Holiday rentals, whether they be flats, condos, or villas, have progressively increased in popularity as the most preferred kind of lodging over the past few years. While vacation homes have been around for a while, the spike in desire for more and more vacation rental property is a relatively new notion. This trend has never been as popular as it is right now. Holiday rentals are rising steadily while hotels are declining.
1. VACATION RENTALS ARE MORE AFFORDABLE THAN HOTEL
Are you keeping track of every penny you spend and putting it toward your forthcoming vacation? Everyone enjoys saving money, it’s true. Why pay €1000 when you could get the same deal for €750? Unbelievable as it may seem, a holiday rental will be far less expensive than a hotel.
Consider booking a family room or two rooms in a hotel as a family of five. When booking a hotel room, family rooms are among the most expensive choices available, and two rooms obviously incur twice as much expense. Booking a single 3-bedroom house will work out to be much, much less expensive because you’d be paying for the entire property, regardless of the number of guests.
2. YOU GET SO MUCH MORE SPACE!
Which would you prefer—having a bedroom and bathroom all to yourself or having an entire apartment to yourself? No need to explain the answer to you; you already know it. You spend much less and receive more than three times the space of a small hotel room! Who could not love this?
You also have the added privacy of being able to enter and exit whenever you want (without any nosy Receptionists or Night Receptionists tutting and shaking their heads as you walk in barefooted at 5am). Would you rather have your children share a room with each other so you may have some peace and quiet, or with you, dear parents? Thought so
3. YOU’LL SPEND FAR LESS ON FOOD IF YOU HAVE A KITCHEN.
Who in their right mind wants to cook while on vacation, I hear you cry? Those with little resources, that is! The list also includes people who enjoy sleeping in (alternatively, missing breakfast because you woke up after 10am), tourists in notoriously pricey cities (alternatively, shelling out outrageous sums of money for gourmet plates that hardly fill you up), those who have food intolerances (alternatively, having to search for specialised restaurants or having to ask each and every chef about how the food is prepared), and so on. Do you need persuasion?
Imagine being able to eat whatever suits your fancy rather than choosing from a set menu, waking up whenever you want to, and not being constrained by breakfast or dinnertimes.
4. PRACTICE LOCAL CUSTOMS
Even though you’ll still be recognised as the wide-eyed tourist you are by your camera and backpack, nothing says “Tourist” like a hotel. To socialise with locals? The absolute worst place to start is a hotel. The same reason you don’t hang out at hotels in your city because you reside there applies to locals as well. There is a very slim chance that you may meet locals while staying in a hotel.
Living in a rental house places you right in the middle of the neighbourhood scene. Start by getting to know your neighbours; a simple “Good Morning” or “Hello” can go a long way. If you just have the nerve to ask, most people will be happy to assist you. You will receive excellent advise if you ask any local you meet about the greatest hangouts in the area, so go ahead and ask away. Additionally, you can eat like the locals do by purchasing fresh local produce, local bread, and other specialty foods. You won’t simply be taking a package vacation—you’ll be doing much more!
5. PETS ARE WELCOME.
While it’s true that not every holiday rental will allow pets, rental home owners are frequently more accommodating. Be prepared to pay a little greater security deposit, but if your loving dog leaves everything undamaged, you can get this money back in full. When it comes to permitting pets, hotels are more pickier, and the majority of them outright disallow pets. And let’s face it, leaving your lovely canine companion behind is one of the hardest parts of going on vacation, so why subject yourself to that kind of trauma?
6. A WASHING MACHINE.
Why bring a fortnight’s worth of clothing with you when you can just wear half of it at the airport to avoid paying an overweight fee and having tonnes of washing to do when you get home? WHY? Because there are no washing machines in hotels. And the reason is that hotel laundry service is robbery in broad daylight.
Unexpectedly, a washing machine (and maybe a dryer, too!) can be found in every single rental home. This implies that you can drastically reduce the weight of your luggage by packing fewer clothes (leaving more space for souvenirs!) and that you will have very little laundry to do when you get home.
