This list includes both peer-to-peer properties (such as on Airbnb) and professionally managed vacation rentals. Most of these booking websites also allow those who have extra rooms, empty apartments, or second homes to list their properties online as well, so we’ve provided details for property owners as well. Vrbo, which stands for Vacation Rentals By Owner, was one of the first websites to connect apartment owners with travelers, and has been around since 1995! It was also the first apartment company I (Jess) ever used to book an apartment in France for a week.
Vrbo is currently owned and operated by the Expedia Group. In 2019, they recently rebranded to Vrbo (ver-boy) from VRBO. Properties from HomeAway, Abritel, Stayz, and other Expedia owned vacation rental websites have been added to Vrbo to consolidate their vacation rentals into one website, greatly expanding the number of listings. Many of the properties listed on Vrbo can’t be found on other listing sites like Airbnb, and with over 2 million listings to choose from is definitely one you should check out when traveling. Properties are located worldwide in over 180 countries with a heavy concentration in Europe and North America. For Property Owners: Vrbo does allow property owners to apply and list their properties directly on the website. You can read more and sign up for Vrbo here.
If you are traveling in Asia and looking for apartments and vacation homes, we recommend checking out Agoda Homes. Agoda is a well-known hotel booking website, but it also offers apartments, vacation homes, guesthouses, and private rooms in homes. Agoda offers over 700,000 apartments and other vacation rentals in over 50 countries, with the largest number of properties located in Asian countries. For Property Owners: The set-up and listing is free for property owners, and then Agoda Homes takes a commission on bookings. You can learn more here. beach villa Airbnb alternatives best apartment booking websites Plum Guide is a London-based company that just launched in 2016. It currently offers over 10,000 apartments and vacation rental properties on its website with a large number of its properties located in major international cities like Los Angeles, London, Rome, and Paris. However, it has been expanding to more destinations and also includes properties in smaller towns and rural areas as well.
The Plum Guide is similar to Airbnb in that is a peer-to-peer vacation rental website; however, the company is much more selective about the properties listed on Plum Guide. They send a staff member to meet hosts and evaluate each property using a checklist to decide if it is a good fit. The company aims to only include the most popular and best-rated properties and markets themselves to a more discerning traveler who doesn’t want to search through a large number of listings to find the perfect place. Unlike most peer-to-peer vacation rental websites, Plum Guide doe not publish guest reviews of properties on their website as they believe that the peer review system is flawed. You can read our in-depth Plum Guide review for our thoughts and experiences using this relatively new platform. For Property Owners: Owners can apply to have their apartment of vacation rental listed on Plum Guide, and then it will be evaluated to see if it meets the company’s criteria. You can find out more here.
We’re guessing you’ve used Booking.com at some point to book a hotel stay. And with many excellent deals and many properties offering no-fee last minute cancellation policies, we love it too. What you might not have realized is that in addition to hotels, you can also book vacation rentals properties on the site, including apartments and villas, all around the world. And with about 6 million properties on their books thus far, there’s no shortage of choice. Apartments and holiday homes available to book in over 200 countries and territories. They have a large number of apartment properties in Europe (particularly the UK and France), Australia, North America, Asia, South Africa, and northern Africa. For Property Owners: It’s free to list on Booking.com, and then fees are applied to every successful booking made through their service. Sign up to list your property here.
Homestay differentiates itself by offering hosted experiences for those who want to actually meet the property owners and talk to the local host or family. All their stays also include breakfast. Homestay has properties in 150 countries; however, they have fewer properties than many of the other websites on this list, which means that it can be more difficult to find a property and get a booking accepted.
Properties are more concentrated in Europe (particularly the UK) and major cities worldwide (Los Angeles, London, Sydney, Paris). We have stayed in multiple Homestay properties around the world and have enjoyed the interaction with hosts and loved the fact that we could take advantage of their local knowledge and even share their pets for a few days! We can offer you a 5% discount on all Homestay bookings if you use this link to book, as well as up to USD $30 off your first booking when you sign up using this link (discount varies depending on the currency). For Property Owners: Registering a property on Homestay is free. You can sign up to list your property here.
Marriott is well known for its international hotel brand, and in 2019, Marriott launched Homes & Villas to offer upscale and luxury vacation home rentals and villas. The company offers over 20,000 properties in over 200 destinations worldwide. Marriott Homes & Villas specializes in premium and luxury vacation homes, villas, and condos. Marriott does not own or lease the properties; all properties are professionally managed by local professional management companies for the owners. Homes & Villas listed properties worldwide in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. This is a particularly good option for Marriott hotel lovers, as Marriott Bonvoy members can redeem and earn points on homes and villas that are part of the program. For Property Owners: Marriott doesn’t accept homes managed by individual homeowners. Your home would need to be managed by one of the home management companies that work with Marriott Home & Villas. Sonder is one of the newe Airbnb-like companies and has been rapidly growing over the past few years. The company started in 2012 in Montreal, Canada. It provides a curated list of over 8,500 apartments in over 25 cities worldwide.
The company focuses on modern well-designed and decorated apartments that are outfitted with all the amenities and comforts someone would want in their own home. They also focus on properties that are in tourist-friendly and trendy neighborhoods. They offer 24/7 customer service and you are renting directly from them as they own or lease the property, furnish, and maintain them.
They have the largest number of properties in the United States and Canada, but also have a number of properties in major cities in Europe as well as apartments in Dubai. For Property Owners: Individual property owners can not rent out their apartment or home on Sonder as the company currently owns or leases all their properties. However, if you are looking to sell or lease real estate, you can contact them. If you are looking for a longer-term stay, Blueground specializes in apartments that can be rented for 1 month and longer. You can even rent some of the properties for 1 year or more. Apartments are fully furnished and managed properties with all the basic amenities included. They currently offer over 5,000 apartments in 18 major cities, including New York City, Paris, Istanbul, Chicago, London, San Francisco, and Boston.
Although they cater primarily to business travelers, they can also be great for leisure travelers wanting to stay in a place for a longer amount of time. For Property Owners: Blueground rents unfurnished apartments that meet their criteria from owners and then furnishes and manages them for you. You can find out more and sign up here. vacation rental Airbnb alternatives best apartment booking websites If you are looking for a vacation rental in the United States, you might want to also check out Evolve. The company started in 2011 and is based in Denver, Colorado. They currently have over 18,000 vacation homes in over 700 destinations throughout the United States. They include properties in popular big city and beach locations as well as rural getaways and lesser known destinations.
They specialize in the hospitality side of the vacation rental business and so do list many of the properties listed on popular sites like Airbnb and Vrbo. However, they strive to differentiate themselves from these marketplaces by offering a better customer service experience. According to the Evolve CEO in a Forbes December 2020 interview: “Evolve properties must be safe, clean, and ready to welcome a guest, and meet or exceed the photos and descriptions. It’s our job to ensure that guests enjoy a 5-star experience while staying in an Evolve home.”
For Property Owners: Independent property owners can apply to see if their property matches the Evolve criteria. Owners are paid on a commission based on the earnings from the property. You can find out more and sign up here. Top Villas is an Orlando, Florida based vacation rental website focused on villas and vacation properties in Florida and the Caribbean. They currently have over 4,000 luxury rentals in over 50 destinations. The majority of the rental properties are in Florida and the Caribbean, but there are also vacation rentals available in other parts of the USA (California, Colorado, and Tennessee) as well as some parts of Europe (Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal) and Asia (Thailand and Indonesia). This website is particularly a good one to check if planning a trip to Florida, California, or the Caribbean.
For Property Owners: Listing a property is free on Top Villas and you can do that here. Hotels.com was founded in 1991 and has been a popular hotel booking website for a long time, but like Booking.com it has expanded its offerings to include a wide variety of accommodation, including vacation rentals. They offer hundreds of thousands of properties worldwide with a focus on North America and Europe. Hotels.com is particularly popular in North America and if you use it regularly to book accommodation (whether it is a hotel, apartment, or vacation rental), you can save with their loyalty program where after you book 10 stays, you get a reward stay. For Property Owners: Property owners can list properties for free on Hotels.com, but you need to sign up with the Expedia Group here. Hotels.com became part of the Expedia Group network in 2001.
Belvilla is the leading holiday home rental provider in the Benelux region, offering around 40,000 in over a dozen European countries, with most of the properties in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Great Britain. Belvilla offers a wide range of properties to suit just about any type of traveler and budget, from city studios to cabins to beach chalets to castles. Quest Apartments is a bit different from all the rest of the websites listed as it only offers serviced apartments. The company caters to business and leisure travelers who like the services of a hotel but wants the autonomy (e.g., kitchen facilities to cook) and space of an apartment. They offer apartments for both short stays as well as apartments for long-terms stays. Quest Apartments operates over 170 apartment hotel properties in Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji. A good place to search for travelers heading to Australasia. For Property Owners: We don’t believe Quest Apartments accepts private individual properties for inclusion.
Interhome offers approximately 50,000 vacation rentals in over 25 countries, with a focus on European apartments and vacation homes. Founded in Switzerland in 1965, this company has been providing vacation rentals for a long time and they are able to assist guests on-site with check-in and provide comprehensive services. A great website to check out for those heading to Europe and wanting to have a local service agent available 24/7. For Property Owners: Property owners choose either full professional management of their property or choose to act as representatives. Fees vary by type of management and contract agreement. You can find more about listing your apartment on Interhome here. You may already use TripAdvisor to read and leave reviews on hotels, tourist attractions, and restaurants. TripAdvisor also has its own apartment rental search engine, known as TripAdvisor Vacation Rentals.
TripAdvisor has been gobbling up apartment rental companies like FlipKey, holidaylettings, and HouseTrip and so all those listings are also in its search engine. With almost 1 million properties across 190 countries, there’s certainly no shortage of choice. And of course, as you’d expect, there’s a full review system for each property. Plus, TripAdvisor allows you to book flights, car rentals, and other travel services online, meaning you can do all your travel bookings through one site and provider. Definitely worth checking out! For Property Owners: Registering a property with the TripAdvisor Vacation Rentals service is free, then you pay a fee per booking. You can sign up for TripAdvisor Vacation Rentals online here. 20,000 properties located in the UK, Ireland, France, and Italy. They focus mostly on villas and cottages in the countryside, small towns, and in coastal locations.
Definitely focused on catering to the British traveler and common holiday destinations for those in the UK. But it is a website to check out for anyone traveling to the UK, Ireland, France, or Italy and looking for accommodation. For Property Owners: Cottages.com does allow property owners to apply to list their holiday homes on the website. You can find out more here. Italy websites like AirBnB alternatives booking apartments vacation rentals online Oliver’s Travels first started as a website that allowed people to book French chateaux back in 2003. It has since grown and expanded to focus on holiday villas, castles, and luxury properties in over 20 countries. Oliver’s Travels primarily focuses on historical and character properties and holiday villas in warm and tropical locations. Most of their properties are located in Europe, but they also have properties in a number of other destinations such as Bali, Thailand, Florida, and the Caribbean.
They are definitely one to consider if you are looking for a more unique and more upscale property for your next trip. They have a particularly good selection of properties in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Croatia. For Property Owners: Olivers’ Travels offers free listings for property owners and then charges commission fees. You can find out more here. If you are planning a trip to the UK or Ireland, then Sykes Holiday Cottages is a holiday home booking website we can definitely recommend checking out. They list over 16,000 self-catering properties on their website. Sykes Holiday Cottages offers a range of properties to suit just about any type of traveler and budget, from city studios to beach chalets to cabins in the woods to castles. Most of their properties are situated in small villages and in the countryside. Their website also makes it easy to find certain types of properties such as those which accept pets, those with pools, and those located near the coast.
Low Cost HolidaysFor Property Owners: Sykes does allow property owners to apply to list their flat or holiday home on their website. It must be located in the UK or Ireland. You can find out more and apply here. Rural Retreats is another website to consider if you are looking for a place in the UK or Ireland. They focus on a collection of over 600 properties that are located in rural areas of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland. Rural Retreats offers a number of different types of properties, from shepherd’s huts to castles, to suit a wide range of travelers and budgets. Although their focus is on rural properties, they do have a small selection of city apartments available as well. For Property Owners: Rural Retreats does allow property owners to apply to list their property. It must be located in the UK or Ireland. You can find out more and list your property here.
holiday cottage Airbnb alternatives best apartment booking websites If you are looking for a vacation rental in the United States, you might want to check out Turnkey. They currently have over 5,000 vacation homes in over 80 destinations throughout the United States. Turnkey has properties in over 20 states with a large number of their properties located in popular states like Florida, Texas, California, and Colorado. They specialize in premium and luxury vacation homes and apartments that are professionally managed and cleaned and are able to offer 24/7 support to both customers and owners. All properties offer full kitchens, free Wi-Fi, and an easy check-in process.
For Property Owners: Independent property owners can apply to see if their property matches the Turnkey criteria. Owners are paid on a commission based on the earnings from the property. You can find out more and sign up here. If you are looking for a holiday villa in with a pool in a sunny part of Europe, then Vintage Travel is a booking website to consider. Vintage Travel is an independently owned and operated company that focuses on villas with swimming pools. It only has Vintage Travel currently has villas in a number of European countries, including Spain, France, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Portugal, Croatia, and Cyprus. They focus on popular sunny tourist destinations and island locations like the Balearic and Greek islands.
All villas have private swimming pools, come with a food pack and linens, and most also come with pool towels. Some pools have child safety features like fencing and alarms, and you can request children’s items like cots or highchairs free of charge in advance for many of the family-friendly properties. The company has local representatives in each area.
For Property Owners: If you have an individual villa with a private pool, you can apply to have it listed on Vintage Travel. You can find out more here. If you prefer your travel to be at the luxury end of the scale, then OneFineStay might be a website to consider. It has been noted as the luxury home sharing version of Airbnb. OneFineStay offers city apartments in several major cities worldwide (Paris, London, NYC, Rome, Sydney, etc.) as well as villas in many popular travel destinations like the Caribbean, Maldives, and Hawaii. Backed by the Accor hotel group, OneFineStay aims to offer the best of both the hotel and apartment rental worlds. Homes are professionally serviced, offer tailored amenities, and 24/7 guest phone support. One to consider for those looking for higher-end apartments and vacation villas. For Property Owners: OneFineStay does allow owners to apply to include their properties but only include higher-end properties. They offer a serviced hands-off solution to property owners. You can apply to list your property here.
Paris websites like AirBnB alternatives booking apartments vacation rentals online Novasol is a Denmark-based company that was founded in 1968. It offers over 50,000 self-catering holiday homes across 25 countries in Europe. It is currently Europe’s largest self-catering holiday provider. Novasol offers properties that can appeal with a range of budgets and travel styles from very basic cottages to luxury retreats. A great one to check out for those looking for a self-catering vacation rental in Europe, especially northern Europe. For Property Owners: Property owners who have a property located in Europe can find out more about renting their property with Novasol here. RentaVilla is a vacation rental company that has been around since 1983. It initially focused on providing places for families who didn’t feel comfortable in a hotel. Today they offer villas, apartments, houses, and condominiums in Italy, France, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Indonesia, Thailand, Morocco and the Caribbean.
The family-owned company has employees who personally inspect each property, and cater mostly to American travelers. The company has local representatives in each area and can help in arranging additional services such as car rentals, cell phone rentals, and maid services as needed for customers. For Property Owners: There is no way to list your property online as all are chosen and selected but you can give the company a call if you have a property that would be of interest. France websites like AirBnB alternatives booking apartments vacation rentals online If you are traveling on a budget and want to stay for free, then Couchsurfing may be a good bet. The website allows you to connect with a local person who has a spare bed, couch, room, or apartment and they let you stay for free. Begun in 2004, this was a pretty radical concept at the time. Couchsurfing is designed for people who want to meet and stay with local people and want to be part of the Couchsurfing community, and ideally you return the favor and host people coming through your own hometown. Even if you are not looking for a hosted experience, you can also find people to have coffee with in new places or offer to meet up and have coffee with travelers near you. There are also thousands of events and meetups each year for Couchsurfing community members.
The website had at last count around 400,000 hosts and 11 million users. Most popular in North America and Europe, but hosts live worldwide. NOTE: In May 2020, as an effect of the coronavirus pandemic and rising costs, Couchsurfing has implemented a small fee to be a member for most users. So you do need to pay a small monthly or yearly fee to use the website at last check. However, it is still free to stay, host, and take part in community events after you pay the fee. For property owners. It is free to list your property (although there is now a small fee to join). If it illegal in your city to rent or sublet your spare room, this can be a great way to still meet up with travelers and host them without breaking the law. Outdoorsy, the “Airbnb of RV rentals” started in 2015 in the United States. It is currently the world’s largest peer-to-peer RV (recreational vehicle) rental marketplace where owners to can list their RVs when not in use to others wanting to rent one. They list RVs (motorhomes), campervans, travel trailers (caravans), fifth wheels, trailer tents, and other outdoor adventure vehicles.
Outdoorsy currently have over 200,000 RV listings across 14 countries, with the majority in the United States and Canada. But they also now offer motorhome and campervan rentals in Australia, New Zealand, and parts of western Europe (including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy). Other Europe focused alternative to consider are PaulCamper and GoBoony. See listings for PaulCamper here and GoBoony here. You can list your RV here with PaulCamper.and here with GoBoony. For RV Owners: It is free to list your RV and then you pay fees based on bookings. You can list your RV here. Part of the TripAdvisor family, FlipKey has over 300,000 properties to choose from. Owners are verified by FlipKey, and they can list whole homes, apartments, villas, or private rooms. They have properties worldwide with a heavy concentration of properties in North America, and particularly the United States.
We used to often recommend FlipKey to people; however, now all the properties have been consolidated into TripAdvisor Vacation Rentals (included above). Many of the same properties are also available on other large platforms like Vrbo and Airbnb. So now we don’t use this vacation rental booking website much these days. For Property Owners: To have your property included on Flipkey, you need to register to have your property as part of Tripadvisor Vacation Rentals as described above. London websites like AirBnB alternatives booking apartments vacation rentals online With all of these huge search engines to choose from, you might think that your search is over. But don’t forget to check to see if there are local websites like Airbnb specialized in the city or region you plan to travel. Localized websites often offer amazing properties that you won’t find anywhere else. For example, when we visit the Costa Brava region of Spain, we check out Naturaki (read about Laurence’s experience here) and Charming Villas.
Also be sure to see if there is a website that caters to the type of property you want whether you want a self-serviced apartment in San Francisco geared to business travelers, a hosted guest stay experience in Vietnam, or a rural farmstay in Tuscany. For instance for those looking for small town and rural properties, we love Gites.com for places in France and Agriturismo for properties in Italy.
Go with Oh started in 1997 in Barcelona and has grown to include over 3,000 rental properties in Europe. A great place to check out if you are looking for an apartment rental in Barcelona (over 500 properties) or another major European city. It is free to list your apartment and then you pay fees based on bookings. You can learn more and sign up your property here.
If you have a specific city or region in mind, it’s definitely worth doing a bit of internet research to see if there are any local apartment booking companies. Sometimes you find very localized websites like Airbnb that can help you book somewhere truly unique. If you still are not able to find the sort of property you are looking for and are looking for a longer term stay, consider asking a local rental agency to help you find and book a property.
Provence websites like AirBnB alternatives booking apartments vacation rentals online If you are looking for websites like Airbnb, don’t forget to check Airbnb itself! We have used Airbnb all over the world. They have an incredible choice of properties, the review system makes picking a place easy, and prices are usually competitive. This is particularly true for longer stays, where hosts often provide a discount. Properties are available worldwide in 191 countries, so you can find a stay almost anywhere, and properties include everything from houseboats to apartments to even private islands. Admittedly, my love for Airbnb has declined since I first wrote a review of my Airbnb experiences back in 2013. Back in 2012, when few people had used Airbnb (even among my fellow San Francisco based travelers), most of the apartments and rooms were actually run by the owners (and you met them!), there was an Airbnb concierge service, and prices were almost always much better than hotels. Back then it seemed most of the property owners (especially those renting rooms) were doing it to meet travelers rather than to make money (Couchsurfing was very popular at the time).
Time has changed things at Airbnb, some for the better and some for the worse. The number of property listings has skyrocketed, the concierge service appears to have disappeared, prices have gone up, legal battles have ensued, and many properties are now managed by people hired by the owners to run multiple properties.
Three of our recent stays have been managed by people hired to run apartments owned by other people, and this can result in some pretty poor communication and coordination. Our last stay in London was absolutely terrible. That said, we think like with all these apartment booking websites, travelers just need to be careful and read past reviews carefully. We will still continue to use Airbnb, but we also now check on other apartment booking options, such as many of those on this list, before we make a booking.
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