What are reliable sites for vacation rentals?

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by Kayekaye

It's been pretty hard to get addresses from VRBO. It shows a map and a block but not an address. Most of them I click on actually says "Address hidden by owner".

Addresses are hidden generally for a couple of reasons - 1) Many of the properties are illegal vacation rentals and 2) Safety - thieves can take the address information to target tourists and their belongings.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Kayekaye

So I have never used VRBO on my many trips to Hawaii. It might be fine but I've never used it. I find single web sites for Bed and Breakfasts and contact them that way and have never had a scam.

You may have overlooked one of the main features of booking through VRBO, or sites like it... you have a company guaranteeing your rental against fraud, booking errors, etc., whereas with an individual owner you are literally on your own.

[PaliPatty]

VRBO is loaded with illegal rentals. Ditto for Craig's List.

Whether the person you contact is actually the owner of the property is another thing altogether, but just because they may own the property it doesn't mean that it's necessarily a legally permitted vacation rental.

Here are the addresses of all the LEGAL vacation rentals and B&B's on Oahu---if the rental you're interested in is not on the list, it's illegal, pure and simple.

http://dev.honoluludpp.org/Portals/0.../NUCreport.pdf

You can plug in an address here to find out owner info:

https://www.city-data.com/honolulu-county/

So if the rental is has a legal permit, it will be on the list, you can plug in the address and voila---there is your info.

If the place is not legal and you can't get an address from the "owner" then caveat emptor.

As far as thieves being able to target vacation rentals through published addresses? Well, maybe, but vacation rentals stick out like sore thumbs in our neighborhoods. A quick ride through Kailua and even a dumb thief would be able to scope out and zero in on vacation rentals quite easily. But yes, published addresses might make it a tad easier.

[Kayekaye]

Cool, never saw that before. The last place I rented is on there!

Another thing I don't like about VRBO is that they took out the price filter. Have to look through everything without any hi or low start to pricing.

[PaliPatty]

Originally Posted by Kayekaye

Cool, never saw that before. The last place I rented is on there!

Thank you!