Hellobee Boards

We've used VRBO once, in Hawaii, and AirBnB in Europe and the US. The thing I found with VRBO was that the cleaning fee was not included in the price when browsing. I was booking a place in OR this summer with VRBO, but when I got midway through the processes the cleaning fee was added and it nearly doubled the price of what I thought we were paying, so I ended up finding something else. In Europe, AirBnB seems to be a good deal, while I didn't find it to be as good of a deal when I've used it in the US, but that might depend on the location.

Where are you going?

I agree with @lamariniere: regarding VRBO and the cleaning fee. I spent all this time narrowing down places to rent and then the cleaning fee really threw my budget for a loop. But, we went ahead with it and had a great experience.

I've used both. I prefer Airbnb because it's more user friendly. But would use VRBO again if needed.

@Ree723: oooh! Fun! I love Montmartre, I used to live there and in the Marais too. The area in and around Canal St. Martin is really cute and trendy. Anything left bank in the 5th, 6th or 7th would also be convenient and magical. Really, anything in central Paris is going to be lovely.

I've done VRBO a lot, both U.S. and Europe. I've looked on airbnb but always seem to find better options of VRBO. I also still think of airbnb as the couch surfing place! I think either one can work fine.

@Ree723: this is a one bedroom apartment. And the building has an elevator. Tiny, but it's there.

https://www.vrbo.com/289592

We never tried VRBO but I tried Airbnb for our recent trip home. Unfortunately, we had to cancel our reservation halfway through our trip because DH's asthma was getting bad with all the dog hair the house had. We knew we were renting a house with dogs (the dogs weren't there when we were staying there) and we thought since we are dog owners ourselves it would be okay. This isn't a fault of the homeowners, just something we have to deal with personally because of DH's asthma. We are grateful that the owners worked with us and allowed us to modify our reservation so we were able to get our money back on days we cancelled.

DH complained that the house was not super clean like cleaning lady clean (maybe could have been vacuumed and some of the pet hair removed, but it was clean when we got there.) I did tell him that we were renting a house that someone lived in. I don't know if renting a house that is always a rental would have been as clean... maybe it would be, but maybe not. I think his asthma is just really sensitive and bad right now.

He could argue that staying at a hotel would have been a little cleaner because they clean the rooms daily, but we were paying for a whole house for the price of a hotel room with a suite. We wanted access to a washer and dryer and kitchen. We were definitely more comfortable staying in a house versus staying in a hotel room. We also didn't have to worry about the twins waking up hotel guests. Next time, we have a big trip like this (stayed 16 days), I'll look into VRBO or look for a home on Airbnb that has no pets.

@Ree723: oh! I didn't see that. Oops. Let me know if you book it. We stayed 5 years ago and the landlord was extremely accommodating!

We've used VRBO multiple times and have never had an issue. Never used AirBnB to compare though.

I've used both and been satisfied/happy with both. One thing about Air Bnb that I found was that everything needed to be paid up front. That was not the case with VRBO. I enjoy using the Air Bnb site more.