ChivalrousJr
From your comment: "Money saving tip with VRBO or similar service. It is possible with a bit of sleuthing to find the property owner or managing company. If you contact them directly (outside of services like VRBO,) you will save yourself a fair bit of money."
Be careful about this. We thought we had a villa booked through VRBO (it showed available when we reserved) for next February only to hear from the lady who owned it that she had already booked the property for the entire month we were planning to come. We were able to find another one okay, but, interestingly we looked at this property again on VRBO a few days ago and it STILL shows availability for the dates we wanted. Our biggest fear is showing up thinking we have reserved a property only to find out the owner has rented it on their own and someone is already there! Just sayin...........
We have rented multiple times with VRBO, as well as directly with owners that we have used before.
I believe it is up to the owner to keep the availability calendar up-to-date, if they take bookings outside VRBO. If all the bookings are through VRBO it isn't a problem, since in that case I believe the calendar is automatically updated. But some owners use multiple sites to advertise their units, so if they get a booking from another site, they need to update the calendars on all the sites. IME, some are more diligent in doing this than others.
Owners or managers that don't keep their calendars updated are a bit of a personal pet peeve and I tend to avoid using them. I usually make a point of contacting the owners, especially if it is someone we haven't used before, to ask a few questions about the property after we have booked. It helps ensure they are aware who has booked the unit for a particular period. If there is a problem, at least they can let you know in plenty of time to book something else.
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