Home Away! Find A Vacation Rental Home Big Enough For The Entire Family

My husband and I just returned from Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks, and although I was going to use the time in the car to update my blog, instead, I used the long road trip, you guessed it, to research travel!  My apology for not updating my blog in late summer.  The summer passed in a flash and I spent with family, including my mother, who passed away in August.  Sometimes travel just has to take a back seat to spending time with loved ones!  In honor of my mom, my blog today is going to feature my favorite web site to book group travel! One of Mom's favorite things to do was to travel with our "Chosen Family," a group of 30+ friends and family who have been "besties" for 25+ years! In this week’s blog, I will talk about vacation rentals that are large enough to serve the whole family!
 

We love traveling with our Chosen Family to places near and far!  Each summer I book a house big enough for all 30 of us and we spend time enjoying each other’s company!  I have used www.HomeAway.com to book condominiums in Kauai, a house in Kauai, several houses in Washington State, an oceanfront house in Lincoln City, OR, a house in Maui, an apartment in Florida, two houses in Napa Valley, and now, a villa in Tuscany.  It is my hope that by giving you a peak at my experiences, you will give it a try and treasure the memories as much as we do!

In 2015, we are traveling with a group of nine friends to Tuscany and want to make sure we have exactly the right accommodations.  For our Tuscan vacation, I am using www.Home Away.com to book an Italian Villa.  Home Away is my favorite site when we travel with a group and want a house to share.  Whether booking a family reunion, a small gathering of friends, or just traveling with a favorite travel partner, Home Away is easy to use and I have had much success booking great accommodations! 

To use Home Away, simply go to the website, put in the parameters you desire, including location, cost, bedrooms, etc. and you will have a list of possible properties.  I love the parameter, hidden in the "more filters" link, that allows you to chose to work with property managers or owners.  I like working directly with owners because I have found them to be less expensive and sometimes, willing to bargain. 

For our Tuscan home, we need a place with at least 4 bedrooms and an additional bed.  We want a villa with a swimming pool, a house with character and history, one near a town or village with restaurants and markets so we do not need a car, and, definitely, one near public transportation so we can see the grand sites of Florence, Lucca, Siena, and perhaps a visit to Venice.  It is that easy!  I viewed more than 100 homes and sent inquiries to 30+ homeowners.  A feature I love about Home Away is it saves your inquiry, so you do not have to type a different inquiry to each homeowner.

I encourage you to book early!  With Home Away you are dealing with one of a kind properties and if you are very specific, you may only have a few properties that meet all of your needs, including cost.  When I searched for a house in Hawaii where our family can celebrate Christmas and New Year 2014, I was already out of luck!  Several of the houses that would have been perfect for us had already been rented, and this was a year and a half in advance.  I thought I was on top of things, but had already missed my first choice!  The same scenario played out for our 2015 trip to Italy.  A family who will spend six weeks in Italy during our prime time already booked my favorite property.  That being said, it is worth it to check last minute because discounts are often offered when the place is not rented, but you will have more options booking early.  Trust me, the time will fly, and soon give way to vacation time with your family!

Of course, there are many other sites you can use to research a vacation rental, www.VRBO.com, www.flipkey.com, www.vacationhomerentals.com , and www.vacationrentals.com , but each time I come back to Home Away to book.  To me, Home Away and partner site, VRBO, have the most flexibility with parameters, the broadest base, and the most up to date information. Why not invite a group of friends or family and rent a home! 

Would You Love To Receive Special Travel Offers, But Dislike The "Junk" Mail In Your Personal Inbox?

Would you love to get travel offers and discounts from companies, but really don’t want your mailbox filled with junk mail?  Me, too!  I solved the problem by creating a mailbox just for my travel offers.  I have an e-mail address I use only to sign up for travel specials and to purchase travel.  When I find a travel site I love, or if I make travel arrangements, I use my travel e-mail and I never receive junk mail in my personal nbox. 

Yahoo and Google both have free e-mail with a couple different .com extensions.  My personal e-mail uses a ymail.com extension and my travel e-mail uses yahoo.com.  I even have a gmail.com account that I use for shopping online.  If you want to see the specials offered by Groupon, Living Social, Yipit, Jetsetters and many, many more, sign up with your new travel e-mail address! Check it at your leisure and never have excess mail in your personal e-mail account.

Groupon and Living Social....Are They Legitimate Vendors?

Sometimes your vacation destination will be a no-brainer. For example, if you have promised the kids a trip to Disneyland, or if you are meeting friends in Las Vegas, you have already made a destination decision and can begin using TripAdvisor to narrow your search. This entry is for those of you who know it is time for travel, but are not sure where to go.


Some of the best travel bargains I have found are on Groupon and Living Social. I know some of you are skeptical about websites with bargains that seem too good to be true, but these are legitimate sites and I have used both of them. Each of the sites offer hotel or full trip getaways at prices that are unusually low. The offer lasts for a short time and sometimes has restrictions, but if you find one that works for you, they can be amazing deals. I take a look every morning when I read my e-mail, so I never miss a great bargain! That being said, you do have to read the fine print.


One of the things you want to look for in the fine print is a time-share presentation. Rarely do I find one that requires a presentation, but I have seen it.  Also, many of the travel deals on these sites are for a few days and much of the time we want to stay a full week.  Most offers can be combined if you choose to purchase two or more. When it is not permissible to combine offers, another option is to book the 4 or 5 days they offer, then reserve a couple days at the hotel using the best rate available. I have also used an offer from one hotel for their time limit and an offer for another at a different location. Last fall I did this with two different all-inclusive resorts in Los Cabos. One of the resorts was in San Jose del Cabo and the other in Cabo San Lucas so we got to spend four days in each location. If you are willing to take a few minutes to read the fine print and can live with any restrictions that may be imposed, you can get amazing travel bargains! Take a look!

Don't forget to check out the local or "stay-cation" bargains on these sites, too!  We have season tickets to the Paramount Theater in Seattle and always use Living Social or Groupon to book a hotel so we can stay overnight in Seattle. 

AND...If you are traveling with friends, try the “buy three, get yours free” option! Four people buying the bargain can save 25% if you split the benefit of the free one, or you can just get yours free!!

Time To Make A Reservation....Or Two!

After you have read the Trip Advisor reviews and chosen 5 or 6 hotels, it is time to shorten the list.  Always start by looking at the specific hotel website to see the specials.  If you are a AAA or AARP member you may get a small discount, but the hotel website will usually have a rate that is "best price guaranteed."

If I can book directly with the hotel at the same rate as a third party booking , I always choose to book directly with the hotel.  I believe you get better service and a greater chance for an upgraded room if you book directly with the hotel.  Cancellation policies are also more lenient when you book directly with the hotel.  Another tip, when checking in always ask for a special room.  There must be something you can celebrate and if you ask, you may receive!

Now make two or three reservations!  Of course, read the fine print to ensure you can cancel with no charge, then go ahead and make reservations at the top two or three hotels on your list.  This will give you a guaranteed place to stay while you continue to watch prices.  If the trip is coming soon, watch the prices right up until the last day you can cancel your current reservation without penalty.  Sometimes you can get a great last minute deal and you can cancel the previous reservation! It won’t take more than a few minutes to check prices regularly.

Quick steps: 

1. Go to tripadvisor.com and choose the criteria you want.  Sort the list by price, traveler reviews, and by hotel "stars" to narrow your choices. 
2. Read Trip Advisor reviews and select a few hotels  within your price range
3. Check the individual hotel websites for rates and specials 
4. Check third party sites such as:

• www.expedia.com
• www.aaa.com
• www.hotels.com
• www.bookit.com (Be aware that the prices you see on BookIt 
• are often per person, not per room!)
• www.travelocity.com
• www.priceline.com
• www.costco.com
• Your favorite airline sites   

Of course, there are MANY, MANY more websites and if you have time, check them out!  The ones I have listed are all sites I use regularly. In my upcoming blogs, I will share more sites and give you great reasons for using them.

Check www.tripadvisor.com First

As I said in my first post, I love quality!  That being said, I am willing to sacrifice some amenities in certain situations and I always make that decision prior to looking for the best bargain.  Time is valuable and I try to narrow down the search before I even begin.  For example, when I go to New York City, my priority is always location, location, location.  I want to be in the theater district, within walking distance of Times Square.  I love the subway, but I want to be able to walk back to our hotel late at night after seeing a show.  My favorite bargain hotel in Times Square is the Milford Plaza.  It is always clean and I have found some great deals on rooms but, even knowing I like it, I am always looking for a better hotel for less money.

Trip Advisor is ALWAYS my first step and I encourage you to make it yours!  You can narrow your options on Trip Advisor and read reviews written by people who have actually stayed in the hotel.  As I said before, (and undoubtedly will say over and over!) a hotel is only a bargain if it has everything you want.  Trip Advisor allows you to simply put check marks by things you want or need.

Using New York as an example, here is how I start.  I open the Trip Advisor window and put in some dates.  If I am just gathering information on a trip and want to find out what it might cost, I make up dates using the days of the week that I will likely stay.  I NEVER check price on a first search because I don't want to rule out a hotel based on price.  Even if you have a specific budget, don't rule out a possible great deal you may find on a specific hotel on another site!  In New York I am going to check the neighborhood I want based on what I plan to do there.  I have done all of the sightseeing there is to do in NYC, so when I go I want to see great theater, thus I check the Theater District/Times Square.  You choose the area based on  what you plan to do, always remembering that the subway system in NYC is fabulous and you can get around easily.  If you don't know NYC send me an e-mail and I will help you make your decision.

The next step for me is to rule out out hotels with only one or two stars in traveler reviews.  For the most part, I put more credence into the traveler reviews than I do into the hotel reviews.  If a hotel has more than 100 reviews and they are averaging 1 or 2 stars, I don't care whether or not it is a 4 or 5 star hotel, it isn't going to be a great deal if people who have stayed there say it is crummy!

If there are specific amenities I must have, like wireless internet, I check it.  Then I sort the results.  First I sort by price, low to high, noting the stars as I look at them.  If I see a hotel with a very low price and really good ratings, I jot it down.  Today when I looked, I found a 2 star hotel in Times Square with 798 reviews giving the hotel an average 4.5 star review average.  It was the second lowest priced, available property out of 429 hotels.  The star rating ranked it as 91/429 hotels.  Definitely one to keep on the possibility list!  I then sort by star rating and look at the prices of the top hotels.  It is at this point that I begin to see which hotels I may be interested in and start to make a list!

Next.....How To Use This List!

"Cheap" And "Bargain" Are Not Always The Same

Three years ago I retired from my job as a school counselor and since that time, my husband and I have visited Italy, Greece, Turkey, England, France, Germany, Lichtenstein, Switzerland, Austria, Mexico and Canada, some countries more than once.  In that same time period, we have also traveled to New York, Hawaii, Disney parks in Florida and California, Alaska, Nevada, Minnesota, Montana, Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Tetons, the Grand Canyon and the list goes on.  My husband and I have taken numerous cruises to the Caribbean, Bahamas, Mediterranean, and Mexico with more on the docket!

How do we do it on two teacher's retirement incomes?  Bargains, bargains, bargains!  Now that I have more time than money, I spend endless hours looking for the very best bargains.  Sometimes it means booking travel more than a year in advance and sometimes it means booking at the last minute, but generally it means deciding where we want to go and spending endless hours looking for the very best deal.  

As much as I love the actual trip, just as much, I love the aspect of bargain shopping. A great deal is irresistible to me!  It doesn't matter what I am shopping for, if it is a great bargain, it intrigues me. Now, I should probably clarify that by "bargain" I don't necessarily mean "cheap." I am fond of nice things in all aspects of my life and travel is no exception. You can definitely find cheap travel anywhere, but it is not my thing. I am interested in sharing how I find great deals and bargains in vacation travel.

In this blog, I will share the process I use to develop a great vacation. When I find a spectacular deal, I will post it, but the purpose of my blog will be to share the art of finding and booking travel bargains.  Creating a vacation is an art!  Time to start painting the travel canvas!

First Post - Start Here To Find Secrets To Travel Bargains!

I look at travel websites every single day!  It is my relaxation, my passion!  Finding the best deal is an addiction to me and I am not satisfied until I get the VERY best price for an outstanding travel destination. In this blog, I will share some of the secrets I have learned over the years!  If you want to follow along, just add your e-mail on the e-mail line, or click "join this site."   I sincerely hope you will join my blog and will benefit from the experience.