More Bang For Your Vacation Buck

With today's uncertain economy, you might be thinking twice about taking a vacation. While the pressures of daily life in a downturn make a vacation more necessary than ever, you may be finding it harder to justify the expense of a full blown luxury vacation and the thought of a no-frills budget excursion doesn't excite you. But there is another alternative... Vacation rentals often offer luxury amenities, many times for a fraction of the cost of comparable hotel in the same area.

Vacation Rentals are typically privately owned condominiums, homes or villas and can be found in most any vacation destination, from the mountains of Colorado the beaches of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. These properties are offered for rent either by the owner or through rental agencies and can be as simple as a one room bungalow or as luxurious as a grand touring resort. In fact, many of these vacation properties are developed by nearby resorts as a way to capitalize on the popularity of their resort or destination and are often more luxurious than the original resort is. These properties often include access to resort facilities, or have some resort style amenities of their own.

Finding these gems is not as hard as it might seem. A quick web search will show many sites that specialize in offering these types of properties. Their sites feature vacation rentals from all over the world and include pictures of the property, extensive descriptions and amenity lists. In most cases these sites will put you directly in contact with the property owner or their agent and do not charge any fees for their services. Additionally, many rental agents have their own websites as well as customer service staff on location to make sure your rental experience goes smoothly.

By keeping watch for airfare specials and spending a little time looking for the right property, you can build a dream vacation while saving hundreds or even thousands of dollars compared to a traditional hotel package vacation, and at the same time give yourself the opportunity to see a side of your favorite destination that you might not otherwise see while staying at your average resort.


By Grant Choules