VRBO or Home Away Use?

Like you I have used VRBO for years and have never had a bad experience. I used them last year to find a place in Switzerland and it worked as well as it always does here. I spent a little extra time googling and found the owner had a website. Read the reviews closely and even found this owner listed on trip advisor. It seems that VRBO and similar services do a pretty good job of policing themselves. So to me the greatest risk would be to use someone who just started listing on the site. If they have been renting for a number of years there would be reports to VRBO and they would have ended their relationship. VRBO also sends out alerts if you have visited a listing on line and they have had any issues with them. Good luck! With a little due diligence you should be fine.

I agree with the above. We've used homeaway in France with no problems, VRBO is the same ownership. Without a language barrier your communication with owners should be easy enough. A couple of points worth noting:

In the UK and Europe, the "first floor" is what we'd call the second. So if stairs are an issue, be sure to get clarification.

European beds tend to be less wide than ours, and the use of terms like "king" and "queen" for bed size might not be consistent with ours (after all, they're the monarchy!). So again get clarification with actual measurements if this could be an issue for you.

European appliances and plumbing fixtures will probably turn on, turn off, spray, flush, adjust, and otherwise seem to operate differently from ours because the controls won't be the same. A rental should include clear instructions (written is better than oral from the owner or caretaker when you arrive) about operating each one. Of course these differences can also be sources of adventure as you cook, launder, shower, etc. ;-)

We're currently staying in a HomeAway apartment in London. It is exactly as advertised and the homeowner was extremely responsive. Very happy with it and would stay here again.

Joy_Dayton, my wife and I have used airbnb.com as a similar service, which seems to have many good options in Europe especially. We stayed in Amsterdam and Paris using this service and found great places with friendly owners, good communication, etc. We used VRBO.com for a stay in London near Tower Hill and were very pleased as well. I think the services (whether airbnb.com, homeaway.com, VRBO.com or others) are great options, but the key in my opinion is finding a place you like that has a lot of good reviews (at least 10, preferable more). Happy travels!

vrbo/Home away in the States and Canada great. Had bad experience with same in Italy( 2011) and France(2013) one each. Unless you pay for extra insurance I wouldn't risk. Having said that We had great experiences in both countries withairbnb. They do not release your payment until 24 hours into stay.
Enjoy
Stephanie

I've used both probably 30+ times, most out of the country and many in Europe. I've used it a few times recently in London too. Absolutely no issues with any BUT I am very thorough on my research. I google names/addresses/everything to make sure everything is in line. In London, there seems to be more scammers than most European capitals so be sure to look up everything. I also do a search on Tripadvisor London Forum for comments as they are very active covering these things. If you don't see it, I'd ask.

Did 10 days in London this Sept and stayed in a flat we found using VRBO. Everything went perfectly smooth. As others have mentioned, you need to size your expectations to English and European standards - No giant apartments/houses with king size beds and huge kitchens and bathrooms. If you want and need that, be prepared to pay a hefty price as they simply aren't the norm. In selecting a location, I made use of the online maps to see how far the place was from transportation and shopping. Then, using Google Street View, I was able to do a virtual walk of the area to get a good feel of the neighborhood. Communication with the owner before booking is easy so that you can make sure you fully understand what is offered and available in the selected locations. Will continue to use VRBO/Homeaway for all my travel needs.