VRBO/Air B&B rant

[Huntingfool]

We have stayed at many VRBO's over the years. Lately these are advertised (for example) at $300 per night.

So 3 nights you would think would run around $900 total?

Now what most of them are doing are tacking on multiple "Fees and charges"

Cleaning fees (that are ridiculous amounts), linen fees, "service" fees, damage fees, and on and on. In many cases it comes close to doubling the advertised cost.

Not sure what other options there are out there but it is getting out of control IMO. Are there other options anyone is aware of?

[CastAndBlast]

Same here. We booked two nights at a house for a fishing trip. $375/night ended up costing $1200 when all said and done.

[3rdCoastHunter]

Always look to hotels first over rentals now.

[MAP]

Yeah ive noticed it to, cleaning fees are alittle excessive especially in the smaller units.

But my parents bought a condo in rockport with plans to only rent it out. They have had it ready for a year and have never rented it and dont plan on it now.....some of their best friends have to keep a storage unit in town to replace all the stolen and damaged items in their rentals. Three nights ago they literally had $1200 worth of bedding stolen from one unit. Broken chairs, stolen pictures, condoms in couches, spilt red wine etc etc....its really not fun from the owners persective either.

[jaime1982]

Yeah ive noticed it to, cleaning fees are alittle excessive especially in the smaller units.



But my parents bought a condo in rockport with plans to only rent it out. They have had it ready for a year and have never rented it and dont plan on it now.....some of their best friends have to keep a storage unit in town to replace all the stolen and damaged items in their rentals. Three nights ago they literally had $1200 worth of bedding stolen from one unit. Broken chairs, stolen pictures, condoms in couches, spilt red wine etc etc....its really not fun from the owners persective either.

I'm wondering what kind of expectations the friends have for managing a (rental).

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[Bassdeer]

Yea you always have to click on View Details. Only way to get around VRBO fees is get a relationship with the owner and next time call them direct if they will let you do that. That's what we do. Other then that we click on view details and look at the extra charges and weed out the crazy places with extra charges.

[ultralite09]

yup, noticed that around this time last year. Lately weve been booking more hotels than AirBnB or VRBO.

Other option is to find the owner directly and book through them so you dont have to pay all the extra fees and the owner usually cuts a little better deal since theres no middleman

[S-3 Ranch]

When we go to port Mansfield, renting for 3 days, after rates and extra fees, it’s almost as much as our monthly house note ! And the rental is never really clean, ( we replaced a air filter and wrote the date on it, only to return 1 year later and same filter)
Dog fee
Cleaning fee
Garbage fee
Ect

[SETXoutdoorsman]

As for Airbnb goes, click "reserve" and it'll show you break down of the extra fees so you at least know what the full price will be before actually booking and not have any surprises.

[glen]

Just look at everything before you book it. All fees and prices are listed and both sites give you the actual total cost before you hit the “book” tab. Wife and I have stayed at probably 40 over last few years. And yes some of the fees take a place off our list

[JTRichardson]

Air BnB and VRBO have officially priced themselves out of the market IMO

Though I like the idea of staying at a house or a condo, the pricing dictates that a hotel will almost always make more financial sense

[salth2o]

I have switched to using local vacation rental agents. It seems to be a bit cheaper in the end with less fees.

VRBO/ABNB used to be great values, but they are pricing themselves out for sure. However, part of the deal is I have heard horror stories of tenants wrecking the place or leaving it totally trashed.

[friscopaint]

I've always looked at the final price to figure out actual per night costs but haven't stayed in one innlast 2 yrs

[tpack]

Air BnB and VRBO have officially priced themselves out of the market IMO

Though I like the idea of staying at a house or a condo, the pricing dictates that a hotel will almost always make more financial sense

I feel the same way. It can get expensive just for 2 people, so we stay at a hotel about 1/2 of the time.

[Dale Moser]

It’s like everything else, good things never last. If it’s not the owners/service companies getting greedy, it’s ******* tenants tearing stuff up. In the end, people **** up everything.


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