With summer around the corner, you’re probably busy like me planning your exploits and where you’ll stay when you travel. So I want to know which you prefer: hotels or vacation rentals.
For starters, let me clarify “vacation rental.” I’m talking about individual rooms, apartments, or full houses made available for people to rent on a day-to-day basis—you know, like Airbnb.
via—the condo we’re visiting in Lake Tahoe this summer
I heard an interesting news clip the other day about how hotels are trying to figure out ways to tap into the vacation-rental market, and vice versa. With two good types of places to stay when you’re away from home, it’s a win-win for travelers.
When our family makes a quick trip to, say, Salt Lake City or Boise, we stay in a hotel. Always. Our kids like to swim, and it’s hard to beat continental breakfast when you’ve got a family to feed.
My favorite vacation rental—a Craftsman in Ogden, Utah
But when we go on a weeklong vacation, we Pypers prefer vacation rentals. I’ve used both VRBO and Airbnb with success. It’s fun to have an entire house to ourselves, and I never have to gripe at the kids to keep it down because people in the room below us might call and complain.
It should be noted, however, that vacation rentals aren’t always clean. I acknowledge that my germaphobia borders on paranoia, but in at least one vacation rental, I was pretty grossed out the whole week we were there.
This was the germy Lincoln City vacation home…
Hotels, on the other hand, always look clean—but I never really know how clean they are.
Also, I would be too scared to stay in a single room in a house where other people live—you know that’s an option on Airbnb, right? You can rent a single room in some stranger’s house. I just can’t imagine it. And then there’s the issue of hidden cameras….
All this to say, which do you prefer? Do you have any go-to spots in the hotel or vacation-rental space? And do any of you rent out a home to vacationers? I’m considering it as a good option if I want to fix up more historic homes in the future—more on that later. •
Boulevard West 
We’ve done both as well and for the same reasons and circumstances you mentioned above. Recently on a trip to Hawaii with all of the adults in Mike’s family, I was able to find a very large home/s on VRBO so we could all be together and gather in the evenings. Wouldn’t have been possible in a hotel. After a few difference stays in a few different places I’ve decided that maybe other people’s idea of clean and mine are different😕. They weren’t completely and utterly horrendous(or I’ve forgotten like childbirth😆) but definitely were lacking according to my standard. To be fair some hotels have too. Ultimately, we don’t spend the bulk of our time there, so we were fine.
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