Airbnb
Airbnb is the most widely used vacation rental app. It assures amazing and unique travel experiences on your smartphone. Airbnb has over four hundred and fifty thousand global properties. The Airbnb community comprises over fifty-five million travelers and hosts, allowing the company to grow in various unique and innovative ways. One of the top-notch features that separate it from the myriad of other vacation rental sites is its “Community” section which allows property managers to connect with their fellow hosts.
Pros
Price is a major factor in choosing Airbnb lodging. You can find excellent deals that outperform traditional alternatives such as hotels in terms of value. As you book the rental site via the play store app, you can communicate directly with the host of your Airbnb. The properties can provide one-of-a-kind and authentic experiences that a hotel cannot provide. Some are exotic, such as boat houses, tree houses, and castles that are available for short-term stays.
Cons
Airbnb will not allow you to use the app unless you create an account. That’s unfortunate for anyone who just wants to browse the listings, which you can do on the website without creating an account. Also, when you’re shopping, the app doesn’t show you the full price, only the “nightly” rate that appears deceptively low. When you click the “book” button, Airbnb calculates all taxes and fees for your stay, so it’s best to look at the final price before booking.
Booking.com
The vacation rental company Booking.com has access to more than 27 million alternatives worldwide. The app provides a comprehensive suite of travel research and service reservations. “Bookers,” as the site refers to its customers, can be confident that the resources they require are easily accessible and that Booking.com will deliver on its promise of a one-stop shopping experience. It manages a sizable travel inventory, similar to TripAdvisor. However, it focuses on lodging. The online travel businesses owned by Booking.com are Agoda, Cheap flights, Kayak, Priceline, and Rentalcars.com.
Pros
The Booking interface is simple and quick to use. You can quickly specify your desired destination and dates. It also shows the total cost of a rental. There is no tinkering with a tricky “per day” or “per week” rate; guests can book their experiences on the website. They can also book flights, cars, airport transportation, and vacation rentals. Cons The rental inventory is limited in the United States, and it is pricey. The app also focuses on putting you in a hotel. You always have to use the filter and select property type, and vacation home from the inventory, or chances are you might end up in a hotel instead of a vacation rental.
Home to Go
Home ToGo is a vacation rental aggregator. It lists 17 million properties from all major sites, including Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo. It is the largest mobile platform for rental homes worldwide. Pros The Booking interface is simple and quick to use. You can easily specify the desired destination and dates. It also shows the total cost of a rental. There is no confusion with a per day, per week rate. Cons In the United States, its rental inventory is somewhat limited and expensive. Furthermore, its app attempts to place you in a hotel. To access its inventory, click “filter” and then select “property type” and “vacation homes.”
TripAdvisor
The smartphone rental app TripAdvisor allows you to book vacation rentals and other necessities of a vacation. It allows you to search its massive database of user-generated reviews and quote rates by the week and for the duration of the stay, avoiding the price games other apps like to perform. TripAdvisor’s app calls itself the “Ultimate travel companion.” The inventory is available through Flip Key, Holiday Lettings, and Niumba, as TripAdvisor owns them all.
Pros
The apps contain information gathered over time on local attractions, restaurants, cafes, hotels, and short-term rentals. The guest fee ranges from 8% to 16%, but it is lower at times, depending on the season.
Cons
TripAdvisor vacation rentals are significantly more expensive than those found on other apps. There are also reports of fake reviews and the app pushing its customers on other TripAdvisor products.
Vrbo Owner
VRBO (vacation rental by owner) merged with HomeAway to relaunch as Vrbo. Vrbo is an Expedia Group subsidiary specializing in vacation rentals in the United States. It is an excellent choice for hosts who own or manage vacation rentals in the United States. It’s also one of the world’s most popular vacation rental listing sites.
Pros
The new Trip Boards feature in Vrbo’s app makes it simple to find and share vacation rentals with friends and family. The app excels at showing rather than telling, with large photos taking center stage. It helps travellers find the best rental apps.
Cons
Incidental grievances from non-American renters to buggy software and currency confusion are the cons. Vrbo renters also complain about the high fees that keep changing. A standard tariff would have sorted the cons.
HomeToGo: Vacation Rentals
Home To Go is a vacation rental browser that gathers results from a few popular travel listing portals like Booking.com, VRBO, and Vacasa. It allows users to search inventory across multiple platforms at the same time. The benefit of HomeToGo for guests is the ability to quickly compare listings across multiple short-term rental platforms to find the one that is the best fit for you.
Pros
They provide several listing options on short-term rental platforms and help travelers find the perfect vacation rental quickly and easily. The integration assistance they provide tends to host who wish to list their properties on the site.
Cons
They charge the host a commission fee for bookings made through the platform. The original site where you make the booking sets the fee amount and makes and your subscription plan with the site. Users have also expressed concerns about price transparency as it keeps changing. Instead of a direct booking option, Home To Go is a third-party app which is a concern when it comes to refunds.
Where are you planning to go for your next vacation?
If you’ve ever stayed in a vacation rental, you undoubtedly know what it’s like. You probably also fell into using a website to plan your vacation, which can be a huge mistake. Planning a trip should be fun and focused on finding the best vacation home, not the best website. That said, while the apps listed above might be your best option for finding a rental, these apps might not be the right fit for you. Bottom Lines Whether you are looking for a beautiful location to call home with your family or a place to vacation with your friends, the vacation rentals listed above will be the perfect fit for you. You can rent a space in a beautiful country house to relax in or rent out your backyard for a family getaway, making your vacation rental a memorable and successful experience. Let us know in the comment section where your next vacation will take you and whether or not you will rent a house, an apartment, or a cabin using one of our recommended resources listed above. Have a fun, refreshing, and memorable vacation traveling around more places than you can imagine.
1. What are the Top Vacation Rental Apps in 2022?
2. Is buying a vacation rental worth it?
Capturing the attention of future guests is challenging, but these apps come with features that will do just that. Vrbo Owner is a powerful marketing tool that can help you increase revenue, while Home To Go is an app that helps you complete the process. There are plenty of other vacation rental apps to look out for that are thriving in the global marketplace.
3. What is the difference between vacation rental apps and hotel apps?
A growing trend in the industry, vacation rentals are available for rent from people in different parts of the world. Some hotels will also list vacation rentals owned by the hotel, but those properties are often more expensive. The Airbnb website and app, Booking.com, and TripAdvisor are all convenient resources for finding vacation rentals for your upcoming vacation.
