Finding Affordable Summer Rentals

If you’re looking for a way to take an affordable summer vacation, you might want to consider finding yourself a nice rental home. Sure, a hotel room sounds like it should be cheaper, but depending on the size of your group, you may be able to take a longer vacation and spend less if you just think a little bit bigger. Renting a summer house, after all, is travel’s equivalent of buying in bulk. Renting an entire house lets you bring in more people over a longer period of time, which lowers the vacation’s price per person and leads to a ton of family fun.      

You can find affordable summer rentals near you by using popular travel engines, such as HomeAway.com, Vacation Rentals By Owner (VRBO.com), VacationRentals.com and, yes, even Craig’s List, but, in the interest of proving our point, MainStreet found a few affordable rental homes worth considering for your family vacation.  

Florida

Nothing is more suited to a family vacation than a trip to Disney World, but Disney Resorts often aren’t inexpensive. You can bypass their nightly rates by renting out a local villa. Our favorite option is this five-bedroom, 12-person occupancy Private Pool Home currently listed on VRBO. In addition to having three bathrooms and its own private pool, the house is right next to Disney World. You can rent the property for $229 a night, which comes to $19 per person per day if you fill the house to its occupancy (so don’t forget to bring Grandma along).

Those interested in a less family-oriented vacation can check out this VRBO deal on a rentable condominium in the hip South Beach section of Miami. The studio, which sleeps two to four people comfortably, comes with a full kitchen, one bathroom and access to the Gansevoort Hotel Pool, Jacuzzi and sushi bar, all for $1,500 a month ($375 per person; $12.50 per day per guest.)