AN EVOLUTION STORY
Who is Joyce Hadley Copeland (and why is she writing about vacation rentals)? Short answer: 1.) a writer with 25 years of experience traveling and writing articles, books and reviews of timeshare condominiums, hotels and vacation rentals; 2.) Because nobody else is. But the long answer is much more interesting ...
It’s a story of exploration, tinged with frustration. Of a discovery that launched a consuming passion. (And it involves a lot of sleeping around and plenty of dish.) Okay, forget the melodrama. The truth is, over the past 25 years of travel (and professional writing) I’ve “evolved” from somebody content to stay in a hotel room to someone who seeks out accommodations with character. Here's how it all unfolded.
From Timeshares ... I got my first taste of timeshare condominiums editing Endless Vacation magazine (published by Resort Condominiums International) in the 1980s. I quickly found out most were glorified hotel rooms in glam locations like the Bahamas and Hilton Head Island, S.C.
... to Upscale Hotels ... I started traveling the world in a marketing job and got my fill of fancy hotels. The rooms looked the same, whether I was in New York, San Francisco, Sydney or Singapore.
... to Charming Inns ... On my first trip to Italy, a small guide called Charming Small Hotels & Inns spurred a 180-degree change in my view of travel accommodations. (Sadly, I see the series has been scaled down to include just two guides. But, like my original guide they focus on inns “with rooms that look like bedrooms rather than hotel rooms; a menu that comes from a kitchen managed with real skill and care; a proprietor who takes pride in the premises and your enjoyment of them -- without being intrusive.")
I was so charmed by the places I booked in Milan, Venice and the Ischia (an island neighboring Capri), I couldn’t bear the thought of staying in a standard room at a chain hotel ever again.
... to B&Bs ... In the 90s I drifted into my “B&B (Bed & Breakfast) Period” and discovered Karen Brown’s Guides. Using a beautiful picture book called Weekends for Two in Northern California: 50 Romantic Getaways (Chronicle Books) I planned a post-wedding weekend for 20 friends and relatives who stayed at a rambling Victorian B&B called the Gosby House Inn near Carmel, California.
... to Vacation Rentals. But it wasn’t until I was researching accommodations for a family get-together at Lake Tahoe that I literally stumbled upon the concept of renting a vacation home.
This is the heart of my story. Can I be frank? I dreaded the idea of staying on the casino “strip” in South Lake Tahoe. But my husband and brother love to gamble, so North Lake Tahoe (an hour away) was out of the question. I searched through Coldwell Banker site. For days, I juggled five-digit identification numbers using a hand-scratched list until I finally found a home that met all our criteria.
Located in a quiet wooded neighborhood a mile from the casinos, it was within walking distance of a far-ranging fire trail hiking/biking trail. It had a deck facing the forest. With three bedrooms and two full bathrooms, there was plenty of room for all of us. Even our two dogs were welcome! And the cost -- $150 per night (it was early June, the last week before the summer high season.)
Even so, after I booked it, I worried. I lowered my expectations. I even brainstormed a “Plan B” – which I scrapped the moment I walked in the door. We had a fantastic time.
One More Evolution. I sure didn’t want to press my good luck for our next family trip! So I went looking for a resource. A Karen Brown-style guide to vacation rentals. Nada. I still scratch my head about the lack of resources for this steadily growing sector of the travel market. So because writing is my livelihood, I decided to create my own series of e-guidebooks called Renting Paradise with personally researched, detailed reviews of vacation rentals.
I wanted to create what I didn’t have … first-hand reviews (hence the “sleeping around” part I alluded to earlier, because I actually spend a night or two at each vacation rental I review) of some really cool rentals.
You Don't Know Me. Here's Why You Can Depend on Me, Anyway. My preferences and the size of my party might not exactly match yours. But I’m a consistent reporter, beholden to no one, who's all-too-familiar with truth-by-omission marketing text. In other words, I’ll tell you what marketing descriptions posted on vacation rental websites like HomeAway sometimes leave out. Such as: yes, you can hear the traffic from your deck in that forest cabin.
Writing has been my livelihood for more than 25 years. I’ve published numerous travel articles and have four books in print. I write reviews of distinctive hotels for a U.K.-based web site called i-escape.com.
Most important, I’m a veteran of web searches on dozens of vacation rental sites. I’ve spent so much time doing it, I’ve developed a sixth sense for which places are the gems. I'll save you time and stress. In fact, it's always my absolute pleasure to share my finds.
End of story.