Winter vacation home rental process made easy

January 2, 2015 By
Ever rented a vacation home for a family holiday? Worried it might be a complicated process? Not sure how to go about it? Pit Stops for Kids can help! This post was originally published in 2010, when we rented our first winter vacation home in Lake Tahoe through HomeAway. In the years since, we’ve rented homes several times, including two more Tahoe homes (once through Northstar California, and once more through HomeAway). Most recently, we rented a beautiful West Tahoe home for Christmas week, which was big enough to house our whole extended family. In March, we’ll be renting from HomeAway again on the island of Kauai.
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There are other great vacation rental sites (we also use VacationRoost), but because the bulk of our knowledge is in renting from HomeAway, we’ll focus on this company for the purpose of this post. There are many reasons why a vacation rental might be the right choice of accommodation for a winter stay, including space to spread out (and bring all that winter gear), washers and dryers, perhaps a hot tub, and the ability to cook in-house.

HomeAway makes it easy to find the right vacation rental for you and your family. Starting at their homepage, just click on ‘Find a Rental’. Enter where you’d like to go and when, and browse the available rentals. You can sort the selection by price, bedrooms, or even number of reviews. I like that the weekly and daily rental prices are listed right on the main page, so I can quickly get a feel for what homes in my desired location will cost. When you click on ‘details’, you get a map, tons of photos, and a list of amenities.

Once you’ve selected your desired rental, contact the owner. This, too, is easy: the rental owner’s contact information is listed right on the main page of each rental property description. I really like that with most rentals on HomeAway, customers work directly with the owners, the people who know the rental and surrounding area personally. Keep in mind that since all owners are different, the HomeAway process may feel different each time you rent. During our first Tahoe rental experience, after making contact, I got a confirmation from HomeAway immediately, telling me exactly what to expect. In my case, the owner of my first rental (this beautiful home in the Twin Bridges community of South Tahoe), emailed me a rental agreement within hours, along with a friendly greeting filled with such enthusiasm for her property, I wanted to pack up and go right then and there! During my second Tahoe rental experience, the owner preferred to call me and set up the rental agreement via phone. In this case, I worked with HomeAway less (though still had their support).

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Pay your deposit (if applicable), sign your rental agreement, and count the days until your vacation, secure in the knowledge that HomeAway has your back. I was glad to see that even after I’d taken care of business with my property owner, the support for HomeAway continued. I was offered rental insurance, additional deals and incentives for future stays, and assurance that any additional help I needed was only a phone call away. Note: in most cases, a deposit will both hold your reservation and be applied to the total cost of your rental. In the case of our second rental experience, our owner preferred to keep the two separate. We paid our deposit, then paid our total cost for the rental, then got the deposit back in the form of a check. Be sure to ask owners which way they like to conduct business so you know what to expect.

Expect a warm welcome. Both times we rented a winter home through HomeAway, we hadn’t even arrived at our vacation rental yet, and I already knew the home fires would be burning brightly (so to speak). Both property owners went above and beyond, sending me a full inventory of items and supplies available to me in the home during my stay, just so I wouldn’t need to wonder whether to pack a snow shovel or a set of sheets. They also sent information on the local scene, grocery stores they recommend personally, and local service numbers should I need them.

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Ask questions about the possibility of power outages, local snowplow schedules, and alternative heat sources: This is crucial when renting in winter! During our 2010 winter vacation rental experience, we enjoyed an epic snowstorm. The power went out several times, but our home had a back up generator, which we knew how to use. Our owner had included full instructions. In our second rental home this past Christmas, we had ample parking space away from snow plow routes, but during our first rental experience, we had to move cars on snow plow days. Ask for this information so it doesn’t blindside you! Find out whether you’ll need fire wood, and know where candles and matches are kept in the home just in case.

And if you’re not sure what you’re looking for? If you’re undecided as to the sort of vacation you want, or if you’d like HomeAway to keep an eye out for the perfect rental for you and your family, fill out their Ultimate Travel Picks form to be sent alerts and info on rental availability tailored to you.

Pit Stops for Kids partnered with HomeAway for some, but not all, vacation rental reviews. All opinions are our own.

Read more about vacation home rental in our Home (Away) for the Holidays series. 

Home (Away) for the Holidays: Five things to do from our front door

December 31, 2010 By

Taking in the view from our backyard

As you know, we loved our HomeAway vacation rental in South Tahoe. Not only is this house idyllic, comfortable, and convenient, but it sits right in the midst of Eldorado National Forest, providing acres of wilderness to explore right from the front door.

It’s not in a neighborhood of multi-million dollar mansions lining Lake Tahoe, for which we couldn’t have been happier. Instead, it’s located just minutes from Echo Summit, fifteen mountain road miles from the city. Most of the neighboring homes consist of summer cabins closed up for the season, the snowy roads free of traffic and completely peaceful. In all directions, we could find pristine snow and beautiful pine woods. We certainly weren’t lacking for entertainment, however!

Five things to do five minutes or less from our vacation home’s front door:

1. Build a snow fort! Kids become quite industrious when faced with 3-4 feet of Sierra powder to play in! This one took over an hour to build, but not once did anyone complain of boredom, cold, hunger, or any of the other usual maladies parents dread. Best of all, it stayed up for days!

Toby sets out from our back door!

2. Go snowshoeing! When you stay in a house abutting the wilderness, there’s no long drive, no hassle, and no extra planning: we literally put on our snowshoes at the bottom of our porch and set off into the backyard. Right down the road, we found a mountain meadow of pristine snow, which the kids immediately filled with snow angels. Visitors can rent snowshoes from a local outfitter, or from nearby Sierra-at-Tahoe (for use on their three miles of groomed snowshoe trails).

3. Ski for the day! We timed it: Sierra at Tahoe ski resort is four minutes away by car (probably one minute as the crow flies!). We have so much to say about this truly family-friendly ski resort that it deserves its own article; with the perfect combination of easy to difficult terrain, the affordable prices, and the added touches for kids, this is the perfect ski resort to have in your ‘backyard’.

4. Sled or tube! Sierra at Tahoe features a great tubing hill for young children (and it’s located on the other side of the resort from the busy ski center), and three miles from our vacation home is Adventure Mountain, a groomed sledding and snow playground right on Hwy 50. We also grabbed our sleds and played just feet from the house on the powdery slopes above the meadow!

5. Warm up by the fireside! Grab some hot cocoa, curl up by the beautiful fireplace, and play a board game together as a family (bring your own or borrow one from the selection already here). Or let everyone relax by watching a movie. With TVs and high speed internet (I was glad to be able to work seamlessly while on vacation), ‘down time’ is easy. If you want a treat, try what we call a ‘Mountain Snow Cone’: grab a cup of fresh snow, add maple syrup and a dash of milk, stir, and enjoy!

A note on dining: One of our favorite things about renting a vacation home from HomeAway is the ability to cook and dine at home instead of eat out. We just find it more restful (and affordable) with three kids who are always tired out by the day’s activities. During our stay, we only visited one restaurant (besides the dining venues at Sierra at Tahoe ski resort), and it was excellent. It’s called Freshies, and it’s a local Hawaiian fusion favorite. Don’t let the tucked away strip mall location deter you! (3330 Lake Tahoe Blvd.) If you do decide to eat out regularly, South Tahoe has just about any cuisine you could ask for (approximately 15-20 minutes from the house).

For summer vacationers, note that the trailhead for the Desolation Wilderness area is steps from our vacation home’s door, as well!

If you’re interested in the experience we had, the home we rented can be found here at HomeAway. As stated previously, HomeAway generously hosted us during this portion of our Tahoe Holiday. This compensation came with no expectation of a positive review. Read all our articles in our Home (Away) for the Holidays series!

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