Airbnb vs. VRBO

[Nancy Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Nancy]

I've used VRBO several times and have been very happy with it. I know Airbnb has some rooms instead of entire units, but also has full units.

So for those of you that have used Airbnb, how satisfied have you been?

If you've used both, which would you use?

Any comments about Airbnb.

Thanks for any insight.

Nancy

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

I haven't used Airbnd, but my dd has. She got a room in Vancouver, BC and was very happy with it. The only comment she made was that the room was smaller than it appeared in the pictures.

I have used vrbo in Hawaii and was very pleased.

[StressCadet Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close StressCadet]

Sometimes there is cross over as both are mainly advertising sites. I have found a lovely little setup in the town where my daughter attends college. I have already stayed twice and intend to stay more. She uses both sites.

[SallyHoover Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close SallyHoover]

Are you looking to rent from someone else or are you looking for feedback from those who have advertised on one of the sites?

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

I love AirBnB. I don't think there's a big difference in any of them, just a question of where the inventory you want is, imho. AirBnB doesn't send $ to a landlord until you've checked in so seems relatively secure (not sure how VRBO works the payment side, it's been a while since I used it). Reviews on AirBnB run both ways (which is unique I think - landlords also leave reviews for guests), so that's a plus if you have room(s)/property that you want to rent out, which may be part of the reason it's become so popular for listings.

[Nancy Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Nancy]

I want to rent from someone. The money situation is interesting with Airbnb. I believe with VRBO, you deal directly with the person you are renting from.

Nancy

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

It's been awhile since I've rented through vrbo, but I did deal directly with the owners in a couple of cases, and another time it was through a rental agency the owner was using. I think it all cases payment was upfront and cancellation policies depended on the owner. I don't know how the payment was handled for my dd with airbnb.

[easyrider Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close easyrider]

I like airbnd because of the way the owner and client can leave a review. We found a couple of nice places in Hawaii with airbnd.

In some areas I like vrbo because there is more inventory. With airbnd I paid online through the websits portal. With vrbo it can be the same or with some rentals you can pay the owner. We pay a person directly for their beach house every year and we found this rental originally on vrbo.

The reviews from both the renter and owner really help when your staying in a persons home with them under the same roof in a bread & breakfast rental. VRBO for us isn't used for bread and breakfast rental so the reviews mean less coming from the owner.

[grest Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close grest]

I wasn't familiar at all with Airbnb, though I have used vrbo and have been very satisfied....thanks for the info.

[mpumilia Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mpumilia]

I have used Home Away a few times with very good experiences.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

Never used either. I have checked AirBNB for possible places to stay in Stockholm once but was not impressed by locations or prices, and got a better location at a better price at booking.com Booking.com has started to accept many of the same type properties as AirBNB and VRBO, at least in Europe, and I have found some really good options through them. They also handle hotels, so it is great to be able to make the comparisons with hotels as well. Booking.com often has some good hotel discounts.

Booking.com is my first stop in looking for accomodations if I am not doing a timeshare exchange.

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

Booking.com is my first stop in looking for accomodations if I am not doing a timeshare exchange.

I've used booking.com, but I usually start with Trivago, or even Tripadvisor, as they show pricing from multiple sources. However, I've been finding that for hotels, at least, booking directly with the hotel gives the best pricing.