Home Away From Home: Choosing to Rent a Property for Your Next Vacation

With ever-rising vaccine rates and availability, most state governments have decided to treat the pandemic like it’s functionally over, allowing their economies to open back up and allowing us, in turn, to regain some portion of normality. While COVID variants like Delta and Omicron are making their rounds in the United States, as long as you’re vaccinated, it’s significantly safer for us to go back out into the public; no longer restricted to the four walls that make up our homes, we are now free to attend concerts, socialize with friends and family members in person, and even go on vacation.

Gosh, the memories that even mentioning a vacation conjures up... Many of us had to cancel our plans last year due to the onset of the pandemic and proceeded to watch the world shut down bit by bit, like a system powering down, shutting off each function as it slowly turns off. The ensuing isolation had a significant impact on our collective mental health, even creating an all-new medical condition that scientists are calling pandemic brain. A vacation is long overdue, and with it being significantly safer for us to travel and go on vacation, now may be the time to take one, and make it an extended stay away from home, taking a week-long vacation away from the place we’ve been trapped in for over a year.

The only question is, where will you stay? There are lots of options meant to attract the attention of would-be vacationers: how will you choose the best one for your particular vacation, and what should you look for in a place to stay? This guide aims to give you a guide to what you should look for when looking for vacation rentals and to prep you to select the perfect place to stay, whether you’re staying in a popular city like Dallas or a tourist trap-riddled area like Orlando.

Without further ado, let’s get into it.

Easy Access to All Your Favorite Activities

You’ll want to choose a vacation rental that is located near popular activities in the area, preferably within walking or cheap taxi distance from places you’ve already planned to visit. One of the best ways to do this is to choose a vacation rental in a highly-populated metropolitan area, as those rentals are likely also located near a variety of places to shop and eat for convenience. Vacation rentals in these kinds of areas tend to be pricier, as the landlord is often aware of their value, but the money you spend on the rental will be offset by how much you save in transportation costs, avoiding things like expensive car rentals or train tickets. That, and you’ll love the ability to go from your front door to any number of popular establishments in the area.

Make Your Rental Feel Like Home

Depending on the budget you have for your vacation rental, you might want to consider choosing a vacation rental with extra amenities that make it feel more like home, such as walk-in closets and showers, large bathtubs for late-night soaks, marble kitchen counters and islands, and king-size beds. You might not plan to spend an awful lot of time in your rental, and so these expenses may seem excessive for those who haven’t spent time in a vacation rental before: but after a long day of exploring, you may just want to come back to a place that has all the functionality of home, cooking yourself a nice dinner to save money, relaxing in a hot-water filled tub, and then crashing on an angel-soft mattress.

Vacations are the time to treat yourself, so don’t be afraid to spend a little more money on luxurious amenities that you don’t have at home. The comfort such amenities can offer after an arduous day hitting all the things on your to-do list often pays for itself.

Your vacation rental should align with your purpose for the vacation, as well as being positioned firmly within your budget. If you can’t afford a vacation rental inside of a major city, feel free to rent one just a little out of the way. If you want a smaller vacation rental with minimalistic furniture, knowing you won’t be spending any time in your rental, go for it. Do what makes you happy, and your investment in a vacation rental property will more than accommodate your needs.