Airbnb and Homeaway

Travel.

Our backyard in a Maui rental found on Homeaway

For the past few years of travel, Jeff and I have either used reward points for our hotel accommodations or we've rented a private residence.  I know some people think renting a house or condo might sound expensive, but we have scored some sweet living spaces for less than you would pay for a hotel.  Airbnb and HomeAway have been our go to websites that have aided us in finding these sweet vacation livings.

The best part of renting is that you don’t have to worry about all the things that annoy you about hotels; waiting for the elevator, other guests being noisy, parking, etc.  You can have a full kitchen, washer dryer, and all the privacy you wish for.  Traveling can be expensive so having a kitchen saves you money even if you are just keeping yogurt for breakfast or a few beers in the fridge.  It all adds up.  Having a washer has always been a great saver of space when packing because you can reuse your items and not pack so heavy.  As you might know,  I don’t check my bags and washing my clothes happens even if I don’t have a washer/dryer.

A few weeks ago took a long weekend trip to Miami, Florida.  We used AirBnb to get us a sweet townhouse only 1/3 of a mile away from the sandy white beaches of South Beach.  The place was sweet!  There were five of us staying at this modern town house and it had everything we needed for our short stay; rooftop deck with sweet lounge and hot tub, two modern full baths and one half bath, three bedrooms, modern kitchen, and all the room we needed to relax.  Grand total was far cheaper than a hotel, especially if everyone paid for their own hotel room!

Our oceanfront rental on the Big Island

Homeaway.com has been our go to for many past trips to Hawaii.  We used it to rent a sick house on the Big Island of Hawaii a few years back and again for our honeymoon to Maui and Kauai.  The house on the Big Island had a pool just on the other side of the seawall.  We had our own private beach in Maui and an amazing view of a freshwater stream filled with sea turtles that emptied in to the ocean.   Just the other day, we got back from a week long trip to Oahu (can you tell we love Hawaii?) and are rented another place right on the beach on the North Shore.

View from the deck of our rental on Kauai

When looking to book your next trip, I seriously recommend taking a different route from the normal hotel and renting a place via Airbnb or Homeaway.  Especially if you need a larger place, your options are more plentiful going this route.

This is not a sponsored post and my opinions are mine.  My goal is to pass on any helpful tips that might make you next vacation a money saving one.

<3 mk