All good valid reasons. I have done both holiday home rental and hotel. I think it depends on the type of your trip. Sometimes, I found that hotel makes better choice financially wise even though it comes with sacrifice in space and homey feeling. Cash is still cash.

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Let me change your mind and assure you holiday home rental is the way to go for a great holiday. Your worries & my answers/suggestions:

1. No on-site support
Many holiday homes DO hve on-site support. But even in the case of our holiday rental, Daisy Cottage, and we live under an hour’s drive away, I have secured the services of a couple of people in the village (one being our electrician) who will go to Daisy Cottage in an emergency for me.

2. Remote locations
Firstly, it is a bit of a stretch to suggest that MOST holiday homes are in a remote location. These are things one would check PRIOR to booking a holiday home surely. And if it bothers one to be in a remote location and/or driving ‘on the other side’, then one can find a holiday home in a town/city. In the case of Daisy Cottage, yes, it is in a village but there is a bus stop beside it which connects to bus stations in the likes of Dublin or Belfast.
And that is a holiday home in what some might call a remote location in that it is a small village (albeit a busy little village) in the north west of Ireland. But for drivers/car renters, there is a good road all the way from the major cities of Ireland and so, you might have bits of road that are definately ‘rural’, I have never had a complaint.

3. Lack of financial protection
Yes, that is indeed a problem. But what I do to obviate it is have LOTS of personal contact with my guests when they are booking: emails, offer of both my home landline number and mobile/cell number, links to my blogs (one blog goes back to the start of our renovations http://www.daisycottagedonegal.blogspot.com ) (excuse me for putting the link, but it is just to show that people can check holiday home owners if offered the links. Added to that, there are holiday home owners who have been doing this for years and have many guests writing good reports on the net ~ a simple google will show much).

4. Paying for pool heat
Clearly this doesn’t apply in Donegal. (In that most don’t have pools, but the weather obviously is fabulous ).

But really Mr. Travel-rants, you really are taking ranting to a whole new level. Florida? Very hot? And want the pool heated! Damned right they should charge you. Have you tried greasing your body with goose fat (as used by cross channel swimmers) prior to dipping your delicate toes in a pool?

5. Worrying about the damage deposit
I agree with your concerns here and those concerns are simply why we chose NOT to charge damage deposit. Holiday home owners must get the best insurance policy they can. In our case, we have a policy which replaces broken items with new. And the ‘excess’ we would have to pay on any claim is €50 which is not too bad. Great if a guest paid it, not a major tragedy if they don’t.

As a parent and now grandma, I really disagree with this charge simply because as you stated, the worry that one of the kids will damage something. Added to that, I understand as a parent that paying for a holiday is a lot of money and finding the extra 200 or whatever is just very difficult for most of us.

I know I might be told off by some holiday home owners for saying this, but I truly believe that if the truth be told, the rental we take (and this is just my first year) well covers any damage that might occur. And that is without resorting to claiming on one’s insurance. In our first year we have had great guests (who might just actually have appreciated we don’t take this charge) and they have all cared for our house.

Now, Mr. Travel-rants, does that make you feel any less ranty about renting a holiday home?

Catherine

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We rented an apartment in Spain. The electricity was turned off 12 hours after arrival in about 6 of the apartments in the block and did not come back on until 5 days later (Friday till Wednesday). This was due to the owners having a banking problem with the management company. The management company had failed to pay the electricity company. August in Spain no air-con, hot water, fridge, no lights at night with 2 small children. Compensated by the owner in return for the days without power, but had to stick it out or find alternative (at a cost) when we were there. Was not the best experience I’ve had.

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I totally agree with you Darren. If you rent a home you should choose carefully.
1. Choose to stay where there is an on site owner. It means you are guaranteed a good service if anything goes wrong, you can knowk on their door at anytime day or night.
2. Not all are in remote locations and it is easier, if you have a young family, to take you car and travel to a place like France even if the location is in the countryside. With SATNAV there isn’t a problem
3. For financial cover – only book with holiday home owners who take credit cards.
4. Don’t stay anywhere where extras like pool heating, bed linen or towels are charged for. Most places don’t charge extra now but give an all inclusive price as that is what most customers want.
5. Don’t stay anywhere who takes a damage deposit. I don’t and I’ve never had any problems with breakages. I have a professional insurance policy which covers guest damage.
My point: you wouldn’t have a problem with any of your issues if you booked with me;) and I’m not the only holiday home owner who operates on those principles.

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I agree with what you say, Darren. Fact is, every type of holiday accommodation has its own drawbacks – whether it’s hotel, B&B or rental. You have to choose what best suits your needs.

For families with young children renting a holiday home is often the best option as it gives kitchen access, more space for all the kids’ paraphernalia, usually a degree of privacy/isolation (so the kids can holler all they like in the pool and not bother other guests) and you don’t have to eat out all the time – that can make for big economies.

Among the reasons why we, as a holidaying couple, never rented a holiday home were

1. the lack of places that made economic sense for two people by themselves and
2. being in the same place for a week, never mind a fortnight, would probably drive us potty as we like exploring, staying three or four nights at most in one spot, and moving on rather than staying in the one spot.

Phil.

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I agree with Susan, there problems can easily be avoided:

1. We are not only onsite but offer a full concierge service. And, after all, some guests want to be ‘away from it all’. We are there for those who don’t.
2. We are on the edge of a village, within walking distance of buses, trains, shops and restaurants. This kind of thing is easy to check before making a booking.
3. Credit cards do offer protection. And we keep all guest payments in a separate bank account until the date of arrival.
4. Plenty of people in our area charge separately for bedlinen and towels, final cleaning, tourist tax. We include all of those in our prices. We only charge for bike hire, sauna use, personal laundry and anything from our shop or coffee lounge. Again it should be easy enough to check on these things before you book. (We don’t have a pool).
5. We trust our guests and that brings its rewards. We don’t take a damage deposit. We do ask people to pay for breakages and give them a list of costs when they arrive. But, as we never check apartments before they leave, guests could smash everything and we would not know until it is too late. The fact is they do not.
So, as Susan says, it is easy to avoid these problems by booking with her or with us. In fact, if you cannot establish these things from the website of the accommodation you are looking at, it is probably not worth asking – owners being up front about what they offer and what they charge for is also important.

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This is a very reassuring article.
There is no convincing reason offered for avoiding quality private holiday rentals.
The arguments work for sub-quality private rentals, but everyone knows these points anyway.

To add to Susan’s reply:

Remote locations? It’s your choice. This is hardly an argument against private rentals!
Private rentals don’t have a monopoly on remote locations – the best hotels are often away from the crowds – and you know where you’re going before you book.
This “criticism” is called “scraping the bottom of the barrel” – & he’s only just started on the barrel!

Financial protection? Check how long the owner has advertised on the listing site (for credibility & history) and go for a property advertising on a listing site which guarantees financial cover.
The HomeAway group (holiday-rentals.co.uk, ownersdirect..co.uk) , for example, offers up to £3000 cover.

Extras? To be enforceable, they have to be in the boking contract. It’s up to you. Don’t like them? Don’t book! This is so far down the barrel it’s past scraping.
You don’t have to drink the exhorbitantly over-priced soft drink or g&t in the hotel refrigerator, either. You don’t have to have your laundry done in the hotel (it could be cheaper to buy a new shirt).

Damage deposit? If the property has expensive equipment or valuable furniture the owner will ask for it and you simply take out insurance – it costs little and will pay for broken ta v etc. Again, it’s up to you. You insure or you don’t. What do you do at home?
Still at the bottom of the barrel.

If there is a valid reason not to choose a quality private holiday home it certainly hasn’t been included in this blog. I think Darren wants to draw attention to the impossibility of finding a reason not to rent a quality private rental property – thank you! Please let us have more like this!

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We are on site owners too – we have our own private home so clients know where we are if they have a problem but otherwise don’t notice we are here. We don’t charge any extras and our most common feedback is that what we offer went way beyond expectations. Personally we rent self catering accommodation whether we are in a city or a rural location because of the space it gives, facilities such as a washing machine and flexibility to eat in or out.

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Totally agree about being cautious of ‘hidden extras’ and paying for a damage deposits. I have just had an email back from a rental owner who wanted 500 Euros damage deposit and an extra admin and cleaning charge of 100 Euros. Also an extra charge to have the air-con on, in the 2 bedrooms. We won’t be booking.

I like self catering because as a family it means we can have 2 bedrooms one for us and one for the children and not have to worry about interconnecting rooms (as in hotels). We have had some great rentals and some not so great. The one I would like to book for next year is already booked up.

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Hi Darren,

As Amy has pointed out, you choose your accommodation based on the type of trip you are taking but I would like to answer some of your points raised.

No on-site support

As a company we have property management teams that are employed to be on hand on 24-7 so that if there are any problems, however big or small then they are dealt with as efficiently as possible.

Remote locations

We have a range of properties that are located in or around towns and cities and also more remote properties. We clearly state whether a car is required for a property and are always honest with our clients and talk to them about the actual walking distances to amenities, a good example would be Kalkan, Turkey where even a 10 minute walk back to the villa is uphill and in 40 degree heat is an ordeal! We understand that different clients require different properties so a good mixture of these is key. You will find many people actually ask for the remote option to get complete freedom.

Lack of financial protection

Before a client books with us they receive a copy of our T&C’s and also recommendations on travel insurance and also Supplier Failure Cover which covers all aspects of potential ‘failure’ during there holiday.

Paying for pool heat

Many of our properties have pool heating included in the price but if this is additional this is always stated clearly and many people do not require pool heating during peak seasons.

Worrying about the damage deposit

Our properties do carry a damage deposit and these often reflect the quality of furnishing and the properties themselves. We are very careful in dealing with breakages deposits as I have fallen foul of a few unscrupulous landlords in the UK. A damage deposit is not there for breakages such as cups and plates they are there for larger items, TV’s being a good example. If damage has taken place then our property management teams are usually able to deal with this in country and on most occasions our clients will make the management team aware if there are breakages.

I is also worth highlighting what actually happens in a hotel if you cause damage, do they simply forget about it and absorb the costs? No, they will charge the client for the damage caused on the day of the departure and usually directly to their credit card.

I think the key factor with any rental, whether that be a private owner or company is good communication between all parties throughout the booking process and to have a good understanding of the holidaymakers requirements from the very beginning.

I once read an article where a very senior member of a well known holiday company talked about selling ‘dreams’, my point is with any holiday if the reality does not meet the dreams then you are often left with very disappointed clients.

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Hmm

No on-site support

What makes you say that Darren. We provide a number that our guest can call 24/7. Our local manager/ cleaner / general good guy can be round in 5 minutes (and has been when called)

Remote locations

Er.. some people might want remote. Seriously this could only be a problem if you booked without looking at the owner’s website. Do you really think people do that Darren? Of course misdescription, when it occurs, is another matter (and is something hotels are just as guilty of as s/c owners), so look for guest comments, reviews etc

Lack of financial protection

There are several ways to mitigate the tiny risk here – book with a credit card, book via a site that authenticates owners like http://www.yourholidaymatters.com, look for quality assessment gradings, take out insurance etc. etc.. etc. The horror stories are pretty rare compared to the huge amount of satisfied customers. How many horror stories can you tell us about? 5? 10? maybe 20?. Now take into account the fact that an estimated 33 MILLION nights – (yes that was THIRTY THREE MILLION) were spent in self catering accommodation in the UK alone (UK Tourism Survey) in 2008 and get hold of that sense of perspective again

Like I said – it’s a tiny risk that gets talked up by the press and by some less scrupulous listing sites who try to frighten owners and clients into advertising and booking with them

Paying for pool heat

If extras are shown clearly up front then I can’t see the problem. We choose to charge for compulsory cleaning separately from the rental (It’s for boring tax reasons). If that turns you off fine, but it’s very clear upfront so shouldn’t take you by surprise. The final cost is what is important and we, and our competition, are much much cheaper per head per night than any hotel and most B&Bs within about 20 miles. Maybe that’s why we (and I mean all the s/c owners near me) are full for 80-95% of the letting season?

Worrying about the damage deposit

Well we take one as I think it’s quite reasonable that guests should be careful about little Johnnie knocking over the red wine bottle onto our carpet. We don’t deduct money for minor breakages and make that clear up front before guests arrive.

We did once deduct the entire deposit when someone threw a wine glass at their partner giving us the triple whammy of a gouged table, a stained carpet and a broken flat screen TV which it hit (thankfully it seemed to miss the lady in question). Do you imagine for one second that if you did the same thing in a hotel that you would not be liable and they would not charge you for the damage? There is a (justifiable) breadth of opinion about taking a deposit up front, but the bottom line is that whether a deposit is taken or not, the guest is still responsible for breakages.

A savvy owner won’t trouble them for small stuff, but there is always the broken bed where the kids have been allowed to bounce etc etc.. Thankfully most of our guests treat our places as though they are a friend’s home so it is rarely an issue.

I agree with Olive that if these are the 5 best reasons NOT to rent a holiday home, then maybe none of us needs to worry too much on that score at least

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Hi Darren,

You have some valid points, although I expect most of these can be overcome with thorough research and talking to owners. A few years ago this may have been difficult, but the internet has certainly made this easier.

This post, along with your “ten tips to renting self catering holiday accommodation” http://www.travel-rants.com/2008/05/01/rent-holiday-accommodation-tips/ provides a good checklist for those researching holiday rentals.

-No on-site support
I expect most experienced owners will have trusted handymen/women who can deal emergencies.

-Remote locations
This is up to the renter to check prior to booking. Some may even prefer remote locations. With Google maps, street view, photos and review sites, checking a location has never been easier.

-Lack of financial protection
I agree this is a major problem, but the homeaway guarantee and paying by credit card offers some protection.

-Paying for pool heat
I agree. I would rather rent somewhere that is fully inclusive.

-Worrying about the damage deposit
Damage deposits are useful as they can make guests think twice and be more cautious. I expect in most cases where there is slight damage, most owners will not deduct. There is also the issue that damage is hard to prove after the event if disputed.
Malicious damage is a different story, and I expect most owners will have insurance to cover accidental damage.

Would a hotel also charge for a broken TV?

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Book a holiday cottage in Asia and they are mainly all completely fully staffed and there are plenty of travel companies which can sell them, at no extra cost as part of a protected package holiday. You get all your meals cooked at cost price – giving you non of the self catering hassle and much less of the hefty extras bill at the end…. An option if you’re going out that way….
And Catherine’s got you bang to rights on that Florida pool heating comment!

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As an off-site rental owner, your first reason actually keeps me tossing and turning some nights, even though all is well with our guests. We provide no less than seven contact numbers for five different people, including ourselves, in case of an urgent problem at our rental. All the same, the possibility of a time when there is a serious problem but our on-site managers aren’t reachable is distressing to even think about.

However, I am a notorious worrier about these sorts of things — the truth is that we have never had a serious problem that wasn’t looked after very quickly by our very reliable property managers. As an example, a couple of years ago we had guests who locked themselves out of a bedroom and urgently needed access to medication that was in the bedroom. The guests called our property managers, who responded immediately despite the fact that it was quite late at night. We ended up having to break down our very sturdy door, but we didn’t charge the guests for any of the repairs, as it was clearly an accident.

When it comes to off-site owners, I personally think the decision of whether to rent from them has to be based on the same thing as your #3 and #5 objections: the character and track record of the owners. As a renter of holiday homes myself, I have rented from off-site owners before, but I always chat them up a bit to get a feel for whether they really care about my experience as a guest, I look for testimonials and references from former guests, and I *always* make sure they have a local property manager who is available 24 hours a day. That way, if I have a problem, I can knock on their door rather than the owner’s.

It’s tempting to respond in details point-by-point to the other rants, but I believe the other comments covered them. If you don’t want to be in a remote location, don’t rent in a remote location. Use a credit card to pay for the rental. Vote with your feet when it comes to rentals that add on extra charges. And either do the same with rentals that charge a damage deposit, or make sure that your owners have a record of returning 99% of their damage deposits (and ask for details about the other 1%). And have fun at your unique holiday accommodation!

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Mmm. Well there have been some categorical pieces of advice given by rental home owners here, not all of which I agree with, such as only ever booking a property which has the owner on site, as privacy is very important to some travellers. It’s perfectly possible for problems to be addressed promptly by a not-on-site owner if he, or his manager is local to the property.

Personally, I love travelling independently rather than relying on package deals and hotels, and would prefer to book directly with an owner of a vacation rental or B&B any time, simply for the more personal treatment I get, the freedom, and the savings I make. But it takes practice and perseverence to sift through your priorities and identify the ideal venue and owner. It doesn’t do to be naive any more and just sign up for the property with the prettiest pictures.

So from an owner’s perspective, a good personal website is a valuable tool in terms of providing the holidaymaker with reassurance before booking and I’d recommend that they work on having the best and most informative they can afford, not only packed with information about the places of local interest but about the facilities on offer at the property plus explicit statements about what their rates cover and what they exclude. As an aside, I do ask for a security deposit but have never actually deducted a sum from the deposit for damage; I have utilised it instead (and only twice in five years) for extra cleaning when the property was left in a less than reasonable state, a stipulation that is included in our terms and conditions. No insurance company covers for this.

From the holidaymaker’s perspective, focussing on listing sites which offer a rigorous approval process of the owner/advertiser and his property is going to be far more valuable in the long run than those which simply offer a supplier failure guarantee – what are the odds of the dream venue not existing against the odds of it simply not living up to expectations?

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Darren
i think it can be a little unfair to rant about holiday homes without applying the comparision to hotels/managed accomodation. I am a owner of a villa in Florida which is rented out, so can speak a little in the defence of holiday homes

No on site support
A couple of years ago we booked a hotel on Miami South beach through Expedia. When we arrived late at nght the hotel and they had no record of our booking, the hotel was full, and it was St Patricks day. Expedia were not answering their phone to help us at 4am
Remote locations
How many times have you booked that City centre hotel to find it was miles away from the city centre? Yes holiday homes can be remote, but sometimes that is what people want, away from the hustle of the main drag
Financial protection
Darren you know as well as anyone through the demise of many companies recently that no holiday product is 100% guaranteed. There is no guarantee that the hotel you booked on line will be there when you arrive, or that the scheduled airline will still be in business when you fly in a years time. Do your homework. In Florida for instance you can check the bonafides of every homeowner through the local county tax office (free on line). why not ask for details of previous renters, contact them, speak to the local management company etc
Paying for pool heat
In my villa people can choose to have the pool heated. It’s an optional extra. Simple you choose to have it or not. It costs money to run. 40% of the year I rent to Americans – they want to decide wether they want pool heat or not. To be honest they prefer to see the price seperate. Why should you pay for something you don’t want? I would have thought that you would like the “unbundled” approach to pricing with everything transparent?
Damage deposit
You know this is my home and my stuff. If I want to charge a deposit in case of damage then I will. I don’t have the luxury of being able to charge people’s credit cards after they have wrecked my place like a hotel can. Do you think a hotel would let you smash the TV and pay for it? Look at it the other way, I’ve given the keys to my £200k house to people I have never met, will never meet, and may only have an email conversation with – is £250 deposit really enough to cover any potential damages?
It also sharpens the mind, do you think that I should just let people run amok in my house with no consequence?

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We own a vacation home complete with a caretaker across the street who sees to any problems. We give good value and get rave reviews. Sorry Darren.

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Darren, I am more than a little surprised that you only now say that financial protection and fraud is the No. 1 issue, when your original post had it as No. 3 with no more importance attached to it than to any other. In any case, these are actually 2 issues. I defy anyone to visit our website and maintain that there is still the possibility that we and our properties do not exist. And paying by credit card gives good protection if a property exists but is really not as advertised (or does not exist).
As far as I am concerned, the No. 1 problem, which you have not mentioned at all is reliable quality. Admittedly, I have had this problem with hotels too, but nowhere near as frequently. There are no international standards for holiday property quality and few people use the national standards where they are available. The biggest factor putting me off each time I book self catering accommodation is not knowing what I will find in the kitchen cupboards (frequently grandma’s cast offs), how clean the place will be (frequently just wiped over with a dirty cloth) and whether there will be any comfortable furniture (lumpy beds and sofas are regulars).

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“many of you have missed the No.1 issue and that is financial protection and holiday rental fraud which does exist. This is a massive issue for any holidaymaker booking a DIY holiday.”

And I think you may have missed my comment on the relative scale of this problem

II don’t mean to belittle how awful it must be to turn up and find, for example, that your holiday property does not exist, but come on – “a massive issue”???

How many instances of fraud can you actually quote here against the HUGE number of happy customers?

I can’t help thinking that this risk gets talked up by those with an interest in a “solution”, be they travel agents or holiday rental sites with lucrative “Insure yourself against the problem we have just worried you about” schemes.

Attempts at fraud are rather more frequently directed AT rather than FROM self-catering owners or people pretending to be such.

As an example, from emails received by me and others I know it appears that most of the priests in the Greek orthodox church will be on holiday in various parts of Europe this year

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Support… Depends on the owner some are good some are bad and some well what support? But you just do not know … (you could rent though a big company with 24/7 helpline).

Remote locations…. well yes if you want it, and if you do not why book there, would you book a hotel miles away… as with anything it comes down to what you choose.

Lack of Financial Protection… err again big company yes… small maybe… otherwise do not know, but is this any different from hotel bookings? DIY carries a risk. A DIY holiday does not have to follow the Law, so no protection, financial or otherwise.

Paying for pool heat, Florida summer yes you need it or water will feel cold, Florida winter yes you need it or water will be cold, why extra then.. Because it depends on type of heat and not everyone does pay. (Some like me use the centers flash big pool).

Damage deposit, well this is so owners do not go to sleep crying each night because of how careless people are when on holiday. It is surprising how many people do not respect the accommodation there staying in.

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Regarding your point 1: What about owners who take payment by credit card? Doesn’t that provide customer protection in the extremely remote possibility of fraud?

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I think we need to loosen up a bit here. The majority of holiday homes are safe to book. Yes, there seems to be some cowboys out there, but as I said in my post above, check & check again. In the days of googlemap and so on it is not entirely hard to check the property is actually there. And anyone can take and pay paypal, yes there are fees, but surely there is protection if a guest uses his/her credit card?

I don’t have the facility for credit card payment simply because I am just a sole renter (don’t have umpteen properties) and can’t afford to have the credit card option and that is why I take paypal. And using it does cost me a few euro, but I certainly do not make my guests pay it but it is protection for them is it not.

travel-rants: start a stie that only takes people (with or without credit card facilities, but mainly to support those who don’t have it) and only take people who rent and are genuine.

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Hello Darren
I have read the original post and the following thread of comments which appear to come from holiday home owners identifying why and how it is a reasonably straightforward process to rent a holiday home and feel confident in the choice. Most importantly to achieve the rental and avoid the five important reasons you identify not to rent a holiday home.

However in a largely unregulated area there are bound to be risks and I believe the biggest one was mention by Catherine 23/10 that of a disapointed holidaymaker who finds that the holiday home is there but the actual content of the holiday experience (physical property as well as intangibles) is not as described or expected. Some of that may be due to innaccurate or even dishonest descriptions by the property owner while it may also be due to specific questions or details not being disclosed by the potential renter.

So to take the discussion a stage further a superb holiday experience is often the outcome of a relationship between renter and rentee that requires trust and integrity from both parties as well as some effort. While it is obvious from the responses so far that there are many good owners (rsident and no-resident) there are also many who do not care and are only interested in getting a booking. The way to address this issue is more complicated but there are ways such as checking both holiday acommodation and rental portal to check the aunthenticity of the claims. It will probably not come as any surprise to you, and others on this blog, that these issues were the driving force in the formation of YourHolidayMatters.com a holiday property owners website that prides itself on the integrity and truthfulness of its owners and carries owner and acommodation authentication carried out by a rigorous approval process.

So whilst it is right to warn would be-holidaymakers about the potential weaknesses of renting property there are also many plusses as mentioned by other posters and using reputable rental portals and checking aspects of the potential holiday acommodation is a necessary process.

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Fork out £100 Sterling a year on HomeAway or Holiday Rentals and your guests have good assurance you exist, and, if you don’t, they cough up; credit cards can help as well.

What’s the problem?

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If you stay a long period i agree a house will be better to stay. But if is a short vacation i prefer hotels

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I think really for any length vacation, a hotel is a better bet. I’ve had two particularly unpleasant apartment stays now (1. no heat, 2. no water). Villas can admittedly be ok–but only really with 24-hour on-site staff.

Of course hotels have their problems, too. Dean’s story for example is really upsetting, although not really a hotel issue when you think about it; rather a booking issue.

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Darren: “While I understand the need for this type of fee, the deposits vary and can be quite high, so the added worry will mean parents are continuously reminding their children to be careful.”

“Re. Damage deposit. Like I said in the post, I can understand why owners charge this, but it is a very valid reason why someone might not want to rent a holiday home. Hotels do not charge a damage deposit, yet, they have TV’s and equipment which would be expensive to replace, and I am not talking large hotel chains, I’m talking small independent hotels.”

In response to your first comment, I’d like to think that responsible parents ensure their children treat the rental home with respect whether or not a security deposit is at risk.

As for hotels, there is a significant difference here in terms of the potential for damage, given that guests are only renting a room in a hotel, but an entire home when they are self-catering.

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Hotels don’t need to charge a damage deposit because they keep your credit card on file. If you leave the room in such a state that housekeeping has to spend half the evening cleaning it, you can expect to be charged for the night’s rent that they lost. If you destroy the TV in your hotel room, you can be sure your credit card will be charged for a replacement. Most holiday home owners (even those who take credit cards) don’t have the ability to do that; hence the damage deposit. But it’s incorrect to say that the hotels and holiday homes are vastly different in this case. They have the same policy, but they enforce it in different ways.

Luckily, like hotels, holiday home owners don’t need to worry about it most of the time.

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Of course I’d expect you to take the contrary view, Darren, and I agree with you that the convenience of a hotel or hostel is probably better for shorter trips, but for a week or two or for extended stays, you can’t beat having a bit more space for your same money and the freedom to not worry about disturbing the people down the corridor.

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Thanks for pointing out things that DO NOT apply to ANY of my vacation homes -

No on-site support – we are on-call 24/7 — besides the fact that we have a network of vendors that will come to any vacation home at a moments notice — we have worked very hard to create this network of reliable maintenance/cleaning/handman vendors and is part of our marketing that any owner and/or renter can rely on us

Remote locations – we are not in a remote location — Truckee/Lake Tahoe — enough said

Lack of financial protection – Trip insurance for vacation homes has become more popular than ever – even though I am still in the process of researching the best company, he only reason my homes might noe be there when someone showed up would be a forest fire and I would certainly be able to tell them before they started on their trip and refund their money – if there is some type of maintenance issue and the home is not habitable, I can either move them or refund their money – in any case I want to protect my renters as much as the owners and myself

Paying for pool heat – no one pays for pool heat in Truckee or Lake Tahoe — it isn’t that we dont’ have pools – my homes in Tahoe Donner have access to a rec center that has a pool and two hot tubs in the winter, 3 pools in the summer — the renter does pay a fee to access the rec center if they coose to use it but that goes to Tahoe Donner and not to any of the property managers in the area — my guests do pay for hot tub service in the homes that have hot tub service so that we can make sure the hot tub in perfect before and after every guest

Worrying about the damage deposit – I charge a small damage fee and don’t keep a deposit that has to be returned — all my guests should understand if they break something they pay for it — although we are not picky about dishes and small items, re do ask that any guest respect the home they are in — why shouldn’t they pay for damage? They are in someone’s home. just like they would respect a home if it was family or neighbors — same thing!

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Either when you book a hotel or rent a house, its the same issue. they are devided into recommanded and not recommanded ones, as simple as that. This is why l agree that you can´t generalise and say your points apply to all house rentals. they might apply to hotels too. l think that all you have to do is just check things carefully, be informed in advance for every detail.

Plus, l think its logical that apply this demadge deposit rule. l mean, think of it as it was your house. Someone you don´t know will come to rent it. wouldn´t you do the same?

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Hi, Darren.

One area of the Holiday Rental Market that you do not seem to have covered is The Holiday-Ownership, or Members Clubs, very often refered too as Timeshare Complexes. These resorts are fully manned 24/7. so no issues there. The standards within the resort or unit, far exceed that of most hotels. They came never be Double Booked Fact! and very often match or undercut local hotels, plus they offer more faculities.

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