Hotel or Home? Where to stay on your next vacation

NBC interview with Gabe Seglie, Editor with Travel Zoo

Something to think about as you plan your summer vacation. When it comes to lodging, hotels are the first and often the only option considered by most people. But now a growing group of travelers are finding comfort in a full-fledged home away from home. And here with more is Travel Zoo Editor Gabe Seglie. Good morning to you, Gabe. Welcome back.

Thank you, Campbell.

This is a little bit of a fantasy of mine. I would love to do this with my whole family. Go away, rent a house. A lot more people are doing it? Is this is a trend?

I love staying in a hotel and hotels are always going to be the number 1 choice really for travelers. They’re convenient, they’re easy to book. You know what you’re getting. But more people are traveling today than ever before for a greater variety of reasons than ever before, and so vacation rentals offer probably greater options now, depending on the kind of trip that you want to take. You’re literally renting somebody’s home. You get amenities like complete kitchens. You get your washer and dryer. Things like Internet access and parking that usually carry a price tag at a hotel are standard fare at vacation rentals.

Now you usually think it’s going to be more expensive automatically than a hotel would be but that is often not the case.

I was doing research for this segment, and I found, for example, a castle in the French countryside, a medieval castle that sleeps 34 people on 20 acres for $7000 for the week. Now that comes out to about $200 per person for an entire week in the French countryside on 20 acres in a castle. That’s amazing. Travelers published a two bedroom condo in Orlando this week for $95. It sleeps six, you’re right next to Walt Disney, steps away from Sea World and Universal Studios. There is a great value option for a family.

The only concern I might raise would be that with a hotel, if you have any problems, you go complain to the management. You know they’re going to be responsive. Are you going to have that level of service if you have any problems in a rental type situation?

The answer is you have to do a little bit more homework on your own to guarantee that first off you’re protecting your investment. I mean, the thing about buying something on Ebay. All the kinds of steps you take to guarantee that you are buying something legitimate, you will want to do if you are doing a vacation rental. Read reviews by former renters. Get a contract before you send any money. Use a credit card instead of cash or money order, and make sure you have a litany of contact information once you’re at the vacation rental.

Let’s go through some situations where this might be a good idea and the first with my fantasy vacation – the getaway with the family or family reunion or something like that.

Some families are better equipped to be under the same roof than others, no doubt about that. But, think about the fact that if you rent a four-bedroom house versus renting four hotel rooms, you are going to have extras for the family like your own kitchen to chitchat while dinner is being made. Your own backyard to play games. Your own garage for your rental car. So there is definitely something to be said for that. Large groups of people, like birthday getaways or bachelorette parties, you don’t have to worry about disturbing your neighbors if you’re having a party late at night or that phone call from the front desk telling you to keep it down.

But what about a couple on romantic getaway. In some cases, you say that’s not a bad idea either.
My wife and I have splurged on a hotel in Hawaii, but now we are considering a vacation rental. We like making our own breakfast in the morning, almost feeling like we have some of the amenities we have at home but while traveling thousands of miles away from home.

We’re almost out of time, but real quick, any particular locations where it is better to rent than do the hotel thing?

Cities like New York, San Francisco, Chicago, where the hotel industry is just as good as it can be, the hotel is probably the best way to go. Peak season in other areas, like Florida, southern California, Hawaii, Mexico, a vacation home can be a great option for you.