Renting a Vacation Home

When planning a vacation, once the destination has been selected, among the next most important decisions is where to stay. One great option often overlooked is vacation rentals. I'm not an expert in renting vacation homes, but I have done it a half dozen times, enough to make it clear that this is a great alternative to hotels or B&Bs for any extended stay of a week or more.

Here are a few things about renting vacation homes I've learned along the way--and applicable to almost anywhere, not just where I am, on the OC, the Oregon Coast.

I'm writing this, between glances out at the breakers crashing on the beach, in a cozy little house we rented on the OC. The point is, you don't get this kind of ocean view from most hotel rooms or B&B windows where you have to pay three times as much to have such a view or twice as much for not having it.