Vrbo Vacation Rentals Reviews

by Hamee13

After using Vrbo for my first time I was extremely upset with my stay. Hotel was dirty, the room was cleaned twinge and still was dirty, extra fees that where not stated by the owner and after leaving the owner a 1 star review he went and trashed my name. I couldn’t even defend myself from the review left by the owner. If Vrbo looks into the last 3 people who stayed with this owner. All 1 star review. The worst part is the property owner was so disrespectful in his review. I had to sun it my review 4 time before Vrbo would let me even post it. Stating it’s against their policy to report pricing on specific hotel. If I was a customer I would want to know that the hotel charges an addition $60 a night after paying all the fees and taxes on Vrbo. They charged us for towels if we swapped them out, got charged for toilet paper, they charged us for blankets on the pullouts. This wasn’t stated in the contract. Then the owner on top of it all state in his review that I should stay by the freeway where it’s cheaper. It’s not about the money, it’s the fact that he’s not stating the extra fees in contract. The owner is a liar and Vrbo has no support to remove his review. Crazy how mine got kicked back 4 times at that point most of the things I wanted tot state in my review where deleted. I WISH THEY LET YOU REVIEW THE OWNERS WITH THE TRUTH. THEY DONT!!

by Rtyhfssgbjudcbhj

Rented a condo with bay tree condominiums in Port Aransas through Vrbo. I had a night shift at work so I skipped my 4pm check in for an early am check in the following day. The room was horrendous roach in the fridge, dog hair all over the bed, dirty showers. The room looked nothing like the pics would leave you to believe. It was worse than a motel and what I paid for they stay was just unacceptable. I kindly let staff know I would not be able to stay and requested a refund by front desk for the dirty room. I was lied to by the host Deborah that they didn’t offer refunds so I had to call Vrbo and argue with the host who was extremely rude while speaking to Vrbo on the phone. I was given every excuse as to why the room was dirty and my pictures of the room were brushed off. Took a 4K pic of the roach in the fridge and host tried to tell me it was a piece of old lettuce… I got a partial refund. They had they nerve to take a cleaning fee and service fee out of my refund for a room I never stayed in and that was never clean… Vrbo also won’t post my review of the property. If you look at their Google reviews they have a low rating but they don’t tell you the full name of the property until you rent. They just try to lure you in with picture. Vrbo allowed the host to to essentially be paid for below par service and lies. I’ve used rental services before but I don’t think this company is worth trusting.

by Penelope 11

I have been using VRBO for several years and never experienced what I did this week. We rented a place that looked very cozy and relaxing. I always read the reviews and take that into consideration when renting a place. The reviews were good.

We got to our house and found it to be NOTHING like the pictures. It was very cluttered with junk on the outside and the “yard” area was very crowded with stuff and not a welcoming relaxing environment like we were expecting. The front door looked like it was 200 years old and very heat and sun damaged. I’m sure it would not take much to break down the door. The “neighborhood” was very trashy. We definitely did not feel safe there at all. I called the owner and told her we were not going to be staying here based on what we observed when we arrived. She went on to tell me how much she paid for the place to buy it and fix it up. She did not acknowledge anything I was telling her. I have pictures of the way the house looks in person. Not even close to the ones posted. We asked for a refund and she said she would consider it if she was able to re-rent.

I am very disappointed in VRBO that they would allow this host to rent this place and on top of it all she is considered a premium host. I will not be using VRBO in the future.

by Stranded Traveler 2021

We reserved this property for a family reunion one month ahead of traveling. At 9:02 A.M. on the day of our scheduled arrival, we received a text from Chris, the owner/host,explaining that they were unable to host us this weekend because the management software DOUBLE BOOKED THE PROPERTY!!! At this point, our dogs were already at the kennel, and the car was loaded for departure. The host was not sympathetic, but he gave us a phone number for VRBO’s customer service for stranded travelers. (Seriously? Does this happen a lot?) VRBO was UNHELPFUL, saying that they couldn’t help us find another property, but we should book hotel rooms for the family and send them the receipts. This wasn’t a good solution for our family reunion , so we wasted four hours calling everywhere and finally found a property with Vacasa to accommodate all of us. It was an extremely stressful experience and terrible start for our family trip which we had planned one month ahead. To add insult to injury, during the long weekend we continued to receive emails from VRBO, “How was your first night? Did you find everything OK? Christopher” The next day, “We hope you’ve enjoyed your stay at the Ranch” with check out instructions. What a mess! Beware of reserving this property, You may become a stranded traveler on your day of arrival. Never again.

by Marisela2020

I booked a room with this company. My card was charge twice. I immediately file a report about a duplicated transaction. I was told the refund will take three weeks because of COVID. I was already disappointed, but I understood COVID makes everything more difficult. I waited the three weeks and decided to called. I was told they need to call the hotel to confirm my transactions. I kept going back and forth between VrboVacationRentals and the hotel for two weeks with no answers and no refund. After the 5th week I was told Vrbo will not be responsible for the refund because it was Expedia who was in charge. I never made no deal with Expedia, but I was stock with them. Once again, I spent hours calling and asking for answers every call was at least 1- 2 hours with no answers. At the end this company blame the hotel and they blame Expedia. The hotel blame Expedia and Expedia blame the hotel. Bottom line I am still stuck with out a refund and no one wanting to take responsibility for the transaction. This is the first and last time I would ever use VrboVacationRentals. Their customer service is horrible and I wasted at least 20 hours trying to fix something that it was not even my fault. Bottom line I paid twice for my same room. Saving a little money cost me twice as much the money I was planning to spent. This is so disappointing 😒.

by Wackattack21

Our experience was completely and totally terrible when we arrive to the Resort the computers were down and it took them an hour and a half to be able to finally give us our apartment opening it with the security guards key this was at 11 o’clock at night we were we did not arrive in our room till 1230 after that the next day when I went to get our keys they claim that we were not there registered the Night Shift had not communicated with the dayshift so our experience was that they nobody knew who we were we were able to finally get into our room when they finally gave us keys again the following day and when we arrived in our room employees of the of the resort we’re doing laundry in our washer and dryer inside the apartment without all of our belongings there the following day when we arrived back in the hotel again our keys did not work and again they claimed that we were not registered there they requested an extra fee that we had to pay after all these problems and us with a handicapped child with us what they offered back to us was $100 which I thought was completely horrible my experience at this resort was terrible in my experience with the people that are managing it is also terrible since they did not have our back beware be very aware of what if you book here

by KoonC2020

Disappointed that VRBO does not hold owner accountable for their mistakes. I booked a trip March 2019 for March 2020. I reached out to the owner and told her we were excited to come. In May, the owner sent me a message to my personal email stating that there was a mistake in the booking and our trip would coast an additional $100 PER NIGHT (plus additional taxes and fees). The email actually went to my junk mail and I just saw it (Sept 2020). I contacted customer service and was told that it went against their policies however nothing was done. They advised I could cancel for full refund, however the availability of other places at the same location was slim and closest thing in our price range was $300 more. I asked if they would waive a portion of their service fees on the new booking and they told me no since it was so far away. There is no way to write a review on the owner. She admitted to me that she sent a few others the same email in regards to wrong price so I know there are others that she did this too. Had she informed me right away, I would have understood however she waited over 2 months to contact me and when she did contact me she sent to my private email address instead of thru VrboVacationRentals . The situation is very shady and VRBO should require owners to honor their bookings when it’s their mistake or help vacationers find another place comparable in price.

by RH675

VRBO has an explicit policy that hosts are not allowed to have outdoor audio or video surveillance unless it is explicitly on the listing. We booked a 3 months stay and our host has a doorbell camera and audio recording device that records all of our conversations in the living room and kitchen areas of the apartment and observes us anytime we come in and out of the apartment, which is located in a secured building that has plenty of professionally monitored surveillance. VRBO decided that it is ok for the host to violate the policy and that we cannot leave unless we forfeit the $8k we paid to stay here. Huge violation of our privacy and literally ruined our honeymoon. We are under stress now daily and cannot wait for our holiday here to end.

In addition, the host harassed us by asking for documentation for our service animal, had a camera inside the apt which he eventually let us take down, told us we can no longer get mail or packages after the incident, and tried to intimidate us by threatening to send the police on us if we refuse to be surveilled by him. He also lied to us by saying that the recordings are monitored by a team, only to later say that only he has access to them. VRBO continues to ignore our case, and insist that he is in the right.

Never use them. They are horrible. If you have any problem, you are screwed.

by VRBO Not A Fan

How is it that, when you sign up for VRBO, you can take someone’s money without verifying their account first? My personal issue was that I signed up through Facebook (which had an old email from college attached to it). Without knowing, I booked a vacation and gave a deposit, but then I was not able to verify the trip because the verification email was sent to the old email. Therefore.. I could not cancel my trip, I could not verify my trip, and yet you guys still took my money! I THEN had to go through a two hour process of talking to customer service people that were not able to change the email, but rather took me through an arduous process of connecting me with the property owners (which did nothing the first go around). I eventually had to call and cancel the order myself through the property people outside of VRBO, re-create a new account, talk to the property owners that I was re-booking under the same name, and then wait for the money to show back up in my account (still waiting). One of the most ridiculous experiences I’ve ever had trying to book something in my life. If it wasn’t for it being a timely manner I would’ve definitely looked at other options. Figure it out VRBO. And spare me the “we apologize” response with a contact number to call. I’ve had enough time on the phone with your “professionals”.

by 567sfhjjytf

I spoke with 3 different reps. The first rep. Understood how we wanted to pay, there were 3 parties, and we each wanted to pay our share of the down payment. 1st rep said we were only able to use two cards but thought we could get permission from owner to use 3 cards. He took 3/4 of the payment due on two cards. All was fine.
2nd rep- we can use two cards. So I needed to discuss with rest of family. Spoke with owner, all was fine, could use two cards. Called back to book....rep said No we could only use 1 card for down payment, and could use second card for final payment. Spoke with owner 2nd time, with rep on phone with us, but with 3 families each wanting to pay their portion of down payment seemed again difficult to reach an understanding with me using 2 cards, so I just paid down payment on one card. If the 1st and 2nd rep could understand everything without any confusion I am not sure where the breakdown in communication was and why the differing opinions. I finally got the 1 card down payment made, knowing that my original desire to use 3 cards may have been unusual, but with the 1st rep easily possible. The owner was so very gracious, and her property was so beautiful, right on the water, and private. I just think the issue could have been made clear right up front, and no changes in procedure between reps.
We are going to have a great time anyway.

by Warrde

We planned a girls trip to Dallas and we were so excited to get here. We booked what we thought was a beautiful location. I reviewed this property several times because the pics were so nice. We arrived Friday to a house that was nothing like we saw. We entered the home to see a BIG tacky board sticking from under the carpet. It’s covering a hole in the floor. There were air conditioning units in the window which was not a issue but it was hanging out the window and anyone could just come up and do anything. Take in mind again all ladies not safe at all. The house is beyond outdated for what we paid. Back yard looks like a construction site and we were planning to hang out side but not at that place. We had to go book a hotel in the downtown area so pricey yes. We proceeded to reach out to the host/property owner name Jerri and she proceeded to hang up in my face. We called VRBO and all we get is back and forth between the 2 and everyone wants to email. I will be contacting a lawyer about m refund since neither can seem to do anything about this mishap. I even sent a video of the place and the VRBO employee was agreeing the place looks nothing like the pics posted. VRBO allows these people to post deceiving pics so these places can be booked and upon arrival the customer is scammed. Bad business and trust me I will be going up the chain and this was my first and last time using VRBO!

by FeEx857

I'm a first time user of this service and app. I was attempting to locate a property for a quick weekend getaway. I quickly found a place that was suitable and started to process to reserve it. However, itt came back with a notice saying that there was an issue with my card. I then checked all info, reentered the same info and was given the same response. I then got up and decided I wouldn't use this service betting that I didn't know much about it and regardless of the tv commercials, I'll use more traditional methods in securing a place to stay. Well an hour later I receive an email letting me know that my stay at this property has been approved and in this email I also received confirmation of payment. Puzzled, I looked for a way to contact the owner of the property. Upon contacting this individual, they responded by apologizing and telling me that the property was not available and that they are issuing a refund. My issue with this? VRBO doesn't make it known that once you click to book your property that you are interested in, your money is basically gone and you cannot get a refund unless the owner approves. VRBO needs to seriously make changes to it policies and procedures moving forward. I've deleted VrboVacationRentals and I'll definitely not ever use it again. My ordeal was not major, however it has the potential to be. Upon reading other reviews, I would not recommend this site or app.

by Jtr03c

VrboVacationRentals is okay at finding rentals. However, my first experience with VRBO was so terrible that it will certainly be my last unless they improve their customer service support and fix their cancellation policies to protect renters who get ignored by the rental owner/manager. We unfortunately got a rental that was manage by someone who did not respond for days. I VRBO directly first through the website online chat support, which seemed to be positive, but then I was told to call the corporate customer service hotline number to speak with an agent to “escalate” my grievance about the lack of communication from the rental owner/manager. Because of the lack of contact from the manager and a negative review on the property I was confused about how to proceed and whether or not this rental was legit or a scam. I requested to cancel, and the manager finally responded by cancelling the rental and keeping the $1,700+ for 4 nights. So now we are out $1,700+ and have no rental! The agent from VRBO kept referencing policies and sounded cold and unable to make any changes or even partial refunds. At times, the agent could barely be understood. The customer service was abysmal at best. Apparently, VRBO does not do a good job at quality control and keeping property owners/managers in check to ensure customer satisfaction and good communication.

by Tawn9816

We had a few different places rented in Dahlonega GA for our wedding in April, some on VRBO and some on AirBnB. When the quarantine began in March I cancelled all of my bookings. AirBnB immediately processed my full refunds and had an excellent response to the changing needs of their customers. VRBO on the other hand has really dropped the ball. It took them weeks to process my refund and I had to get the owner to actively help and make sure that I got my money back. VRBO only has chat support and the operators have no idea what is going on.

Even worse, my father also had rented a property through VRBO. He wasn’t lucky enough to rent through and honest owner like I was. The owner took advantage of the lack of communication between the company, the owner, and the renter and told my dad he would have to book a new date before the original date could be refunded at 75%. So my dad rebooked first the end of May and the original date was never cancelled or refunded. Now that the quarantine is going to last through the summer he is stuck with a second booking that the owner and VRBO refuse to cancel and refund.

Save yourself a the headache of poor customer service. Don’t use VRBO. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. Stick with AirBnB.

by SwyeeetSarah

Use of VrboVacationRentals is okay. Does not save my trip boards and creates a new one (which later can’t be found under trip boards) every time I want to save a property. I do not like the fact that there is no way to contact a representative from VRBO directly in VrboVacationRentals . It takes you to the website which then takes you through a maze to locate contact information. I also didn’t like that you can’t see a list from the map view when you “search here” you have to click on each individual price bubble to preview listings. I had an issue with a host canceling a day before I could no longer receive a 50% refund. In my opinion it is really unfair for me to pay half price for a place I never got to stay in and had to find something within a week before my departure. I reached out to host to confirm well before the cut off date with no response up until the message that they could not accommodate me and would issue me a refund. All I got was 50%. I booked in July and it is now October if that gives you a timeline. Just be wary if you don’t get a response from a host. Make sure you confirm your stay and even then there’s nothing to stop them from suddenly saying they can’t accommodate and you losing out on your money.

by Afwife817

So I am writing my review on VrboVacationRentals and my experience while staying at our Vrbo cabin!
Our family decided to stay a couple nights in a charming cabin just outside of Chattanooga, Tennessee. We booked through VrboVacationRentals and it seemed really easy to make all the arrangements. The owner of the property was quick to respond via email about some questions my husband had and send the information we needed to unlock the door to get in! I would say it’s pretty cool that you can make these kind of reservations through an app on your phone! So neat! We get to our cabin, park, get our two little kids out of the car and head inside our cabin! Get inside and find that the place hadn’t been cleaned from the last guests who had stayed there......We were in awhhh....So we tried to reach out to the property owner ASAP and let her know that the place was not ready for new guests! We waited a short time and still no reply. So we decided to contact Vrbo instead. They were very nice about it. They reached out to the property owner who then contacted us shortly after. Long story short, the property owner refunded our two night stay. We still had to pay taxes on that and was charged a cleaning deposit still of $100. Anyways. Vrbo doesn’t take financial responsibility for refunds etc. Its not their fault at all this happened. Anyways.

by Chlovert

We weren’t allowed to check in to our house until 45 minutes after check in time. It was gross. Hair all over the back porch from someone getting a haircut, the floors were filthy, there was vomit in an upstairs bedroom, just to name a few. The boats we were promised were not available, the hot tub that was supposed to be ready wasn’t even filled and there were no chemicals. Homeaway said we needed to work it out with the owner. we tried for two days to work it out with the owner. He was unapologetic. We tried for two days straight to talk to someone at customer service. We were told they don’t have managers??? I should not have been forced to stay with my family in a disgusting rental home. Nevermind during a pandemic. They didn’t do the bare minimum. The house was not ready to rent and hopefully they will pull the listing. NOT impressed with how they didn’t help us when we got stuck in a dirty home for our one and only family vacation this year.

by Crazy Kay Kay

The picture on the VRBO app doesn’t compare when you drive up to the cabin and see it in person! Out host Captain Tony and wife Nancy welcomed us made s feel more like great friends than guests! Upon walking into the private entrance I was in awe of how beautifully decorated it was with the rustic cabin decor! The bathroom was breathtaking with the amount of detail in making the entire cabin look just where it belongs,in the mountains! Plenty of room in the living area to watch tv and the bed was very comfortable EVERYTHING was PERFECT! Do not have concern that they live upstairs never heard anything, very quite and private! We enjoyed their company,we cooked banana boats for ourselves and them they were such joy to spend time out on the porch and talk! Perfect Hosts! Enjoyed their 2 mini schnauzers Sophie and Marlin, they were fun to watch! We were greeted each morning by chipmunks a ground hog and a baby rabbit along with birds and the sunrise and sunsets are beautiful! This is my ideal vacation spot quite and tranquil not only to relax but reflect on the beauty! Tony and Nancy we will be back before you all retire! Again thank you for making this our #1 vacation spot! Hope to see you all soon! Chip and Karen Little

by ImmaculaStlouis

Do not use VRBO!!! I booked a property that had great reviews. However when we got here getting to the vacation home was a death trap See Ya Round in St Thomas . It is located on an unsafe mountain road. I had a Full panic attack! Owners refuse to refund not even a penny! Lost almost $3000! This is a scam! They take your money and if upon arrival you are not satisfied you are out of luck for the Entire amount!!! This was supposed to be my birthday celebration! Total nightmare!! Lost so much hard earned money to this owner scamming guests that can’t possible know how bad it’s going to be until you get there!! We as the consumer have no rights. No protection from these vultures. Please do not book with See ya round villa in StThomas. Please do not listen to all the wonderful reviews!!! This is the biggest scam of a lifetime!!! I have traveled a lot in my lifetime. Never ever had an experience this bad! This entire organization VRBO and these owners are ripping people off. My birthday wish is that this entire organization and the owners of See Ya Round villa in St Thomas go out of business!!!

by The NC & SC Blumbergs

My husband, myself, our son, daughter in law, and 2 granddaughters (8 & 10) spent4 nights at the cabin. We thought it was pretty close to perfect. So convenient to have the creek right in the backyard where they all fished and rode the tubes. Our dog couldn’t hAve had more fun either! The property is private so they had lots of room to run around. We did the gem mines, we hiked Wayah Bald and went white River rafting. At night we sat by the fire pit and soaked in the hot tub. The kids were thrilled to see so many fireflies!
I highly recommend any of the area activities. The Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) was the company we went to for rafting-our guide was amazing! A must do!
The cabin is very comfortable and is stocked with everything you need. The nearest grocery store is 30 min so best to bring a few things if you can.
Scotty and Barbara were great hosts! We had a problem with the oven and they went out and bought a new one that next day! We came home and it was already installed.
We’re not even home yet but have already booked for next year!

by Wuvcookie

I will never stay or recommend this apt to anyone. I have never in my life of traveling experience such horrible customer service, poor response time, and lack of communication. The apartment was not ready when we arrived. We had a wait outside of the house for 15 minutes until someone arrived to let us in. I reached out the to the property management office several times prior to my arrival and a day before we arrived to give them my arrival time and no one ever responded back to me. I had to call twice to finally get someone on the phone to let them know we were heading to the apartment. I asked for the head of the property management office to call me and see if they would accommodate us for all the hassle we experienced. No one ever called us. There was mold in the bathrooms, the downstairs bathroom leaked water out of the tub. The toilet upstairs lid was broken. The door to the apartment was so hard to open. We just had a horrible experience. Never ever will I stay or recommend this apt to anyone.

by Dont Screw Me

This was the worst trip to snowshoe ever. We are from Tennessee but are very avid skiers despite having to travel to ski. We booked two nights at top of the world. We arrived early enough to ski for a while before we got our room. After skiing for several hours we tried to check into our room. Check in time was 4 o’clock, our room wasn’t ready yet. We called the owner several times to get him to send the cleaning crew to get our room ready by 5:15. I complained about this and he cancelled our reservation and made us leave. We paid for everything up front: car rental, lift tickets and room for 4 people and had to leave. Everything was booked and we were unable to get another room. I lost money and time, it was taken from me. My family, friends and I will never be back here to snow shoe again. My advice is to rent from someone who is affiliated with snow shoe, that way you can have any issues taken care of on the spot. Jim Walton, property owner. Lives in NC, not here.

by Smm1494

I booked a rental through VRBO for New Years Eve months in advance. It was cancelled by the owner through no fault of my own, and I found myself without a venue for my event only a month before the holiday after friends had already taken off work and made plans to be in attendance. I contacted VRBO support who said they would help find me a comparable place and honor the rate within 4-6 days. After 6 days of silence, I called back to check in and was told that the customer service rep had lied to me and (despite their “book with confidence” policies) there was nothing they could do. After spending a lengthy amount of time on the phone trying to get some help, they emailed me two property listings in the specific location I told them I was not interested in. I have been searching for a new property independently for weeks now with no luck and VRBO has not so much as followed up with me. As a first time user, this has been an appalling first time experience with the site and I highly recommend against renting with them.

by SMHHC

Bad company. I would give a 0 if I could. Don’t use VrboVacationRentals!! I had an issue with the owner of the place I rented. She was a scammer. I notified the company and they did NOTHING about it. They told me I had to contact the owner to resolve any issue. Why would I contact a scammer to resolve an issue? After talking with 3 different people telling me something different, someone pretended to contact the owner and said they will call me back. It’s been 3 months and they haven’t contact me back. During this process, the homeowner had the company take down her listing. She knew that I had an issue and she tried to run and they did nothing about it. They didn’t care. Also, when I called the first time, the guy hung up on my face. They do not check the people’s listing, so the pictures you see could not be what your renting; even the description could be different. The listing I had was completely different when I arrived. This company will not solve issues. Customer service is terrible. I wouldn’t use VrboVacationRentals again.

by Ericagreenhills

I wanted to vacation in palm spring for my birthday and my daughters 1st birthday in July. Planning ahead, I booked a home that had everything we wanted and needed to have a nice stay. The owner of the home pulled the property from the program and is no longer available. There were only a few homes that fit the criteria for what I was looking for, and they only suggested 3 homes that didn’t meet that criteria. The prices were higher, less beds, less space. Highly disappointed. I did some searching on my own and found a home that I really liked but was slightly out of price range and I discussed this with costumer service to see if they could help me find a home similar to the home that i was interested in or honor the price I previously paid since this experience was such an inconvenience and unprofessional.. they wouldn’t even transfer me to the re-booking team.. they wouldn’t even let me speak to a manager or assist me in searching for another home since “I can do that on my own” is what I was told...
I wish I was making this up.. what an awful experience.

by Amoffwife

My husband and I go to Las Vegas every year for CES in January. In 2019 we reserved a two bedroom, 2 bathroom condo that was very close to the LV Convention Center. The place smelled, there were burnt-out lights, the blinds in one bedroom fell the middle of the night and everything was worn out, i.e. the bedding, kitchen cabinets.
For our trip in January 2020 we made a reservation for a condo at the Jockey Club. On December 9th we received a message that our reservation had been cancelled and a refund was being sent. It is very hard to get a decently priced room during the week of CES, which is why we always book early. My husband contacted VRBO. They said the owner is not allowed to do that. They tried to reserve another condo for us and said they would pay the difference. They also told my husband that if the owner didn’t respond within 24 hours they would call him to help book another place. They didn’t.
We will never book a place to stay through them again and are telling everyone we know.
BTW, a friend of mine who goes to Hawaii every year has had several people tell her about the nightmare experience they’ve had with VRBO. At least two of those said when they arrive at their destination, found out that the place they had paid for was rented out to someone else.

by Jrdhw

As I worked through the challenges presented by my credit card company's fraud department (canceling and then delaying purchases for rentals in multiple countries), VRBO sent a message to the owner of a property that I desired to rent stating that my transaction was denied due to insufficient funds. That was not the case, and if it wasn't for the grace and patience of the property owner, my family and I may have missed out on a vacation home we desired to rent. VRBO has made communications with the owner exceptionally difficult and with its less than truthful descriptions of actual events has made me question the veracity of their processes and marketing material. Can any message you receive from VRBO be trusted?
It would be great if this business connected owners with potential renters in a smooth and reliable process...I wouldn't mind paying for that. But as it stands now, my last two rentals via VRBO have been nothing but hassle. Will consider using other connecting businesses with future vacation rentals!

by Beds Are Terrible

We have stayed in another floating house at Whitman Hollow in the past and have really enjoyed our stay. I would have to say that we are leaving this time and cannot say the same. The house is advertised that it can sleep 14 people. There were 10 of us, and yes there was plenty of room for us to sleep but there was very few places for everyone to sit together. There is a small futon in the living room, 5-6 stools at the kitchen table (1 was too loose to sit on), 7 chairs on the deck. The grill was in very bad shape and did not work properly. All of the beds need to be replaced, they are very uncomfortable and make noises when you roll over. There is a TV that we were not able to get the cable to work on. There is no wi-fi, and very little cell phone service. It was raining and we were all stuck inside with no TV and no service. Overall, the house itself wasn’t that bad it is nicely decorated and has potential to be a very nice place!!

by Maxiejacks

Though VRBO has a great plethora of options, client filters are not always applied when viewing properties. We have a home which will be perfect for our needs as well as “checks all the boxes”. I have tried to book using the calendar provided on VrboVacationRentals , however it only allows clients to choose between the day the home is viewed and July 2020. When attempting to bypass the calendar options and request the dates manually, we are directed to “choose a green date on the calendar”. I have sent the owner a request for possible dates beyond the limits placed by VRBO. As a family, we have vacation homes we share,(as each has seasonal, cultural and activity based, diverse water locals etc...), we are not likely to list these on VRBO. Having seen firsthand how clients are frustrated by aforementioned, and know I have bypassed VrboVacationRentals and messaged the owner of same, I do not understand why we would pay for something we are presently generating revenue via alternate social media platforms at no cost.

by Steph20854

This is a pretty good travel app overall. I’m frustrated about a few things, however, and want to pass them on to the developers. (1) Add a button next to the heart (favorite) symbol to allow us to remove a property from a list if we’ve already ruled it out. I would suggest an “X”. I can’t remember which properties I’ve already considered, especially if I cant return to my search for several days. (2) Add the dates for travelers reviews. I take recent reviews more seriously than reviews that are a year old, for example. I think the property managers would like this as well since it allows them to recover from a bad review. (3) Break down “washer dryer” into two pieces - in unit and shared. I won’t stay someplace without a w/d in the unit and there is currently no way to find this out without contacting the property managers. (4) Break down the “free parking” filter into free onsite, on street, and valet. Again, it is nearly impossible to know the parking specifics without contacting the manager.
Hope this helps. I love VRBO and have been an owner and traveler for 20 years.

by JPmays

Not buggy at all, but functionality could be improved. The map feature is pretty limited - would be nice to be able to switch to satellite view, get directions, see what else is nearby, etc. The rate display is not great either - even though you enter in the date range when you search, you still have to select an entry and then select again to see what the total will be. And even though it shows the nightly rate when scrolling through the search results, just because one entry has a lower per night rate doesn’t mean the overall stay is cheaper, because taxes and fees are not factored in. So you could see one place for $200/night, and another for $215, but the total for the latter could end up being less overall. And lastly, when you share a property with someone, that person has to get VrboVacationRentals to see it, instead of opening the website.

P.S. While writing this review, I tried to select a word and “Look up…”, and then was locked out of the keyboard. I could select text but not type anymore. Not sure if that’s iOS or VrboVacationRentals …

by Xgh

VrboVacationRentals appears identical to the HomeAway app other than it tends to run a lot slower. Sorry but I find that as confusing as vrbo's name.

Reviews are not contained in VrboVacationRentals . Requires a web page executed via an email.

As far a vrbo is concerned, I view them as a necessary evil and a major step down from when HomeAway ran the show. We've rented via HomeAway for well over a decade. Every year at least 2 European homes. With vrbo and now beginning to rent in the USA, our experience has taken a decided turn for the worst. The US apartments tend to be furnished in the cheapest manner possible, some major systems/appliances invariably don’t work, check-in times (USA only) are directional at best and there’s inevitably last minute changes communicated to us by owners we never see.

VrboVacationRentals is fine for Europe. Renting in the USA is caveat emptor but I can’t suggest any better web based agent. It’s the nature of the USA. I’ve rented luxury apartments for over $4k/week and the places were a dirty mess with designer kitchens full of stuff that didn’t work.

Leaving bad reviews can get in the way of future bookings. So I only leave good reviews or no reviews. Judging by the low number of reviews per property, I’d suggest either occupancy rates are far below what it takes to make money renting or there are many others that use my approach.

by Bewitched54

Started reading the reviews and got a bit scared . Bugs are not my friend . But this house was great , cozy for all family members , owner quick to get in touch with info if we needed it . I did see my first centipede he was dead so it’s cool . Again it’s Kauai . I decided to make the gecko s part of the family since they eat bugs . Named them too . So if you here a loud chirp ( it’s Greg , from the Brady bunch . We had a great time and will be back for daughters wedding . So enjoy the house , perfect location to walk to store , ice cream shop or the bar .beach is pretty close too .house was clean and they had everything for making meals ( good to do to save money ) again thanks for a great time . Oh I put the band aid on screen in queen room , looked like it had a tear in it .