Throughout our years of travel experience, we’ve found some handy tips that we’ll be sharing with you today to keep your vacation rental vacation experience fun and safe.
Vacations are meant to relieve stress, and when you plan accordingly they do. There’s nothing worse than having your plans fall through the floor while you are on vacation. Reading these vacation tips will help reduce your chances of having to scramble while away.
Know your Budget
Planning a vacation should always include developing a budget. Here are some questions to ask yourself:
Arming yourself with this information before you start looking will help you quickly narrow the vacation rentals that meet your needs, and set your expectations of what you can afford to be looking at.
Know your Seasons
One of the best ways to help your money buy more vacation is by targeting bookends of a season. The bookends are either the beginning or the end of the season where travel may be less popular. These dates are usually discounted in areas where there are the most vacation rentals available, since demand lowers.
Staying flexible on your vacation timeline can save you up to 50% of the vacation rental cost.
Know what’s Open
When traveling off-season, know that you run the risk of finding yourself in a ghost town. Most vacation destinations have a prime season when all the shops and restaurants are open, but traveling off-season may require you to eat in a few more nights, and travel further to find entertainment.
Reserve your Vacation Rentals early
When traveling to very popular vacation destinations such as Hawaii, Florida, Atlantic City, or San Diego, you will want to plan to rent your vacation home up to six months in advance of your trip.
Take your time to research all the homes available that meet your needs.
Bringing your pet with you?
Make sure that the vacation rentals you are considering allow you to bring your pet with you. Sometimes you can negotiate with a owner, but find out ahead of time because there are usually additional security deposits when bringing your furry companions.
Additionally, look at the surrounding area of a rental property. Here are some questions you may want to ask yourself:
Finding answers to these questions can make taking your pet with you a more enjoyable experience for you both.
Always get paperwork, and sign before you pay
When you secure a vacation rental, make sure that you see a contract, have reviewed it and sign it prior to sending any money for a deposit or security. Having a signed contract can protect you, and provides you a proof of purchase.
Additionally, when you decide to rent a vacation rental, ask for references and call them. References can help you find more information out about the owner, and the experience of the property from a renter, and helps makes the transaction more secure. You should take the time up front to ask questions to avoid hassles while on your vacation.
Find out what the price includes.
Part of reviewing the vacation rental contract is finding out what you as a renter are responsible for paying for. Some items that claim to be ‘included in the price’ like gas, heat and electricity may have limitations set in the contract. You may find that the owner has placed a liability limit of $300.00 on electricity, meaning any usage over this value would be an additional fee.
You may also find that while there is a pool, costs for heating the pool may not be included. These stipulations are generally there for a business purpose; maybe the owner can only afford to advertise its price based on controlling specific costs. Heating a pool during the winter is not necessarily frugal.
Find, write down, and memorize the closest medical facilities.
When looking at a vacation rental, it’s also good to find where the closest emergency facilities are. People with severe allergic reactions need immediate care, so knowing this information could save someone you love.
Vacations are meant to be fun, but Murphy’s Law still prevails. I was in Ocean City, MD during the 4th of July weekend, and spent a few hours in the 75th Medical facility. It was very busy, and only a handful of the patients were local. I saw fishhooks in feet, an allergic reaction to a bee sting, a severe cut, and a concussion just to name a few.
For families, review vacation rentals for “Family Friendliness”
“Family Friendliness” means that a vacation rental generally meets the following criteria: 2 or more bedrooms with 3 or more beds (sleeps at least 4). Additionally, the vacation rental may offer things like high chairs, cribs, changing tables and other child bearing related gear.
Look at the room configurations; make sure that they will meet your family’s needs. If you are spending more than a few nights, you definitely want to make sure everyone will be comfortable.
Make sure that you and your family will be comfortable staying at the vacation rental. If little Levi is still in his ‘I’m grabbing everything in reach’ phase and there is a Picasso painting in the room, you may want to pick another vacation rental, or ask that the owner remove any expensive item.
Remember to bring child safety devices
When you have a toddler, or a crawling baby, they can get away from you pretty quickly. Child safety devices that you may use in your house, like cabinet locks, and other items give you a better sense of security, and some extra time to find out where baby is and why it’s so quiet.
Bringing along these items, including child safety seats, cabinet locks, receptacle (outlet) safety covers, and child safety helmet. Anything you think you may need or want to help make your stay more comfortable and safe.
One major item to remember is if you are renting a property with a swimming pool, you must absolutely arm yourself with safety when you have a young toddler that cannot swim.
“More than one in five fatal drowning victims are children 14 and younger. For every child who dies from drowning, another four received emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries.”, as cited from the CDC website. Follow that link to find out how a drowning can be prevented.
Lastly, having children means you must absolutely know where medical facilities are located, period.
In conclusion
This is a fairly lengthy list, but it doesn’t cover everything. The main point of all this is just to prepare so that the having fun part is the only part of your vacation you focus on while away.
We hope everyone is having a safe 2010 Summer Vacation, and if you aren’t, why not Start a search today!