It is easier than ever to find places to rent for the weekend thanks to websites and apps that focus on connecting owners with people looking for places to rent for the weekend. A weekend getaway is exactly what everyone needs to recharge, relax, and have some fun. Places to rent for the weekend can be the perfect home base during your trip. This guide will help you to find the perfect places to rent for the weekend.
Pick Your Destination
Your first step in creating a great weekend getaway is to pick your destination. You do not have to go too far to find great places to rent for the weekend. Your home state is a great place to explore. Every state in the United States has something to offer. Many people miss out on taking advantage of what is in their own backyard by not booking travel in their own state.
There are some key advantages to traveling within your own state. For example, it can be cost-saving not to have to arrange for transportation. You can take your own vehicle and drive a couple of hours to enjoy a weekend getaway.
Once you have your destination picked out, then you can get started searching for places to rent for the weekend. These next tips will help you pick the perfect place.
Consider Size
To ensure that everyone is comfortable on your weekend getaway, you will need room for everyone. Most places to rent for the weekend that are listed will have information about the number of bedrooms and how many people the space can sleep. It is important that you follow the owner’s guidelines for guest limits.
Most apps and websites that act as the middleman between the guests and the owners have a list of requirements that each party must follow. Your responsibility as a guest is to follow the guest limit that is listed. If you book for four people and bring six people, you may find yourself without a place to stay. The owner of the property can deny you access to the property if you show up with more people than you said you were bringing. The property owner also has some rules and regulations that they must follow as well.
If an owner lists the property as having central air conditioning and you get there and it does not work, it is on them to get someone out there to repair it, or provide you with a refund. They may fudge about certain things to get their property rented but they cannot skip out on basic services.
For example, what they claim as a luxury bath, you may not find luxurious, but if all the plumbing services work, you likely will not get a refund. There are ways you can protect yourself from listings that are less than honest. Before you start looking at places to rent for the weekend, you want to make sure you have a good understanding of how the website or the app works that you are using for your search.
Read All The Reviews
It can be exciting to plan a weekend getaway, but before you pull the trigger on a property, make sure you read all the reviews for that property. Keep in mind that places to rent for the weekend are listed in the best possible light. All the great things about the property will be listed, like the great kitchen design, and photos could be deceiving. While the kitchen may be great, you really need to know if the beds are comfortable and whether everything works as it should. Reading reviews will give you a much better insight into the property.
Most reviewers will mention if heating and cooling problems were present during their stay. Happy travelers will list all the perks of the property, and unhappy travelers will absolutely list all the things that are wrong with a property. Of course, you have to use your own judgment when reading reviews.
Sometimes there are things happening at the property site outside the owner’s control for a specific period when a traveler was visiting. For example, one angry traveler left a scathing review of a condo rental because there was a condo renovation going on above the unit. Even though the reviewer was angry, the reviewer had to admit that the condo was in great shape, and had a convenient location, the noise coming from the condo above influenced the review.
To get a clear picture of the situation, you should read each review fully, and note any response that was left. Don’t just assume, because three stars out of five were left, that the place has problems and is a bad choice. Often, times it is something very simple that leaves the traveler angry and they write the review while still in a state of anger.
Another example of how a negative review can be a bit misleading was a three-star review left by a traveler that rented a place for the weekend and invited guests over for dinner. This reviewer loved the location, the condition of the place, and everything else about her stay, except for the wood cabinets in the kitchen. She did not like the aesthetics and thought that the cabinets would be upgraded. She felt that her guests did not fully enjoy the dinner because of the “ugly kitchen cabinets”.
For most travelers, the types of cabinets in the kitchen designs are not a deal-breaker. Most travelers want working appliances but are not offended by cabinets they do not like. Read the reviews to better understand why a property may have gotten a ding or two in the ratings before you make a decision.
Set Your Budget
When you are searching for places to rent for the weekend, it is important that you work within your budget. Most apps and websites have filter settings that can let you input your budget range. There are plenty of ways to save on places to rent for the weekend if you have the right strategy.
Staying flexible on your dates. Maybe you have your heart set on traveling during a holiday weekend, but if you are a little flexible with your dates, you can save a lot of money. Being flexible is a great way to find savings on places to rent for the weekend. There can be significant savings just by changing your travel dates by one weekend.
Sometimes adding a day on to your weekend excursion is also a great way to save. For example, if you can leave on Thursday or stay over through Monday, you can find better deals. It may sound counterintuitive that staying longer can be less expensive, but in some cases, it can. A lot of owners will reduce the per night rate when you stay longer than just the weekend, so you wind up paying the same amount for a three or four-night stay as you pay for a two-night stay.
Look for discount codes on coupon or group discount websites. You can save a few dollars, and why not save if you can? A little bit of effort can go a long way in saving money on your weekend getaway.
Book Far In Advance
While spontaneous weekend getaways are fun, you can find the best deals and the best places to rent for the weekend if you make your plans early. Let’s say you want a beach weekend getaway. If you book your beach getaway before the season starts, you will have a lot less competition to deal with, and owners will be anxious to fill those weekends up with guests. You may have more negotiation power if you book early.
Booking in advance will put you in a position of power, and yes, you can negotiate prices for most weekend places to rent. Owners that want to generate income outside of season will be happy to take your deposit for your trip that is two or three months down the road. Additionally, the owners will be more focused and able to communicate with you about the property.
Look for properties that are offering early bird booking discounts. You may be surprised to find that there are a lot of owners that offer them. Do make sure that you understand the refund policy just in case things do not pan out the way you planned. Getting sick, or a family emergency can keep you from going when you planned. Canceling as early as you know that you will not make it to the property is essential in getting as much of a refund as possible in most cases.
Beware of Hidden Fees
Finding places to rent for the weekend online or using an app is a great way to find unique properties in areas that you want to visit. It can also be a great way to save on the cost of lodging, but you do want to make sure you read the fine print. Unfortunately, over the last few years, there have been a lot of complaints filed about one of the leading apps for vacation rentals. Those complaints have started to crop up because of ridiculous hidden fees that some owners are tacking on to the cost of the places to rent for the weekend.
You do not want to have to pay additional fees for electrical service, or crazy cleaning fees, or even exorbitant “security deposits”. Make sure you fully understand what you are agreeing to. Read the fine print of the agreement before you agree to anything.
Make sure you pull back the curtains on the deal before you make the deal. Know what you are getting into, so there are no surprises when you arrive. It is always best to completely understand what your financial responsibilities are.
Stick With the App
Finding places to rent for the weekend using an app or a website is a convenient way to find amazing lodging. However, you should never agree to work outside the app. Some unsavory types have been exploiting people by asking them to Venmo or send the money by another app outside the travel app. Do not do it.
Recently a social media poster relayed how they were ripped off by a “property owner” when they made a deal outside the app. The poster sent the property owner $5000 to rent a property for a week using another app because the owner offered them a discount if they would. When the social media poster arrived at the property, the property owner was supposed to text the keypad code but refused to do so, unless the traveler gave them a $5000 security deposit as well. That was not the deal the traveler made, the owner refused entrance, and refused to refund the original $5000.
The traveler went as far as to call the local police to try to get the money back but the local police told them it was a civil matter. The traveler had no protection because they made the deal outside the app and sent the money directly to the property owner. The bank could not help because they had authorized the payment, and neither could the outside app. The traveler was out $5000 and had no place to stay for their vacation.
The moral of the story is to play by the rules. Most travel-type apps that list places to rent for the weekend have a safety net to ensure that every party is protected. Going off the reservation for promises of a better deal can be tempting, but do not do it.
Finding the perfect places to rent for the weekend is easy as long as you follow the guidelines of the app, and go in with your eyes wide open. Good luck finding the best place for your next weekend getaway and happy travels.
