to them at booking. Always ask beforehand.
- We always recommend that travelers have travel insurance. If you have travel insurance, check to see if it would cover you if you need to cancel your trip, are unable to travel, or if the company becomes insolvent or bankrupt.
- Check to see what you might need to bring with you. Some vacation rentals may come fully equipped with everything you need including linens, toiletries, and basic kitchen goods, whereas others may require you to bring some things. For instance, you may need to bring your own towels, bed linens, pillow, soap, laundry detergent, hairdryer, coffee/tea, travel crib, kitchen essentials, firewood, pet bowls, etc. Add anything you need to bring to your packing list and you can pack it or pick it up at your destination.
- Once you make a booking, be sure to save the confirmation and other relevant details. For your trip, you’ll want to have a digital and/or paper copy of your confirmation along with the vacation rental address, phone number for the property owner or local manager, check-in process details, and check-in and check-out times.
So that is our guide to booking vacation rentals online. Hopefully, you have found a vacation rental website you like and have found the perfect vacation rental for your next trip!
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Do you have a favorite vacation rental website? Have you ever booked a holiday home online? If so, we’d love to hear about your own experiences and any tips you may have for others.
If you have any questions about booking a vacation rental online, just ask in the Comments section below. We have booked dozens of vacation rentals across the world and are happy to try to help. We love hearing from you!
Eli Richardson Post author
We’re traveling for our summer vacation this year, so we’d like to book our accommodation in advance. That’s why we’re glad you elaborated on paying close attention to past reviews before making any reservations online. We appreciate your intake in looking for positive and negative reviews before picking a vacation rental.
Jessica & Laurence Norah Post author
Hi Eli,
Glad you found our article on vacation rentals helpful and I would definitely recommend booking well in advance if traveling this summer, especially to a popular destination. We are seeing places book up well in advance in many places and it looks like it is going to be a very busy Spring/Summer of travel in many parts of the world. So booking in advance will give you the most selection and options in terms of vacation rentals and prices.
Best,
Jessica
Elina Brooks Post author
I appreciate your advice when you told us to make a checklist first of the amenities we need in the property before we start searching for vacation rentals to consider. I’m getting married this February, so my partner and I are looking for vacation rentals to consider for our honeymoon in Palm Springs. I’ll be sure to follow what you said and look for luxury vacation rentals around the area that we might consider soon.
Jessica & Laurence Norah Post author
Hi Elina,
Yes, I think that is a very helpful way to start. If you just start looking for vacation rentals, especially if looking across multiple websites, it can be kind of overwhelming. But if you know you need a place within so many miles of X with say 2 bedrooms, at least 1 bath, an outdoor swimming pool, free parking, and laundry facilities, for instance, then that will help you narrow down your search just to those properties that meet your needs. Then you can go through and compare prices and amentities of those that are left.
Wishing you and your partner a wonderful honeymoon in Palm Springs – there are a lot of vacation rentals there in the luxury range so I am sure you will have a lot of choices!
Best,
Jessica
Michele Vince Post author
This is an informative blog. thank you for this useful article about vacation rentals – we run vacation rentals in Santa Fe and this was very useful.
Jessica & Laurence Norah Post author
Hi Michele,
Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment and glad you found our post about vacation rental websites helpful! Yes, we mainly wrote this post as a reference for those looking to find a vacation rental when traveling but it is also a good list of the top places where you might want to list a vacation rental if you are renting out an apartment or house for short term stays.
Best,
Jessica
AG Post author
Looking for Fully Furnished 1 bhk apartment in goa, India
Jessica & Laurence Norah Post author
Hi AG,
For an apartment stay in Goa, I’d probably recommend starting your search on Agoda Homes as it is has a lot of cottages, apartments, and such available in Goa (and other parts of India). Others you could check from the list would be Airbnb, VRBO, and Booking.com. Another place to check for India specifically is OYO Hotels & Homes as it is based in India.
But I am assuming you are going for a vacation or business trip, rather than looking for an apartment to rent long-term? If looking to live in Goa and need a longer term rental, then you’ll probably need to check for India apartment rentals rather than vacation home rentals. Although some vacation rental sites will allow for longer term stays.
Hope that helps you get started on your search!
Best,
Jessica
Gloria H. Post author
This is very helpful, but I feel a bit overwhelmed with options. Thoughts on where to start looking for an apartment or cottage in England this summer? We’re a family (3 adults, 2 children) coming from USA and would need place for about a week. Thinking Cornwall or Devon but not 100% sure about location. Mid-range in terms of type of place, nice with lots of amenities but don’t need luxury. Thanks!
Jessica & Laurence Norah Post author
Hi Gloria,
Yes, it can be overwhelming with all the vacation rental websites out there even after we’ve narrowed them down. Most of the ones we note do have properties in the UK, but several are city focused so wouldn’t be a good fit.
For a family looking for a place in rural England for a 1 week stay, I’d start with Sykes Holiday Cottages as they are a UK and Ireland specific holiday home booking website. You can start your search just by looking at cottages available in the South West of England (where Cornwall and Devon are located) by putting in your dates (or approximate dates), 5 guests, and children ages, and then the search will only give you the places in that area that sleep at least 5 and accept children.
There is a good chance you’ll find something on Sykes Holiday Cottages, but if not, you can go onto the more general vacation rental websites like Vrbo, Airbnb, Plum Guide, etc. to find more options. Interhome is another one that specializes in Europe and has a number of UK properties so another option as well. I talk about all these websites above in the article.
Just note that if planning to visit Cornwall or Devon in summer, I would book well in advance if you can. Cornwall properties, especially those nearer to the coast, often book out well in advance as summer is a super busy time in that area and the most expensive. We booked a Cornwall holiday home via Sykes last year and had a good experience.
Hope that helps, and wishing you a wonderful trip to the UK!
Jessica
Sandra B Post author
Hello
Very helpful thank you. I own a 4bedroom/bath villa in the south of sri lanka. I’ve listed on the top 5 like AirBnB, Trip, Vrbo…its been 2 months and I have not one booking yet.. do you have any tips or other ways I can get my villa rented in Sri Lanka. I would like to get Europeans to rent, how do I go about attracting European travellers?
Thank you so much 🙂
Jessica & Laurence Norah Post author
Hi Sandra,
I think you are doing the right things as Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com are probably the best three platforms for attracting both European and North American travellers. I’d just make sure you have a good clear description of the villa and all the amenities, house rules, local area, etc. and good photos of all the rooms, exterior, amenities, etc. Check out listings of popular properties in Sri Lanka and read their descriptions. I’d also offer it at a very attractive price (although not too low that it seems suspicious) to increase viewings and the chances it can be booked. Once you get a few bookings, hopefully you will then attract good reviews which will then in turn increase your property viewings and bookings.
Other than that though there is not too much you can do as right now there is just a reduced amount of international tourism. Many people are opting to travel within their own countries and are putting off international travel due to COVID-19. Bookings are decreasing at the moment and cancellations are increasing due to omicron fears and increased travel restrictions and testing requirements in many countries. So I think the best thing to do is to be patient and wait and hopefully tourism will increase in 2022.
But you might also lower the price and increase focus on more domestic tourism in the meantime to perhaps attract domestic travelers in Sri Lanka and from more nearby countries such as India and start to get feedback and reviews from them. The biggest number of tourists to Sri Lanka come from India so that is a good group to perhaps try to attract first if there are fewer European tourists coming to Sri Lanka at the moment.
Hope that helps and good luck!
Best,
Jessica
John Corley Post author
We still want to take a two week vacation to Scotland and do all we can . We will rent a car. We did this in Ireland and it was great. Is scotland open to US A now? Also what is weather in winter? Would also lke to go on several Train trips? Would like trains with sleeping berths and dining cars/ Can you please ehlp. You guys are super.
Barbara and John Corley Athens Texas USA
Jessica & Laurence Norah Post author
Hi John & Barbara,
Currently, you would be subject to a 14 day quarantine both by the UK and USA, so not an ideal time to travel between the two countries. We also have increasing rates of COVID-19 in the UK and local lockdowns and additional restrictions are becoming increasingly common throughout the UK and Ireland. So I would recommend waiting until Spring 2021 if you can to visit. Also many things close down seasonally starting in October in Scotland (particularly in the Highlands and Islands) so that is something to consider as well if you want to travel off-season.
For visiting in winter, you can see this guide to visiting Scotland in winter for lots of winter tips. Winter is often cool and wet, so you would want to be prepared with appropriate clothes and shoes.
It is easy to take trains between the main cities and larger towns in Scotland. However, most trains don’t have dining cars or sleeping berths, or offer overnight accommodation. The main regular overnight train in the UK is the Caledonian Sleeper (which was recently upgraded) and we’ve taken it a number of times, but for a long journey you would probably want a London to Scotland trip as otherwise the journeys are short ones. There is also the Belmond Royal Scotsman train in Scotland which offers luxury overnight accommodation but it is not a regular train (more for booking multi-day guided train trips), and in England you have the British Pullman. Although not an overnight train, the Jacobite Steam Train may be of interest, one of many Harry Potter filming locations in Scotland and a very scenic route (part of West Highland line).
I think if you are looking for overnight train travel as a main part of your trip, you will find many more options in continental Europe than the UK. But you can still get around Scotland by train to many destinations but they are mainly just normal trains.
Hope that helps and let me know if you have further questions as you plan your trip to Scotland!
Jessica
pooja Saxena Post author
i personally like AIRBNB .. the best part is their application is very fast and has a nice user interface.. After reading this list I am interested in Agoda and will definitely try this.. Thanks for this list..
Jessica & Laurence Norah Post author
Hi Pooja, Glad you enjoyed our list. Yes, Airbnb is a great place to start your search for vacation rentals, especially since it covers almost every country. However, for some specific countries or regions, you may find more options and availability on some of the other vacation rental websites. Agoda Homes is particularly a good website to use for bookings in Asia, although it has properties worldwide. Best, Jessica
Seana Turner Post author
I think a lot of people are considering a vacation rental as an option this year, as traditional hotels have closed many of their amenities. This is so thorough and helpful. We tried our first VRBO last winter, and it actually worked out quite well! I think this will continue to be a desirable alternative, especially for families who like the convenience of being able to prepare some meals at “home.”
Jessica & Laurence Norah Post author
Hi Seana,
Glad you had a good first experience with VRBO last year!
Yes, I think a lot of new people are going to trying vacation rentals for the first time this year who are wanting to avoid hotels, hostels, and B&Bs for now where it can be harder to socially distance. I didn’t think about the amenities also being closed but yes, I think a lot have closed down swimming pools, spas, buffets, shared kitchen areas, fitness centers, and other communal spaces because of social distancing guidelines.
We actually just booked to stay in a holiday home this weekend. It will be our first time staying away from our home since early February. We felt better booking a rural vacation home as it does give us the ability to keep a distance from others, cook our own meals when we want, have some private outdoor space, and do our own laundry. We’re hoping to be able to then do some hiking and sightseeing around the area, but are not really interested in going to places where we have to be amongst crowds of other people right now.
Best,
Jessica
Phil Post author
Great list of vacation home website – I had only heard of a few of these before. My wife and I have been using VRBO for probably 15 years now and can definitely recommend that website. We have mostly used them in France, Spain, and Canada for 1 week or more stays at a time for either travel or visiting our children and grandchildren. Back in the day, it was harder as deposits often needed to be physically mailed so easier these days with online payments and such. We only book homes with good reviews and lots of photos, so definitely agree with these recommendations. Sometimes are a bit off, but we’ve never had a really bad experience. May decide to try Airbnb or The Plum Guide in the future – thanks for these recommendations.
– Phil Cahill & family
Jessica & Laurence Norah Post author
Hi Phil,
Glad you enjoyed the article and found a couple of new vacation rental websites you might try in the future. Yes, Vrbo was the first one I used as well for a trip to France. Had a wonderful 1 week stay in Paris in a central apartment and love it 😉 And yes, even back in the early and mid 2000’s we had to send a check to France to secure deposits for holiday homes – now I think most have electronic options 😉
Yes, we agree. Good prior reviews and lots of photos are definitely two good tips for those searching for a vacation rental online! Without those, we’d recommend that users be very wary and consider other properties instead.
Airbnb definitely has more properties than Vrbo, but also a wider range in quality. As a first-time user, we often recommend starting with Airbnb Plus listings as these are the properties that have more reviews and have been verified by Airbnb.
Best,
Jessica