These are the Best Vacation Rental Sites for Booking a Property

Many travelers avoided private vacation rentals for years because they feared the experience would not be as good as what they’d have at a resort or hotel. Even the staunchest skeptics are now willing to give short-term home and apartment rentals a shot.

There are many options to rent a private apartment online; some are more popular than others. This quick guide will help you get started if you haven’t used any of the most popular sites or if you are new to the online rental industry. We’ve narrowed down the top vacation rental sites to help you find the right one for you, no matter what type of traveler.

VRBO – Ideal for groups

VRBO can be used to plan a bachelorette party or family reunion.

The long-established vacation rental site only lists complete homes. This means you won’t find any listing where you could share a home with your host. Its unique feature is how you search for properties. You can not only narrow down your search using various filters, but you can also start your search by type. You’ll find a variety of appealing categories on the homepage: houses, condos, bungalows, and castles.

Booking.com – The best for budget-conscious customers

Booking.com is a website that allows you to book hotels. However, they also list many properties such as hostels, home-stays and apartments. You can filter your results using the tools on Booking.com to find exactly what you are looking for. The sheer volume of listings on Booking.com is overwhelming. Unlike other short-term rental websites, you can filter your results by price to ensure you find the best deals.

For the discerning traveler, homes and villas are the best.

Homes and Villes were launched in 2019 by Marriott International. It is an option that offers frequent Marriott property owners another way to book their stay.

Business travelers often complain about the bland hotel rooms they are assigned to. This alternative is possible while remaining within the trust of both business travelers and employers.

Each home is unique from sprawling beach villas and exquisite mountain chalets. Marriott carefully vets them. You can also earn and redeem points to book your stay at the brand’s hotels.

Airbnb is the best for experienced travelers.

Airbnb, a giant of private holiday rental websites, has revolutionized how we view vacations. They have more than 7 million listings across almost all countries. This is what created our current understanding of short-term rental online. Although it can be difficult to find the right property in crowded markets, there are still basic filters that allow you to search for properties with all the amenities you need, such as wifi, laundry and air conditioning.

Airbnb hosts easily offer discounts to visitors who book for a week, a month, or longer. This means that you are more likely to find great deals elsewhere when you book long-term accommodations.

Welcome Beyond – Best for design lovers

Beautifully designed spaces don’t necessarily require you to be an influencer. If you value this, then Welcome beyond might be the right place for you.

You’ll find listings with many of the same amenities as on other vacation rental websites. However, these listings are carefully curated only to feature the best-crafted and most thoughtfully organized spaces. Even if your social media addiction isn’t, you will want to upload at least one photo of the place you book on this site to your Instagram.

Belvilla – The best place to search for properties in Benelux

Belvilla began offering private vacation rentals to discerning tourists to Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, long before the internet revolution. They’ve grown their business to offer more services and created a secure booking website that makes booking easy.

The site’s properties are rated using a simple star system based on their luxury level. However, the difference here is that the ratings are not given by users but are made by Belvilla staff. You can therefore be sure of their accuracy.