A vast majority of individuals on this site recommend VRBO or RS or a couple other sites. Does anyone have experience with www.airbnb.com? It is similiar to VRBO. I saw a writeup on this site in the NYTimes a couple months ago, but have not used it yet.
Posted by
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
4088 posts
I assume you want to book an apartment. There are two varieties of agency. One serves as a go-between between customer and landlord. VRBO for instance puts you in touch with the apartment owner and from then on you deal direct; VRBO has no further involvement. The majority of agencies have some management functions; you deal with them for deposits, key deliveries and so forth. Probably a representative is available in person or by phone. When you are dealing with the owner, he might live next door or be completely absentee. Both approaches work; neither can be foolproof.
One factor for me is the method of paying the deposit, which is often substantial. I'm comfortable with using credit cards and PayPal. I'd get nervous about sending a cheque and it can be costly to buy a bank draft in a foreign currency.