Vacation rental owners are typically people who have their own residential home, but also purchased a seperate home for their own holiday. However, they may only use it one week out of the year. Therefore, they advertise it as available for rent to vacationers for short term holiday stays during the rest of the year by posting an advertisement on Free-Rentals.com. Sometimes, the vacation rental owner may rent directly to vacationers, or often, they will turn over the rental activities to a management company, who then rents the unit out on behalf of the vacation rental owner.
Archive for August, 2008
Who Are Vacation Rental Owners
Friday, August 22nd, 2008What is a Vacation Rental
Friday, August 22nd, 2008A vacation rental is a home rented out to vacation travelers. It can be a private home, condo, apartment, villa, cottage, cabin, bungalow or any type of residential unit. It will include a kitchen and all of the amenities you would expect to find at home, including items like napkins, plates, silverware, dishes, glasses, tissue paper, and all of the regular items that can be found in most homes.
Williamsburg Vacation Rentals on the Rise
Friday, August 22nd, 2008Vacation rentals are making their way into neighborhoods in the Williamsburg area, as the Internet makes it easy for owners of houses and condos to post a “vacancy” sign and for vacationers to find them.
Not everyone is happy about this trend, citing the following:
- Short-term rentals, which rent on a daily or weekly basis, don’t belong in neighborhoods. Tourists are less likely to be cued in to the cycle of work and quiet that prevails in neighborhoods — hey, they’re on vacation.
- Short-term rentals can have a divisive effect on neighborhoods
- Accommodations for Vacationers need to be in the right place, properly regulated and taxed. Not scattered about, incognito, in residential neighborhoods.
Orbitz Enters Vacation Rental Market Via Zonder
Friday, August 22nd, 2008Through a partnership with Zonder, a leading vacation rental provider, Orbitz is giving its customers access to the largest portfolio of vacation homes that can be booked instantly online through a major online travel company.
Vacation Rental During a Hurricane Tips
Friday, August 22nd, 2008A recent poll found that 82 percent of travelers planned to take a trip to the East Coast or Gulf of Mexico between June and October (hurricane season) this year. Here are some tips if you are planning a holiday in a hurricane zone.
1) Check with the property manager before booking to determine what type of policy is offered during your stay in the event of a storm. Is there a “hurricane guarantee” or other policy that will guarantee a refund of the cost of your stay, as well as any potential property damage if you are forced to cancel or evacuate due to a hurricane?
2) Stay up-to-date on weather in the region to which you are traveling to be aware of any events that could hamper your arrival or cause an interruption in your stay.
3) Once arriving at the property, double-check the property’s policies and procedures.
4) If a storm approaches and an evacuation is ordered, secure a hurricane claim form before you evacuate.
5) During the evacuation, listen to radio reports of any evacuation lift or other instructions.
6) Save all your receipts to facilitate possible reimbursement when and if the unplanned occurs.
7) Once evacuation is lifted, you may need to return to the rental property. Read your policy details carefully beforehand.
Lake Tahoe Vacation Rental Rules Change
Friday, August 22nd, 2008Certain Restrictions on overnight parking and occupancy at vacation-home rentals will be in effect from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. — two hours longer than the midnight-to-6 a.m. period now stated in the ordinance.
Renters of vacation homes will be notified that they cannot use the residence for commercial activities, including wedding receptions and large parties.
Starting Nov. 1, owners of vacation-home rentals will be required to post signs on the homes that state the maximum number of occupants and number of vehicles allowed. The sign also will include a phone number and e-mail address where someone can contact police with a complaint about the rental.
European Fall Vacation Rentals For Cheap
Friday, August 22nd, 2008Endless Vacation Rentals, by Wyndham Worldwide (WYN) , is offering travelers to European destinations great deals this fall. A seven night stay in October at a newly renovated four-diamond rated farmhouse that sleeps four in the Tuscan countryside outside of Florence Italy, starts at just $752.00* USD and is easily booked online through EVRentals.com.
Additional options in other destination cities such as Florence, Italy, and Nice, France are also available on Endless Vacation Rentals.
Source
Is AlwaysOnVacation.com in trouble?
Thursday, August 21st, 2008VacationRenter.com, The parent company of AlwaysOnVacation.com seems to be having tough times. Perhaps they are spread too thin.
For starters, they have a ridiculous error. Their brands page has a typo and is spelled imdex instead of index. So here is the page:
http://www.vacationrenter.com/brands/imdex.html
And because it’s not called index, then anyone can access the brand directory here, a pretty major security hole:
http://www.vacationrenter.com/brands/
In addition, they have several web properties that are now defunct. Here is a list of their web properties:
vacationrenter.com - Error in the brands category.
alwaysonvacation.com - Nice site, apears to be working fine.
vacationstreet.com - Defunct, account suspended.
vacationrentalexchange.com - Defunct, account suspended.
webaccommodatesystems.com - Functioning website, but unclear business model.
vrpwebsites.com - Functioning website.
beautifulhome.com - Defunct, not live.
a1floridarentalvacation.com - Up and running fine, nice site.
northamericanskirentals.com - Tons of broken pages.
sunshinestategetaways.com - Gateway page to alwaysonvacation.com.
vikarta.com - Apparently a VC firm or holding company.
cetana.com - Apparently the parent company to all the web businesses.
There are actually many more websites, we just got bored and can’t view them all. Not sure which ones are in trouble and which are not, but it’s clear that this company is spread pretty thin trying to manage all the various web properties they control.
Highest City Population
Monday, August 18th, 2008When planning your next urban vacation rental, you may want to know which cities have the highest population density. Here is a list of the top 25 cities with the highest population densities.
1. Seoul - 10,231,217
2. São Paulo - 10,009,231
3. Mumbai - 9,925,891
4. Jakarta - 9,373,900
5. Karachi - 9,339,023
6. Moscow -8,297,056
7. Istanbul - 8,260,438
8. Mexico City - 8,235,744
9. Shanghai - 8,214,384
10. Tokyo - 8,130,408
11. New York City - 8,008,278
12. Bangkok - 7,506,700
13. Beijing - 7,362,426
14. Delhi - 7,206,704
15. London - 7,074,265
16. Hong Kong - 6,843,000
17. Cairo - 6,800,992
18. Tehran - 6,758,845
19. Santafé - 6,422,198
20. Lima -6,414,500
21. Bandung - 5,919,400
22. Tianjin - 5,855,044
23. Rio de Janeiro - 5,613,897
24. Lahore - 5,143,495
25. Bogor - 5,000,100
Sample Vacation Rental Scam Booking Inquiry
Monday, August 18th, 2008Here is a scam inquiry we just got in today. I don’t know exactly how/why it’s a scam, I just know it’s a scam. Here are the things that indicate so….
a) The dates of checking in are next week. So, this lack of time puts me (the rental owner) in a time pressured situation.
b) Lot’s of mispellings and bad grammar.
c) Weird indentations and lack of any specific information regarding the exact rental unit they are interested in renting. Therefore, it’s clearly a generic copy/paste message that this cockroach emails to hundreds of people at once.
d) The cockroach talks about making the booking for his “client”. BS, there’s no client. Think about it. If the traveler is staying a hotel room, then yes, he/she may have his assistant book the room for him. However, for vacation rentals, they are all unique, a traveler is NOT going to have his/her assistant or agent book a vacation rental on his/her behalf…. no way, they will look up the unit they want and contact the owner directly themselves.
My best guess as to how this scam works is as follows… You quote the cockroach 3 rooms for 5 nights for a total cost of $3000. The cockroach pays you by credit card an amount of $3000. The transaction passes through cleanly. The next day, the cockroach pleads with you that he made a mistake, it was only suppose to be 2 rooms, one single and one double, and he overpaid you.
He frantically demands you reimburse him the $1000 overpaid, in fact, you can keep $300 for the error, but please refund $700.. because if my client (boss) finds out, I’m going to lose my job, I’m new at this, blah blah blah… and so he requests for you to simply pay him using YOUR credit card in an amount of $700. You do so, because afterall, you have his $3000.
Several days later, the $3000 you have bounces, as it was a stolen card the cockroach used to pay you. But you’ve already refunded the coach a certain amount of money through a different route.. and now that money is long gone!
This scam came into us courtesy of: carlaamamii@yahoo.com
| Dear Sir/Ma I want to make reservation at your Place for Our clients coming down to your Place,so my clients will be staying at your Place Below is the details you need to make the reservation for them.. Check In : C/I :- 25th August 2008 Check Out: C/O :- 30th August 2008 Room Type: 3 Single room Guest Name : MRS SOLON ANN MRS WENDY BENSON MRS Balieys Louise I will want you to give me final quote of the reservation so i can send you my Client Credit Card details for you to charge the full amount prior arrival. Also note i need the full amount in (US DOLLARS OR EURO) for me to make proper arrangement and payment. I will want you to tell me the details of the Credit Card which you will need to charge our Credit Card and also i will want you to get back to me with your contact phone number. I am waiting for your response concerning the availability and total cost.. . NOTE : I can Only make payment via our credit card.Only get back to me if you have Credit Card facility Best Regards Rose Reserva |