Ramblings

Rather than try to cram a group of 10 or 20 into a block of peculiarly smelly (am I right?) hotel rooms, think mansion. Think private compound, even chateau. Because, those are just some of your choices when you choose to rent a vacation home instead.

Here's how to begin looking for a vacation home that will turn your reunion, retreat or celebration into a truly once-in-a-lifetime event.

Expert advice:  It's always easier to have someone else (hopefully knowledgeable and objective) do the leg work for you.

• Fine Living. An article in my latest issue of “Inside Fine Living,” (e-mailed by the Fine Living TV Network) proves my point.  It highlights half a dozen “family-friendly" vacation rental homes featured on the FineLiving Channel’s, “Around the World in 80 Homes”. These homes have occupancies ranging from 8 to 14 and represent a limited -- though interesting -- spectrum of styles, from a Victorian-style house with wraparound decks and porches on the Jersey Shore to a log cabin 30 miles north of Yellowstone National Park. (The 17,000 sq. ft. Cabo San Lucas villa that sleeps 19 at the top of the article is no longer available.)

• The Travel Channel. Samantha Brown of the Travel Channel also showcases some distinctive rentals. (But note: not all are large occupancy rentals).

• Renting Paradise. And while the vacation rentals reviewed in my own e-guidebook series, Renting Paradise, covers a range of occupancies, I can recommend Tzabaco Lodge (Renting Paradise: Sonoma County). This rambling hilltop estate has three romantic suites circling a patio with a pool, waterfall and sweeping views of the Alexander Valley wine country, plus two downstairs rooms. One is made for kids – with twin beds and a ladder to a ladder to a small loft with a trapdoor. Kid heaven. Plus a 900-square foot great room.     

Regional Focus. Obviously, I can't make a comprehensive recommendation of regional sites here.(See "Tips for Re-searching" below.) However, while in Sonoma County on a recent research trip, I did poke my head into about a dozen or so large occupancy homes along the Russian River. Here are some sure bets.

• Reflections looked like a smallish cottage from the driveway. But stepping through the main house to the back patio, I found two additional cottages set around a small in-ground pool and spa. In a third "cottage," I found a complete office set-up with high-speed Internet access, making this a perfect spot for small retreats. This is one of the sweetest set-ups I’ve seen. A B&B feel with lots of room for gathering, yet plenty of privacy. The outdoor kitchen has a gas grill and there’s a large outdoor dining area.  The indoor kitchen is no slouch either. And one cottage has its own kitchenette. Total occupancy: 11 people, plus the family dogs if you want to bring ‘em. Most rooms tend toward the romantic. (One cottage has a wood-burning firpelace!). However, one cottage has two bedrooms—one with twins and one with a single daybed. (More about bedroom configuration in Part 2.).
  

• Artisan House and Sundancing River Lodge equal Reflections in style. Others, like Grandma’s House is in a noisy neighborhood and has more of a frat house-feel to me.
  

• Beachhouse.com lists a number rambling beach homes. Searcgh by clicking first on "Vacation Rentals" (left) and then on the up or down arrow to the right of "Sleeps" under Sort Criteria.
  
• Simply Chateau. If you’re planning a special occasion in Europe -- known for its wealth of “self-catering” homes, apartments and villas -- take a gander at this site. Nothing "simple" about these digs. The site represents the widest selection of self-catered chateaux available anywhere, covering the whole of France. It’s easy to search by region and group size of your group. If you group is not so big, you may be able to rent a self-contained private wing or smaller apartments within a chateau.

Quantity Worldwide:  If you've had no luck with any of the above resources, VRBO should be the answer. (Scroll down to the Large Occupancy listings -- ranging from 14 to 30+) on the home page.) I found numerous "villas," "country homes," "estates," "mansions," (large, I assume) "cottages," "chalets," "bunkhouses"—you name it. If you have the time, dive in and enjoy the tour. But remember, the descriptions are penned by the owners. One man’s “castle” may be another’s much less sexy home. The questions you need to ask are coming up in future posts. 

Tips for re-searching. If you don’t find what you’re looking for using these resources, I’d do a search using “large occupancy vacation rentals” + the name(s) of city, state and/or region you want to visit  + the type of accommodation you prefer as your search criteria. What turns up is liable to be a mixed bag, leaving you with a lengthy search and sort process. 

Posted by Joyce Hadley Copeland at 09:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

LARGE OCCUPANCY VACATION RENTALS: INTRO

The weekend after our wedding my husband and I gathered our families and closest friends together for a lovely weekend in Pacific Grove, near Carmel. By planning a year in advance, we got everybody reservations at a 22-room bed & breakfast inn.  It was lovely. But if I had a do-over, I’d definitely rent a “large occupancy” vacation home.

First of all, it would have been cheaper. I estimated that the nightly total for our 11 rooms was $1,540. Scouting around on VRBO, I found an entire ranch renting for $1,335. An entire ranch!

Large occupancy rentals come in all shapes and sizes—from majestic villas to dressed-up frat houses. Some, like the ranch I found, are a cluster of private houses or cabins.

Large occupancy homes can be ideal places for easily-bored kids. Some have pools, trampolines, well stocked game rooms, and even river access with kayaks. I’ll tell you where you’re apt to find the real gems.

But, of course, every opportunity brings its own pitfalls. Renting a large occupancy home requires a sharper eye and extra attention to detail.

For one thing, there’s the issue of actual occupancy. You’ll notice in some listings that the ratio of bedrooms to people doesn’t seem to match up. “Six bedrooms, sleeps 30” is a pretty clear indication you’re looking at a bunkhouse. Which may be your dream weekend if you're a  20-something snowboarder. Anything-but for a gathering of multiple generations.

Something else to consider: configuration. Your guests may be friendly—even close family—but that doesn’t mean they’re anxious to snuggle up together in a queen-sized bed. So you can’t always take the total number guests and divide by two. More to come on that.

There’s a lot to consider, but it’s so worth the process. In fact, it would be my delight to help you sort it all out.

Stay tuned for upcoming posts – starting with RENTING LARGE OCCUPANY VACATION HOMES: PART 1-- for caveats, good questions to ask upfront and some of my own personal vacation rental recommendations.

Posted by Joyce Hadley Copeland at 08:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If you’ve had great experiences renting vacation homes—and especially if you’ve been swept into the welcoming (usually figurative) embrace of a particularly passionate owner—a funny thing might start happening. You might start imagining yourself doing the vacation rental thing yourself. And why not, ask Alfred and Emily Glossbrenner?

If you own or are thinking of buying a vacation rental property, the Glossbrenners will show you how to pay your mortgage and make money by renting it yourself. Their 300-page book/CD “seminar-in-a-box”— called How To Make Your Vacation Property Work For You! The Quick & Easy Guide to Advertising, Renting, Managing, and Making Money from your Second Home”— is based on what the couple learned from a decade renting a two-story Williamsburg-style cottage on their property in Bucks County, PA. Today their second home is routinely fully booked as much as six months in advance.

The book is engaging (the Glossbrenners are successful authors with over 60 books to their credit)  and full of practical wisdom, step-by-step instructions and clear examples that will guide you in maximizing the Internet to promote and rent your dream vacation or retirement home (finding the right listing sites, boosting your search engine ranking etc.)  

HERE'S WHAT I ESPECIALLY LOVE:  Guidelines for writing a property description! “Write from the Heart!” These smart-cookie marketers advocate infusing rental descriptions with “personality.” (Because, aren’t we all tired of the hype?)  They talk about “painting a picture” for rental prospects… going into detail about what you (the owner) personally love about the property such as distinctive architectural details or an interesting history … weaving in off-the-beaten-path secret places you’ve discovered. That’s music to a prospective vacation renter’s ears. AND they devote a whole section to “Enhancing Your Listing With Great Photos”. Hallelujah!

I’ll say it again, that’s my biggest gripe with HomeAway listings – the fact that they’ve pared the length of descriptions to the bare bones. If I were an owner, I’d be wailing, “B-b-b-uuut…I’m not FIN-ished!”

I digress. The Glossbrenners also include a CD containing a collection of personally-selected Windows programs to help you manage and market your vacation rental property—in what is becoming a highly competitive market niche—in your spare time.

Check out the 30-day Money-Back Guarantee. But also check out the Glossbrenners’ promise: “Regardless of your rental rate, and regardless of season, if you get just one extra booking as a result of what we have to teach you, this vacation rental owner’s training package will have paid for itself many times over. And it will continue to do so year after year from now on.”

Psssst:  You save $40 buying it direct from the Glossbrenners (instead of on Amazon). Check with your accountant: you may be able to write the whole thing off as a business expense.   

Posted by Joyce Hadley Copeland at 07:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Availability dates (you plug them in)

• Number of bedrooms 

• Number of people the home sleeps

• Number of bathrooms

• Property type

• Short list of amenities

• Short list of leisure activities

• Location type

• Suitability (for children, pets, smokers, etc.)

• Location? I found mileage to the nearest airport, railway station and ferry and often notes about attractions within walking distance of the rental.

• Availability Calendars? Check out dates from the current month throughout the coming year. HomeAway even notes the date availability was last updated.

• Rental Rates (including bulleted terms)

• Additional Fees (such as housekeeping)

• Complete Amenities List (exhaustive)

• Guest Book (including a clickable invitation to owner's website)

• An online form for submitting an Availability Request

• Owner contact details and booking information

Posted by Joyce Hadley Copeland at 07:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Oprah does it. So does your favorite sitcom. A spate of new reality TV shows do it ad nauseum in every new episode! And yes, I rerun past posts in this blog. But not just to give my brain and typing fingers a rest.

I want to make sure that new subscribers and curious browsers are aware of my latest reviews of vacation rentals and web sites listing rentals. So peridically I'll dip into the digital archives and pull out a post.

This past week I featured rerun reviews of one Sonoma Country vacation rental home and three vacation rental listing sites -- VRBO, Rentals Express and the WVR Group (a family of sites under the aegis of one corporation). Just for grins, I threw in a golden-oldie called "Top 10 Reasons Vacation Rentals Are Better Than Hotels". And there's plenty of good stuff still languishing in the archives. (Just click on any category and scroll.)

But there are many more fresh, new posts in the oven. Promise.

Happy reading.     

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RentalsExpress offers a friendly interface, search engine-style format and Ebook Organizer tool to make this one a winner… IF you can find sufficient choices in the area you plan to visit.

Claim to Fame: Cut to the chase! From the get-go, the emphasis is on sorting available rentals based on six meaningful criteria: type of structure (condo, cabin), specific location (city, state, country), dates of your trip, budget, number of occupants, specific amenities and nearby activities. Or click on Golf Vacation, Beach Vacation, Ski Vacation, or Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals. RentalsExpress prides itself on “constantly adapting the Web site to fit the needs of both vacation rental searchers and the property owners who list their vacation homes.”    

Overall Quality of Rentals/Listings. Listings are detailed with as many as six photographs. (Although some listings don’t have any.) The San Francisco description I read was a bit stiff, more like real estate marketing copy than welcome-to-my rental. But all the information was right there, followed by a lengthy introduction the neighborhood, including nearby attractions such as museums and tips for travelers such as San Francisco CityPass. Other descriptions are friendlier and shorter, with a bulleted list of nearby activities. So it’s a mixed bag.  

If you’re set on renting in a specific location, RentalExpress’ lack of inventory is definitely a downside. Clicking on California, I found nearly 90 locations. But most offered no more than one or two rentals. (From in one San Francisco (!) to 22 in various locations around Lake Tahoe.)The upside (from this seasoned scanner’s perspective): what the site lacks in quantity, it seems to make up for in quality.  

Notable Feature: RentalsExpress offers an “Ebook property organizer.” This  bookmarking tool makes keeping track of your selections during the research process as easy as clicking the “Add to Ebook” button. You can share your Ebook picks with family and friends via e-mail. When you get serious about narrowing down your choices, you can send one e-mail to the owners of all the rentals you’ve saved in your Ebook using an easy to complete e-mail form.

Ease of Use: RentalsExpress has a clean text-and-visual interface providing multiple ways to start your search.

• Activity is the thing? Then click on Golf Vacation, Beach Vacation, Ski Vacation, or Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals to narrow your search based on these non-geographical criteria.

• If you’re planning to travel abroad, select a country from the drop-down list at the top of the page.

• Just browsing? Move your mouse over the U.S. map to see how many rentals are listed in each state.

• Click on any of states and countries listed below the map.

• Cut to the chase. Enter a specific city, state, trip dates and occupancy into text boxes on the right.

As you drill-down, your search becomes more refined. Say you click on California (218 rentals available). You’ll get a map of the state of California dotted with the names of cities. The alphabetical listing below the map shows how many rentals are available in each location. San Francisco  

Responsiveness:  Most vacation rental listings provide a telephone number and a “Contact Us About This Listing” button, which takes you to an “Express Reservation Request” form designed to collect the basics: the time you plan to arrive, how long you plan to stay, how many in your party and your contact information. Again, you can save yourself time by gathering multiple listings into your Ebook Organizer and send one e-mail request to all owners. Responsiveness varies by the owner of course.

Clear Pluses:

• Multiple ways to search and easy drill-down features will save lots of time

• Keeping track of multiple selections is a breeze with the Ebook Organizer tool, which lets you share selections with friends and family and send only one e-mail request for information to multiple owners.    

• Some descriptions have a wealth of relevant content and inside information -- ranging from nearby attractions to favorite restaurants -- for more efficient trip planning.

TIP: When you see a link to he owner’s web site, always click on it. Some owners who provide “shorthand” listings on vacation rental listings sites have much more informative personal websites.

Caveats:

• Inventory is spread thin among cities. In California, most cities (many very desirable locations) have only one or two listings. (Although, if you look closely you'll find some listings describe multiple rentals.)  

• Some hotels and B&Bs are tucked in amongst the rentals.

• Listings contain varying amounts of text description; some have no photos.

 Overall scale of 1-10: 7

Posted by Joyce Hadley Copeland at 05:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Like fitness, renting a vacation home is a choice you make. One that has the potential to transform your vacation from a visit to a much deeper experience.  

One site that’s been getting a lot of buzz these days promotes a lifestyle concept I love called “slow travel”.

I've never understood the 14 cities in 10 days concept. The site’s founder and webmaster Pauline Kenny recommends renters apply a “Concentric Circles" plan to day-tripping. “Think of your touring area as a series of concentric circles around your base,” she says. The first circle includes everything within a 30-minute radius of your home. The second, an hour, and so on. “See what is close to you instead of dashing about on long day trips to see the ‘highlights’ or ‘must-sees,’" Kenny says.

Kenny has authored a dozen more really helpful articles to guide renters in choosing and booking vacation rentals, planning your trip and what to bring with you when you rent.    

Slow Travel is primarily focused on Europe -- where renting a villa or self-catering cottage has been a tradition for generations. But, hello? The concept applies just as well here in the U.S., even for weekend trips to places like San Francisco and Sonoma County.

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10. Rent an entire home for less than you can rent a comparable luxury suite.

9. All your friends can stay over … without sleeping in the same room.
8. Every vacation home is unique — not a corporate-designed, carbon-copy box.
7. Instead of “Smoking or non-smoking?” choose a "backwoods cottage," "Victorian flat," a "houseboat," even a "gated estate".
6. No elevator to the lobby, just steps to the beach, or the private dock, or the hot tub.
5. No tipping the bellman after you check in. (No tipping at all!)
4. No maid tapping at the door at 9 a.m.
3. You can eat breakfast in your robe.
2. Cooking feels like fun in someone else’s kitchen. You can even barbecue (generally frowned upon in hotel rooms.)
1. Truly welcoming touches like fresh flowers and personal recommendations on the best local places to shop, eat and play. 

Posted by Joyce Hadley Copeland at 07:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

“Vacation Rentals By Owner” is a big, broad, scrapbook-y site that provides a friendly interface, lots of detail and generally excellent photos. You could easily spend hours or days searching listings in your effort to “Carpe Vacationum”.   

CLAIM TO FAME: Volume! At this writing, VRBO® features 54,000 rental homes around the world—even yachts and cruises. Thanks to VRBO’s popularity, visibility and word-of-mouth recognition among (they say “millions of”) renters and owners, the inventory grows rapidly.

OVERALL QUALITY OF RENTALS/LISTINGS. VRBO is more than just numbers. There may be some dogs in amongst the 50,000-plus homes—if so, in my experience they are few and very far between. Listings are complete including a detailed description (written by the owner, definitely lacking bias, but full of personality and heart).

The occupancy, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, amenities, activities (both on site and nearby), and rates are clearly spelled out. The main heading includes a rough indication of geographic location and driving distance. Graphic symbols indicate other important features: a paw for pet-friendly, a credit card, “New!”  Some listings have availability calendars, links to testimonials, and a link to the owner’s own web site, which may include rentals in other areas of the world.    

NOTABLE: If you’re seaching for a home for a family reunion or larger group gathering, VRBO makes it easy to click right to homes around the world that will sleep 14 to 30-plus people!

EASE OF USE: VRBO’s visual and text interface, while rather homespun in appearance, is very easy to navigate. On the home page, you have three choices:

• Search by VRBO#, city or other text entry.
• Click on the text name of the place you’re looking for.
• Click anywhere on the maps of the 50 U.S. states and countries of the world.

Sample Experience: As you drill-down, your search becomes more refined. Say you click on California. You’ll get a map of the state of California with more than a dozen regions (such as Wine County and San Francisco Bay Area) highlighted in text. Clicking on one of those regions—say Wine Country—will give you a list of 27 cities in the popular Napa and Sonoma wine regions. Let’s say you originally had Napa Valley in mind, but Bodega Bay (a popular location near Sonoma County’s best beaches and tasting areas) catches your eye. Click on it and you’ll be presented with 20 vacation rental listings. From here you can search by the occupancy (number of people it sleeps) and number of bedrooms and bathrooms you need.

RESPONSIVENESS: Each vacation rental listing provides a telephone number and a “Click to Send Email” button which takes you to a form designed to collect the basics: the time you plan to arrive, how long you plan to stay, how many in your party and your contact information.You can leave a more detailed message if you keep it to 500 characters.

Responsiveness varies by the owner of course. VRBO does warn that owners may be on vacation themselves and take a while responding. In my experience, some never responded to my query. But that’s just people, not VRBO.

CLEAR PLUSES

• Not many other sites offer the number of rentals in such an incredibly wide range of locations.
• Searching and easy drill-down features will save time on searches.

• Renting privately owned and operated properties from the owner tends to be cheaper than going through a middle-man like a rental management agency or real estate company.
• Listings contain lots of detail and (generally) good quality photos. (Beware of rentals that only include exterior shots or photos of beautiful views.)
• Graphics for pet-friendly properties, new listings and owners who take credit cards make it easy to quickly scan listings.
• Some listings include testimonials. (Of course they will be glowing, but a specific comment can still tip the scales a bit for me.)
• If you have time, there is a “Links” pages, although I found the “Links for Travelers” to be long, rather poorly organized mishmash of resources. Most are clearly advertisements, although--who knows?--you can find a diamond in the ruff.

CAVEATS:

• Keeping track of VRBO-assigned numbers can make the research process clunky.  
• While so many quality homes in one place make you feel like a kid in a candy store, if you’re picky (and who isn’t when it comes to vacation?) you can burn up hours—or days!—searching for the right rental. 
• Descriptions written by owners are hardly unbiased and may leave out information that’s critical to your group. (Note: VRBO has instituted a sort of corny personal visit “program” called “The Adventures of the VRBO® Bear.”  But remember, VRBO is reviewing its own paid customers.)

Overall scale of 1-10: 9

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In the words of a previous guest: "From the moment we unlocked the door ... music, flowers, wine. We knew we chose the right place."

1998, a year before we married, my husband and I spent a summer weekend wine-tasting in Sonoma County. We have pictures of ourselves feasting on fresh strawberries (bought at the field-side stand on Hwy. 12) and dipped in a gooey fudge sauce we bought in The Wine Room next door. Our view: vineyard-laced hills rivaling Tuscany with a signs pointing to about a dozen wineries. We didn’t have a clue that we were only a block from a romantic vacation rental (more private and romantic than our B&B room in Healdsburg!).

Fast-forward eight years and a couple of seasons. The scenery was the same—except for a lush carpet of winter green. This time, we traded our cramped B&B room for a stylish two-bedroom bungalow called Kenwood House.

For only $350 a weekend night (less during the week). Just for fun, I checked the rates for the comparably stylish MacArthur Place—a boutique hotel that (justifiably) gets a lot of buzz in downtown Sonoma. A “King Guestroom” will set you back $375 per night. A “Queen Guestroom,” is $349. You get both at the Kenwood House—if you bring another couple, you can spend that extra $375 a day on local wines and great dinners.   

Now, I’m certainly not knocking MacArthur Place. I’m just saying you can stay at Kenwood House which offers comparable quality for much less.

Note you will forego the full-bathroom in each room at the Kenwood House (a deal-breaker for some.) And the continental breakfast. But very little else. Robes? Check. Hot tub? Just steps from your bedroom. Wood-burning fireplace? The woodstove-insert provides plenty of warmth and atmosphere. Satellite TV. Internet access. Music. Professionally landscaped grounds. For its style and amenities this vacation rental is one of the best deals I’ve seen.

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Get yourself to a fabulous city (like San Francisco) and then walk. That’s right! San Francisco is a city best seen on foot. Okay, when you need a faster way to get from Point A to Point B, try public transportation—including San Francisco’s legendary cable cars and ferries—a great way to tuck into its history and culture.

Pat yourself on the back. In addition to doing your share to reduce dangerous emissions, you’ll leave stress-building activities traffic and parking stress in the dust.

The city’s most efficient mode of travel is the San Francisco Municipal Railway. Better known as “Muni," this network of buses, cable cars, and vintage streetcars will take you anywhere in the city. The F-Market Line features a fleet of vintage street cars from Hiroshima, Melbourne, Philadelphia and Milan running along the Embarcadero from Fisherman’s Wharf to Market St.

Check schedules for ferries San Francisco and the Bayside towns of Sausalito and Larkspur.

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…“Send your camel to bed…”  If you adore out-of-the-ordinary accommodations as much as I do, take the Concierge tour of luxury tents and tree houses in exotic places such as Kenya, Mongolia, Tunisia and Dubai. Oh, and Santa Barbara, California, too.

Because it’s my job to point out sweet spots in Northern California that somehow miss the big lists, I’m adding Safari West in Sonoma County.   I reviewed my stay in the game keeper’s cabin for Renting Paradise: Sonoma County.

But check out the luxury tents (plush beds, polished floor, private bathrooms with hot showers) scattered across the grounds of this sprawling wildlife conservation park. It’s not a zoo or a drive-through park. It’s a wildlife preserve where the whole family can experience some of nature's most beautiful animals in a natural habitat.

Feed the giraffes on the way to breakfast. Fall asleep to the cries of lemurs. Take an authentic safari tour of the “back 400” acres, where you’ll see hundreds more exotic breeds—gazelles, ostriches, zebras, water buffalos—roaming free.  

Posted by Joyce Hadley Copeland at 09:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

"Why not take people right to the farm?" asked Santa Cruz, CA chef Jim Denevan. And, lo, “Outstanding in the Field” was born.

For each event, up to 100 dinner guests—wine glasses in hand—begin the evening with a guided tour of the farm where the food for their meal was grown. Then they’re seated at a very long outdoor table and served family-style (or farm-style) with wines paired to each course.

During the meal, the local farmers and food artisans who provided ingredients for the menu talk a bit about their respective crafts. Five-course dinners begin around 4 p.m. and last until sunset—although guests often linger over candlelight.

Six seasons and 51 dinners later, Outstanding in the Field has expanded beyond California to encompass farmlands across North America. While 2006 events in Northern California (including Petaluma in Sonoma County and Point Reyes in Marin County, areas covered by Renting Paradise e-guidebooks) are over, there are plenty events scheduled throughout the country in the months to come. Take a look.

What better way to get the "lay of the land" when you travel?

Posted by Joyce Hadley Copeland at 08:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)